Book picks similar to
Ambition by Ellen Kushner


fantasy
serial
serials
urban-fantasy

Nagash: The Undying King


Joshua Reynolds - 2017
    Where is Nagash, the Undying King, when the people of Shyish need him most?READ IT BECAUSEIt's a look at day to day life in the Realm of Death – and even there, the winds of Chaos sweep across the lands and bring ruin. And Josh Reynolds writing Nagash's servants is never less than entertaining…THE STORYSince the dark days of the Great Awakening, the scattered remnants of humanity have clung to a bleak existence, surviving howsoever they can, no matter what the cost. Tamra, a voivode of the Rictus clans, fights one last, desperate battle for the survival of her tribe, the Drak. Now her people face their most relentless enemy ever – the lumbering minions of the Plague God. Where is their lord Nagash, the Undying King, when his people need him most? As the gods and their servants vie for power in the Mortal Realms, Tamra is drawn into a deadly game between life and death, as beings long thought gone start to exert their powers once again.

The Wicked Cometh


Laura Carlin - 2018
    But whispers from her past slowly begin to poison her new life and both she and Rebekah are lured into the most sinister of investigations.Hester and Rebekah find themselves crossing every boundary they've ever known in pursuit of truth, redemption and passion. But their trust in each other will be tested as a web of deceit begins to unspool, dragging them into the blackest heart of a city where something more depraved than either of them could ever imagine is lurking . . .

The River Mists Of Talry


Terry Mancour - 2013
    . . and use them as leverage against Master Minalan the Spellmonger.Tyndal is out of his element - just barely a mage, he's far more adept with a pitchfork than a wand. But then the gods never asked his opinion, and he sets to his task with the determination of a mountain-born lad. And the attractive daughter of a local innkeeper persists in distracting him from his charge, an attention that Tyndal desires even as he recognizes the danger of such an entanglement.What's a young apprentice mage to do . . . especially when the worst of his fears are realized, and the checkered cloaks of the Censorate warmagi appear on the docks of Talry. Then Tyndal's only hope to save his master's bride and his family - not to mention his own life - is to trust in the River Mists of Talry!

French Kissing: Season Four


Harper Bliss - 2018
    City of lights, City of love... City of drama!Two years have passed since Dominique Laroche was elected President of France at the end of French Kissing: Season Three. She and Steph are living together at the Elysée, but their relationship is strained by the demands of Dominique's job.When a rising star of the opposition proposes a new law that would affect lesbians' right to have children, Dominique is torn between her personal feelings and her party's political line.Feminist radio host Aurore Seauve is advising the opposition on the new law proposal, but finds herself more caught up in the intrigue at the Elysée than she wants to be, not in the least because of her interest in Dominique's uptight chief of staff, Solange.Zoya Das has moved from Sydney to Paris to be with her new love Camille, and is finding it difficult to settle into her new country, new language and new job. Meanwhile Camille is finding out the hard way that not all her colleagues are comfortable with an out and proud lesbian at work, even if she is friends with the president.Relationships will be tested, loyalties will be questioned and assumptions will have to be set aside as both familiar and new characters navigate the turbulent waters of love--and politics.Warning: This title contains sensual language, ladies making love, overconsumption of French wine, and heated discussions on feminism and the right to orgasm.

A Pirate's Heart


Catherine Friend - 2008
    She’s aided in her search by investigator Randi Marx, who proves to be as frustrating as she is beautiful. The treasure map Emma and Randi seek belonged to Thomasina Farris, a pirate who disappeared from the Caribbean in 1715. Did Captain Tommy steal an entire treasure from a Spanish galleon and escape? Was she convicted of piracy and hanged by her neck? Did she die of a broken heart when she lost the woman she loved?In her race to find the map, Emma learns that pirates not only steal treasure, but they also steal hearts. When Emma discovers Captain Tommy’s fate, she must decide her own as well, choosing between romance...or revenge.

The Market Arcanum


Margaret Dunlap - 2015
     When a mysterious invite arrives in the mail and Father Menchu responds by whisking Sal off to Lichtenstein, the former cop is left on very new ground as she gets more than a glimpse at the broader world of magic users. Unfortunately, they are immediately confronted by a wealthy business man who is less upset about them blowing up his boat two episodes ago, as he is about them stealing his (sludge-demon releasing) book. When the three remaining Team members back in Rome suddenly find themselves under attack, Sal and Menchu are left scrambling for how to help and have to turn to the peculiar techno-cultists whose computers run on seahorses and have a pointed interest in the cop sister of their acquaintance Perry. Welcome to the Market Arcanum. This episode is brought to you by team-writer Margaret Dunlap who shows us that the Society is far from the only fish in the magic-hunting sea—and certainly isn’t the biggest. "Bookburners is sheer enormous fun! Energetic, intense, vivid prose. More soon please." --Naomi Novik, author of Uprooted and the New York Times bestselling Temeraire series "Bookburners is the breathless, hallucinogenic love child of Torchwood, the Librarians, and the Laundry Files. More soon, please." --Ian Tregillis, author of The Mechanical and Bitter Seeds "Bookburners is an exciting new take on urban fantasy. Love the premise, love the characters, love the unique (and sometimes wonderfully disturbing) spin on the dangers of magic!" --Cassandra Rose Clarke, author of The Assassins Curse "Bookburners has everything I want from episodic storytelling - strong writing, a rich premise, and memorable characters that will keep me coming back week after week." --Mike Underwood, author of the Ree Reyes Geekomancy series "Bookburners satisfies my craving for pulpy, demonic chaos with sharp writing, deliciously sinister magic, stellar black humor, and a kick-ass cast. The serialized story perfectly suits a sorcerer’s codex of baddies while the plucky Sal digs for deeper truths in her work with the Black Archives squad." --Lindsay Smith, author of the Sekret Series

Spark


Cynthia Dane - 2020
    Consent is a must. Safety is paramount. No judgment of anyone or whatever the desire. Other than that?Prepare to give your soul to the Devil, because you’re in her playground now.Bree sees Hellfire as her permanent escape. A place where she can forget her old relationships and seek out new, temporary pleasures. Yet when she sees the woman of her dreams on the night of a big key party, Bree knows she must have her – even if for only tonight.Yet Amelia isn’t a woman who gives her heart as easily as she gives her body. Fresh from a heartbreaking divorce, she’s in Hellfire to get back in the dating game, convinced that a night of senseless fun with a stranger will erase her sadness.When Bree ends up in her dream girl’s room, Amelia is more than surprised. They both like women, but there is something about this encounter that is new to them both. For Amelia, it’s her first taste of a real romance with another woman. For Bree, it’s the first inkling that true love might be real after all.It helps that Bree possesses the perfect key for Amelia’s closely-guarded handcuffs…

A Cleopatra Hill Christmas


Christine Pope - 2015
    But complications arise as they try to juggle new parenthood, busybody relatives, and romantic disappointments in this lighthearted holiday novella. (Note: This story takes place approximately a month and a half after the end of Sympathetic Magic, and is a short novella of 22,000 words, or around 100 paperback pages.)

This Is How You Lose the Time War


Amal El-Mohtar - 2019
    It reads: Burn before reading. Thus begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents hellbent on securing the best possible future for their warring factions. Now, what began as a taunt, a battlefield boast, grows into something more. Something epic. Something romantic. Something that could change the past and the future.Except the discovery of their bond would mean death for each of them. There's still a war going on, after all. And someone has to win that war.

When We Were Magic


Sarah Gailey - 2020
    Being in love with your best friend is harder. Alexis has always been able to rely on two things: her best friends, and the magic powers they all share. Their secret is what brought them together, and their love for each other is unshakeable—even when that love is complicated. Complicated by problems like jealousy, or insecurity, or lust. Or love. That unshakeable, complicated love is one of the only things that doesn't change on prom night. When accidental magic goes sideways and a boy winds up dead, Alexis and her friends come together to try to right a terrible wrong. Their first attempt fails—and their second attempt fails even harder. Left with the remains of their failed spells and more consequences than anyone could have predicted, each of them must find a way to live with their part of the story.

We Were Witches


Ariel Gore - 2017
    Disgusted by an overabundance of phallocratic narratives and Freytag’s pyramid, she turns to a subcultural canon of resistance and failure. Wryly riffing on feminist literary tropes, it documents the survival of a demonized single mother figuring things out.

Strawberry Summer


Melissa Brayden - 2017
    She hated her name, was less than popular in school, and was always cast aside as a “farm kid.” However, with the arrival of Courtney Carrington, Margaret’s youth sparked into color. Courtney was smart, beautiful, and put together—everything Margaret wasn’t. Who would have imagined that they’d fit together so perfectly?But first loves can scar.Margaret hasn’t seen Courtney in years and that’s for the best. But when Courtney loses her father and returns to Tanner Peak to take control of the family store, Margaret comes face-to-face with her past and the woman she’s tried desperately to forget. The fact that Courtney has grown up more beautiful than ever certainly doesn’t help matters.

Queens of Geek


Jen Wilde - 2017
    She’s a vlogger and actress promoting her first movie at SupaCon, and this is her chance to show fans she’s over her public breakup with co-star Reese Ryan. When internet-famous cool-girl actress Alyssa Huntington arrives as a surprise guest, it seems Charlie’s long-time crush on her isn’t as one-sided as she thought.Taylor likes to blend in. Her brain is wired differently, making her fear change. And there’s one thing in her life she knows will never change: her friendship with her best guy friend Jamie—no matter how much she may secretly want it to. But when she hears about a fan contest for her favorite fandom, she starts to rethink her rules on playing it safe.Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde, chosen by readers like you for Macmillan's young adult imprint Swoon Reads, is an empowering novel for anyone who has ever felt that fandom is family.

The Old Guard: Force Multiplied #3


Greg Rucka - 2020
    After disrupting a human trafficking operation, Nile and the rest of the team meet the mastermind—a figure from Andy’s past she never thought she’d see again.Soon to be a major motion picture starring Charlize Theron and KiKi Layne, THE OLD GUARD roars back! From the acclaimed New York Times-bestselling team of GREG RUCKA and LEANDRO FERNÁNDEZ and the stellar artistic talents of DANIELA MIWA, JODI WYNNE, and ERIC TRAUTMANN.

Labyrinth Lost


Zoraida Córdova - 2016
    Even gods make mistakes.Alex is a bruja, the most powerful witch in a generation…and she hates magic. At her Deathday celebration, Alex performs a spell to rid herself of her power. But it backfires. Her whole family vanishes into thin air, leaving her alone with Nova, a brujo she can’t trust, but who may be Alex’s only chance at saving her family.