Book picks similar to
The Wizard's Daughters by Michael Dalton
fantasy
romance
magic
steampunk
Fimbulwinter
E. William Brown - 2014
Add in refugees, desperate soldiers, scheming nobles and a pair of thoroughly wicked witches, and life is going to be very busy indeed. Good thing he has magic of his own to even the scales. But will even that be enough? Warning: This novel contains graphic violence, inventive sex, unconventional opinions and a protagonist who has no interest in being normal. Read at your own risk.
A Master of Djinn
P. Djèlí Clark - 2021
Djèlí Clark returns to his popular alternate Cairo universe for his fantasy novel debut, A Master of DjinnCairo, 1912: Though Fatma el-Sha’arawi is the youngest woman working for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities, she’s certainly not a rookie, especially after preventing the destruction of the universe last summer. So when someone murders a secret brotherhood dedicated to one of the most famous men in history, al-Jahiz, Agent Fatma is called onto the case. Al-Jahiz transformed the world 50 years ago when he opened up the veil between the magical and mundane realms, before vanishing into the unknown. This murderer claims to be al-Jahiz, returned to condemn the modern age for its social oppressions. His dangerous magical abilities instigate unrest in the streets of Cairo that threaten to spill over onto the global stage. Alongside her Ministry colleagues and her clever girlfriend Siti, Agent Fatma must unravel the mystery behind this imposter to restore peace to the city - or face the possibility he could be exactly who he seems....
Taming Fire
Aaron Pogue - 2011
He's the son of a known thief, disgraced and despised. His only real talent is his ability with a sword, and his only real chance at finding honor or a home is a desperate dream of joining the King's Guard.Then Daven receives a new future when Master Claighan invites him to study magic at the Academy. The wizard offers to make him into a new kind of soldier: a swordsman equally skilled with forged blades and mystic forces. It only helps that Daven has no home, no family, and nothing left to lose.But when conspiring forces destroy the wizard's plans, Daven finds himself wanted for treason and murder. Hunted by a great black beast of a dragon, caught between the King's Guard and a rebel force led by a rogue wizard, Daven's only hope of surviving is to become more than he's ever dreamed possible.
The Decoy Princess
Dawn Cook - 2005
and shopping. She ought to. She had every reason to believe that she was groomed to rule. But her next lesson is in betrayal...The sudden arrival of her betrothed, a prince from the kingdom of Misdev, has forced Tess's parents to come clean: She's no princess. Their real daughter was raised in a nunnery for fear of assassins. Tess is nothing but a beggar's child bought off the streets as an infant and reared as a decoy.So what's a royal highness to do when she discovers she's a royal target? Ditch the Misdev soldiers occupying the palace, use magical abilities she didn't even know she had, restore the real princess to the throne, and save her own neck. But first, Tess has to deal with the scoundrel who's urging her to run away from it all, and the Misdev captain who's determined to thwart her plans...
Servant of the Crown
Melissa McShane - 2015
Even the prospect of access to the Royal Library doesn’t seem enough to make up for her sacrifice, but Alison is prepared to do her service to the Crown. What she’s not prepared for is Prince Anthony North, Queen Zara’s playboy brother, who’s accustomed to getting what he wants—including the Countess of Waxwold.When the fallout from an unfortunate public encounter throws the two of them together, Alison has no interest in becoming the Prince’s next conquest. But as the weeks pass, Alison discovers there’s more to Anthony than she—or he—realized, and their dislike becomes friendship, and then something more—until disaster drives Alison away, swearing never to return.Then Alison is summoned by the Queen again, this time to serve as Royal Librarian. A threat to Tremontane’s government, with her treasured Library at stake, draws Alison into the conflict…and into contact with Anthony once more. Can they work together to save the Royal Library and Tremontane? And can she open her heart to love again?
Wicked as They Come
Delilah S. Dawson - 2012
He’d cast a spell for her, but when she’s transported right to him, she’s not so sure she’s ready to be under the spell of another man. (It didn’t go so well last time with controlling, abusive, domineering Jeff.) If only Criminy wasn’t so deliciously rakish….Half the inhabitants of Sang are Pinkies—human—and the other half are Bludmen, who in Tish’s world would be called vampires. But they don’t mess with any of the bat/coffin/no sunlight nonsense. They’re rather like you and me, just more fabulous, long living, and mostly indestructible. (They're also very good kissers.) But when the evil Mayor of Manchester (formerly Bludchester) redoubles his efforts to rid Sang of the Bludmen once and for all, stealing Tish’s locket in hopes of traveling back to her world himself for reinforcements, Criminy and Tish must battle ghosts, sea monsters, wayward submarines, a secret cabal, and thundering Bludmares to get the locket back and allow Tish to return home…but has she found love with Criminy? Could she stay in Sang forever?
IRON MAGE
Rob Nolan - 2019
Javron is a blacksmith in the middle of nowhere. No one knows his secret: that he has a gift far greater than the most powerful wizards in the land. He bends metal to his will like a sculptor does clay, and has created the deadliest suit of armor the world has ever known. Javron’s abilities might have remained a secret forever, until two beautiful women walk through his door. They need a special artifact only Javron can create. But they’re being pursued by the Bandit King – a half-orc warlord who rules the Badlands, and who wants both women for his twisted plans. When the two women are threatened, and everything Javron holds dear is endangered, he has to cast off the shroud of secrecy and become the man he was meant to be. He must become… the Iron Mage. Warning: this book contains harem elements, violence, and adult situations.
Passion Play
Beth Bernobich - 2010
She has lived most of her life surrounded by the trappings of wealth and privilege. Many would consider hers a happy lot. But there are dark secrets, especially in the best of families. Ilse has learned that for a young woman of her beauty and social station, to be passive and silent is the best way to survive. When Ilse finally meets the older man she is to marry, she realizes he is far crueler and more deadly than her father could ever be. Ilse chooses to run. This choice will change her life forever.And it will lead her to Raul Kosenmark, master of one of the land’s most notorious pleasure houses…and who is, as Ilse discovers, a puppetmaster of a different sort altogether. Ilse discovers a world where every pleasure has a price and there are levels of magic and intrigue she once thought unimaginable. She also finds the other half of her heart.Passion Play is Beth Bernobich's first novel.
Nefertiti's Heart
A.W. Exley - 2013
Permanently.1861. Cara has a simple mission in London - finalise her father's estate and sell off his damned collection of priceless artifacts. Her plan goes awry when a killer stalks the nobility, searching for an ancient Egyptian relic rumoured to hold the key to immortality.Nathaniel Trent, known as the villainous viscount, is relentless in his desire to lay his hands on both Cara and the priceless artifacts. His icy exterior and fiery touch stirs Cara's demons, or could he lay them to rest?Self-preservation fuels Cara's search for the gem known as Nefertiti's Heart. In a society where everyone wears a mask to hide their true intent, she needs to figure out who to trust, before she sacrifices her own heart and life.
Griffin's Daughter
Leslie Ann Moore - 2007
An ancient evil searches for her.A young girl lives as a social outcast due to her mixed human and elven blood. To escape an arranged marriage, Jelena flees into the unknown on a quest to find her elven father. Her journey takes her on an unexpected adventure of magic, danger, and most startling of all - true love.
An Alchemy of Masques and Mirrors
Curtis Craddock - 2017
But the last two women betrothed to this prince were murdered, and a sorcerer-assassin is bent on making Isabelle the third. Aided and defended by her loyal musketeer, Jean-Claude, Isabelle plunges into a great maze of prophecy, intrigue, and betrayal, where everyone wears masks of glamour and lies. Step by dangerous step, she unravels the lies of her enemies and discovers a truth more perilous than any deception.
Thaumatology 101
Niall Teasdale - 2011
Then her parents died in a car accident leaving their daughter a well-protected nervous wreck, afraid of travel and especially cars, and unwilling to leave the house. Then she met Lily Carpenter, a half-succubus trying to get her life back on track and they helped each other back to something like a normal life. As normal as it gets when your house looks like the Munsters were the chief designers and your housekeeper is an enigmatic fairy.It was Lily who persuaded Ceri to apply for the job as research assistant to Doctor Cheryl Tennant, lead researcher in quantum thaumatology at the London Metropolitan University. Doctor Tennant is locked in a battle with a better funded team at Cambridge to discover the fundamental particle of magic, the Null Thaumiton. Everyone knows the race has been heating up with both sides close to a result, but there was no way Ceri could have expected sabotage and murder to be involved in an academic contest.Soon Ceri and Lily are in the middle of an academic war, surrounded by wizards, werewolves, and demons, and in the meantime there’s still that elusive particle to uncover.
The Big Waste
C.W. Ashley - 2019
The 'Skirmishes' have left the land in absolute ruin. The last few remains of civilization are Citadels; corrupt, oppressive and dangerous for most who inhabit them. Outside, 'The Big Waste' is a stretch of an endless damaged landscape that has been scorched, poisoned and left to decay by the horrors of constant war. The constant threat of Citadel bounty hunters, mutated animals, ghoulish, formerly-human mercenaries, and all-powerful gangs looms over everyone. Happiness is unlikely, conflict is frequent and death is certain. When an accomplished demolition derby driver decides to take a seemingly simple delivery job outside the citadel for a little adventure, he learns very quickly why the first day in the Big Waste can often become your last. Disclaimer: This book contains brutal violence, unconventional morals in a post-apocalyptic world, detailed sex with harem elements, non-human females and a little bit of dark humor.
Spymaster
Margaret Weis - 2017
On a world already riven by the ancient hatred between the Rosian and Freyan empires, privateers of each nation have long preyed on the ships of the other. What few realize is that a sinister cabal controlled by a rogue dragon is not only behind this piracy, but is organizing criminal enterprises all over the world.As one privateer and her dragon corsairs try to keep their enterprise afloat, they are caught up in a conspiracy hatched by the cabal . . . and threatened by a mysterious magic crafter who works in the shadows.Freya, in turmoil because of the accidental death of the heir to the throne, is also deeply in debt. Sir Henry Wallace, their master spy, is charged with replenishing the treasury by inviting dragons from Travia to make Freya their home—a decision that will have disastrous consequences for everyone involved.In a riveting novel of pulse-pounding suspense, the ruthless conspiracy of humans and dragons plots against Sir Henry and the Dragon Corsairs.. And waiting in the wings, planning to throw everything in turmoil, is a young man known as Prince Tom, who claims to be Freya's true and rightful king.
Legendary Rule: Book One
Bruce Sentar - 2019
Graduating shortly after artificial intelligence is allowed to enter the workforce; he can’t get his career off the ground. He clings to what he believes a responsible adult should pursue, but it just isn’t in the cards. As his last hope for a steady paycheck disappears new opportunities open. Ajax gets a chance to play a brand new Immersive Reality game. Things aren't as they seem. Mega Corps hover over what appears to be a simple game. Two unlikely women join his party as he tries to get ahead of the competition and set himself on the path of becoming a professional gamer. Join Ajax and Company as they enter the world of Legendary Rule. Disclaimer: this book contains graphic violence, harem elements and explicit scenes.