It took me a while to find the right story, and to be in the right headspace. But during a trip to Montana last summer, Maas said she experienced an 'energy vortex' of inspiration in Big Sky, and the next installment poured right out.
The first time we meet Carol, she's in a Dallas Barnes & Noble reading from Bloodsongs of Wycaro, the fourth book in her wildly popular Wycaro series, which follows the adventures of the sand pirate Lucasia and the rogue who has captured her heart. The members of her audience technically aren't the living dead, but they all want a piece of the author. Carol, in turn, is barely able to mask her disdain even as she enjoys the spoils of their adoration.
Any avid romance reader can tell you their favorite trope. Some might point to intense tropes like love at first sight or forbidden romance, while others might choose playful arcs like fake dating or best friend's brother romances. For many, no trope is better than enemies-to-lovers, though. As they watch characters grow from loathing to all-consuming love, enemies-to-lovers readers often giggle and kick their feet at the first sign of tension between two opposing characters turning into something more than ire.
When I tell people about the new novel I just finished, the first thing they ask is whether it's sexy. The question is understandable: The book, SenLinYu's Alchemised, is a romance novel adapted from the author's own Harry Potter fan fiction, and both genres are known for featuring sex-leading to the common assumption that their readers are seeking explicit scenes. But Alchemised is not particularly erotic.
First, a confession: I have not read Jennifer L Armentrout's latest novel, The Primal of Blood and Bone. Nor have I sniffed it, or licked it. Which might be an odd thing to do, but for the fact that a special edition of the romantasy book has been released with garlic-infused ink. Armentrout is a hugely-successful hybrid author, both self- and traditionally published, and has made the New York Times bestseller list on numerous occasions.
When Ross released 'Divine Rivals' and 'Ruthless Vows' in 2023, both became New York Times bestsellers, a milestone for Ross after nearly a decade of writing books. 'When I wrote 'Divine Rivals,' it was just a magical experience,' Ross said about the novel she wrote in 2020. 'I hadn't written anything in almost a year. That story literally just poured out of me.'
