Archives par étiquette : Nancy Yost Literary

BIRTH OF A DYNASTY de Chinaza Bado

BIRTH OF A DYNASTY is a fast-paced high fantasy about court intrigue, dangerous politics, power struggles, devastating violence, and surviving in a world dedicated to destroying you, perfect for readers who crave their next heart-shattering epic read.

BIRTH OF A DYNASTY
by Chinaza Bado
Voyager, Summer 2025
(via Nancy Yost Literary)

Pitched as Game of Thrones meets Children of Blood and Bone, BIRTH OF A DYNASTY is an edge-of-your-seat, drama-filled, and gut-wrenching, epic high fantasy is set in Alkebulan, a fictionalized Africa, where magic is feared and giants are real. It follows three high noble families as they fight to maintain their power in the midst of averting a devastating prophecy.

M’Kuru Mukundi, the sole surviving member of the high noble Mukundi family of Madada, barely escapes a brutal attack by Prince Effiom and the Red Sun Army of the Zenzele. After watching his parents, then his sister, her lover, and everyone else he ever knew slaughtered by Prince Effiom, ten-year old M’kuru makes a vow:

We shall not forgive. We shall not forget. We will have our vengeance.

M’kuru flees to a small village where he hides as farm boy Khalil Rausi, unaware that the real Khalil’s father is the bloodthirsty Commander of Prince Effiom’s army. When an imposter claiming to be M’kuru shows up in the village, the real M’kuru—now Khalil—must make impossible choices and do the unforgivable as he makes his way to the capital, where he will one day avenge the murder of his family and his people.

Meanwhile, in Winneba, young Zikora Nnamani, the only daughter of Lord Nnamani, wants nothing more than to be a fierce Seh Llinga warrior. But Zikora is the most beloved child of Winneba and, according to the prophecy, the only living threat left to to the Zenzele Dynasty. When the Queen’s messenger arrives to « invite » Zikora to the castle, her family is not in a position to refuse. However, before she leaves her home, Zikora’s father secretly begins the dangerous Rite of Blessing to protect her, with the risk that it may also bring the world one step closer to completion of the prophecy that Prince Effiom so fears.

Between scheming ladies at court, backstabbing princes on the prowl, and everyone in between having nothing to lose, M’kuru and Zikora must do what they can, no matter how terrible, to save their people and claim vengeance for their families. No choices are easy, and nothing is as it seems…

Chinaza Bado has previously written under the pen name, J.J. McAvoy, in a variety of genres, most recently Regency romance. Her titles have sold in the UK, Hungary, Brazil, Poland, and were bestsellers in Turkey, Israel, and France. Chinaza is second generation Nigerian, who spends her free time traveling throughout Africa collecting stories and visiting family in Nigeria.

MAGGIE THE UNDYING d’Ilona Andrews

MAGGIE THE UNDYING is the brand new work by Ilona Andrews, the #1 NYT bestselling author duo, who’ve created an incredible new world combining elements of heroic fantasy, romantasy, portal isekai, and D&D.

MAGGIE THE UNDYING
by Ilona Andrews
Tor, TBD
(via Nancy Yost Literary)

Our dauntless heroine wakes up cold, filthy and naked in Kair Toren, a city in the kingdom of Rellas, a world she knows intimately from the pages of a famously unfinished epic-historical-fantasy series she’s been reading, re-reading (and reading again!), while waiting (years!) for the final novel.

She has no idea how or why she’s landed in this gritty world filled with rival warlords, magic and mayhem, but she’s determined to survive until she can figure out how to get home. Her only tools? Her encyclopedic knowledge of the book’s plots, settings, and the characters’ actions, motivations, fates and ambitions: information she can sell to the dueling factions, while staying under the radar so as not to affect the very information she plans to barter.

She quickly discovers she has another, surprising ’skill’: she cannot be killed (though many will try!).

But her initial goals swiftly change as she becomes attached to the motley band she’s somehow gathered — which includes a disgraced lady’s maid, a deadly assassin, and a dangerous and experienced soldier, as well as various outrageous creatures — and instead she finds herself trying to save them and the Kingdom of Rellas from the cataclysmic war she knows is brewing.

“Ilona Andrews” is the pseudonym for a husband-and-wife writing team. Ilona is a native-born Russian and Gordon is a former communications sergeant in the U.S. Army. Contrary to popular belief, Gordon was never an intelligence officer with a license to kill, and Ilona was never the mysterious Russian spy who seduced him. They met in college, in English Composition 101, where Ilona got a better grade. (Gordon is still sore about that.)

Gordon and Ilona currently reside in Texas with their two children and many dogs and cats.

They have co-authored several bestselling series, including the #1 NYT bestselling urban fantasy of Kate Daniels, rustic fantasy of the Edge, paranormal romance of Hidden Legacy, and Innkeeper Chronicles.

SILVER AND BLOOD de Jessie Mihalik

This enthralling Beauty and the Beast-inspired retelling is Naomi Novik’s Uprooted meets Sarah J. Maas’s A Court of Thrones and Roses, delivering all the high stakes and steamy intensity that make it every fantasy romance fan’s perfect next read.

SILVER AND BLOOD
Book 1
by Jessie Mihalik
Avon, 2025
(via Nancy Yost Literary)

When Riela, an untrained magic wielder, agrees to venture into the dark forest to kill the deadly beast that has been attacking her fellow villagers, she accepts the responsibility even though it likely means her death. The last thing she thought to encounter while battling one of the forest beasts was a powerful, scarred, and strikingly handsome mage.

Riela awakens in a magical castle complete with a gorgeous library, a strange wolf, and the surly man who saved her life. Riela soon learns Garrick is not a mortal mage at all—he’s a powerful Etheri sovereign who has been locked out of his kingdom in Lohka for nearly a century, and his powers are weakening.

Trapped in his castle and surrounded by the dangerous woods, Riela and Garrick fight a losing battle against the desire growing between them. But the more they discover about Riela’s magic, the more suspicious Garrick grows of her identity. As they unravel the secrets connecting Riela’s past to Lohka, the tenuous threads of trust between Riela and Garrick begin to fray because her life—or her death—might be the key to regaining everything he’s lost.

Jessie Mihalik writes romantic fantasy and science fiction packed with found family, action, adventure, and badass women.

NEVER THE ROSES de Jennifer K. Lambert

With atmospheric and lyrical stylings akin to This Is How You Lose the Time War and Genevieve Gorniches’s The Witch’s Heart, NEVER THE ROSES is a debut star-crossed loversfantasy romance that is perfect for fans of Madeline Miller, Stephanie Garber, Elodie Harper, and Erin Morgenstern.

NEVER THE ROSES
by Jennifer K. Lambert
Tor, 2025
(via Nancy Yost Literary)

Oneira’s tale begins at the end, or so she thought. Exiling herself from the warring courts of men, she seeks peace in a remote forest where the mountains meet the beach. She’s long acceptedthat her death is near, as it and destruction have been her constant companions since she was a child when her family sold her to the Academy of Sorcerers.

Her seclusion is first interrupted by three otherworldly companions—a near-mythical wolf, a goddess’s avatar in the form of a kestrel, and a feline that embodies magic itself. Then on a whim,or perhaps at the behest of fate, Oneira invites a second interruption when she makes an unlikely and otherworldly trip to the most extensive library in existence. Which is the home of hermost powerful rival, the sorcerer Stearanos.

There, she finds herself stealing a book from him, and this act of reckless thievery inadvertently initiates an unlikely correspondence. Taunting notes and clever retorts reveal a connectionneither has—nor could ever find—in any other. But a relationship is far too dangerous to pursue despite their mutual desire.

When Stearanos is called to war, he pleads with Oneira to help, jeopardizing the vows Oneira made to herself on her darkest day and to the Queen she once served. Faced with the impossible,to save her love or herself, Oneira must once again choose between life and death.

NEVER THE ROSES gives fantasy readers everything they could want: expansive world-building, an intriguing magic system, a timeless story of star-crossed lovers, and beyond all else—a yearning forsomething more.

Jennifer K. Lambert is a member of SFWA.

JUST SOME STUPID LOVE STORY de Katelyn Doyle

This witty and endearing novel follows the will-they-won’t-they of a couple who are just out of reach of each other, perfect for fans of Emily Henry’s People We Meet on Vacation and Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren.

JUST SOME STUPID LOVE STORY
by Katelyn Doyle
(aka Scarlett Peckham)
Flatiron, 2024
(via Nancy Yost Literary)

Screenwriter Molly Marks is a love cynic, despite the fact that she writes rom-com screenplays for a living. She thought ghosting her high school boyfriend, Seth, was the end of her chance at love—until a 15-year reunion sets something in motion that some would call fate—but absolutely not Molly Marks.
Divorce attorney Seth Rubinstein believes in love, true love at that, despite his job. He’d never admit it, but he carried a torch for Molly long after their sudden and devastating breakup. Over the last decade, he’s sought his soulmate in one bad date and one rushed relationship after another.
When Seth and Molly are seated at the same reunion table, sparks fly, and a bet is made: whoever can more accurately predict the outcome of five relationships over the next five years must declare that the other is right about love. The two are then launched into a years-long series of entanglements, breakups, and friendship attempts showcased throughout the narrative in emails, texts, late-night calls, and accidental run-ins until they reach a breathtaking conclusion that will force them to confront one more relationship—theirs—and whether their story is one of timeless heartbreak or if they are truly meant to be.

Katelyn Doyle has already won the hearts of countless readers through the historical romances she’s penned as Scarlett Peckham. As Peckham, Doyle is a USA Today bestselling author. The Washington Post selected her debut, The Duke I Tempted, as one of the Best Romance Novels of 2018. Entertainment Weekly has called Peckham’s “storytelling breathtakingly human,” and her contemporary work is no different. She continues to showcase the witty, romantic, and feminist voice that has already earned acclaim everywhere, from Kirkus and NPR to The New York Times Book Review (twice).