Sanctuary of the Shadow

October 16, 2023
A woman with the gift of prophecy falls in love with a monster in this choppy romantic fantasy from Ascher (Beauty and the Demon). A fight between rulers leads Queen Furie to unleash her incorporeal wraiths to murder all the Seers in her sister Queen Darya’s territory. Only one Seer child, Harrow, survives the slaughter, finding refuge in a circus run by ringmaster Salizar. When she grows up, she becomes a phony fortune teller for the circus, keeping her true clairvoyant abilities hidden. Then Salizar captures a mysterious winged creature, believing—but unable to prove—that he is one of Furie’s wraiths imprisoned in a mortal form. Harrow is inexplicably drawn to the brooding figure, who adopts the name Raith and has no memories of anything before his capture. Harrow, who sneaks out to visit him every night, fiercely believes that Raith was not involved in the murder of her family and plans to help him escape. Though they do manage to flee the circus, they can’t outrun Raith’s mysterious past—or its potential to destroy their forbidden love. Ascher’s worldbuilding is fascinating but the plot is rushed, with the romance far overshadowing all else and itself suffering from a lack of buildup and minimal character development. Given the current romantasy boom, readers will be better served elsewhere.

November 1, 2023
Harrow is a Seer, an Elemental who uses water magic to discern dreams and signs. Ever since her entire Seer tribe was annihilated by the fire queen's mythical wraiths, Harrow has been hiding out in an Elemental circus pretending to be a human fortune teller. When she comes across a caged man with fiery eyes in the circus, the Water tells her this man is important. He calls himself Raith because he's believed to be one. Harrow doesn't believe he is, because wraiths never take human form. The Water compels her to save Raith, and together they escape the circus. Once alone, they explore their unbridled desire for each other and plan a future together. But when Raith's ties to her past are revealed in a dream, Harrow learns the truth behind his fiery eyes that may be their undoing. Ascher's latest is a fantasy romance that has everything nice--a hot love interest, a relatable main character, female friendship--and plenty of (consensual) spice. Fans of Jennifer L. Armentrout and Sarah J. Maas will enjoy this one.

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