Sizzling chemistry, incredible world building, a fiercely complex protagonist and cast of characters that will remain with you long after you’ve turned the last page. While the story zips along with truly jaw-dropping set pieces, there’s also real emotional heft as Taylor J. LaRue tells the story of a young woman who has long repressed her identity but is now realizing her power and her fully realized purpose. It is the story of someone coming to understand the rage at their core: where it came from, and where it might bring them. First in a planned trilogy.

STEELBORN
by Taylor J. LaRue
on submision
(via Park, Fine & Brower Literary)

Never run. Never bow. Never die.

These were the words that Reya Connery’s father, an Etellinian blacksmith, raised her on. But since her parents’ brutal murder, Reya has had to live by a different set of truths. One: There is no honor among thieves. Two: A good blade is key to any successful negotiation. Three: Only the dead keep secrets.

Half-human, half-immortal, Reya survives in an empire that criminalizes magic as its most notorious thief, paying off her debt to the ruthless crime lord who saved her from a life on the streets. When, for her final job, she’s tasked with delivering one of her own kind to an unthinkable fate, Reya helps them escape instead. Her employer gives her an ultimatum: two months to repay the cost of what she lost him, or she will be forever bound in his service—and if she runs or betrays him again, one of her brothers will be forced to take her place.

Desperate to protect what little family she has left, Reya takes on her most impossible heist yet when Caelan Halcyon, an immortal warrior cursed to die, hires her to steal him a fabled cure. But even she can’t steal something no one has ever actually seen—and Reya and her warrior are not the only ones hunting it. When an attack forces Reya to reveal her own immortality, and Caelan realizes she possesses a rare gift that could spare his people from annihilation at the empire’s hands, he’s determined to teach the beautiful, infuriating thief how to control her power.

Their journey takes them to the edge of the known world, and into the depths of their broken hearts. To save them both, Reya must confront the secrets lurking in the shadows of her past, the burning rage that she fears, and the ability she has spent her entire life suppressing. Because this time, her daggers aren’t going to cut it, and the fate of all immortals hangs in the balance.

Perfect for fans of LJ Andrew’s The Ever King and Callie Hart’s Quicksilver, Taylor J. LaRue is one of the most exciting new voices in romantasy in a long time: her writing has true swagger, and she weaves together a story with exciting twists and sizzling romance, set against a world that feels truly lived in. Yet it is her fierce but hurting protagonist, Reya, who will stay with you long after you turn the last page: a young woman who has been forced to bury herself in order to survive, finally stepping into her power and her purpose.

Taylor J. LaRue spent her early career as a journalist in the Windy City. Now she is living out her moody aesthetic dreams coordinating Barnes & Noble author events in the Pacific Northwest, where she lives with her high school sweetheart-turned-husband, their tiny human tyrant, and one very soggy puppy.