Never the Roses

Overview

A starred review from Booklist calls it a must-add for any romantasy shelf — and this swooning, enemies-to-lovers debut from Jennifer K. Lambert is exactly the kind of epic romantic fantasy that lingers long after the last page.

Oneira has spent her entire life fighting wars that were never truly hers. A sorceress of devastating power, she has served kings and queens, and she has paid the price in ways that can't be undone. When she finally walks away, she chooses solitude — a remote stretch of forest where the mountains tumble down to meet the sea.

She isn't entirely alone. Three companions follow her into exile: a near-mythical wolf, a kestrel who carries a goddess within her, and a cat that seems to be magic made flesh. It's a strange, quiet life — and for a time, it's enough.

Then, on what feels like a whim — or perhaps something older and more deliberate — Oneira makes a detour. She visits the most extraordinary library in existence, which happens to belong to her most powerful rival: the sorcerer Stearanos.

She steals a book from him. It seems like a small, reckless thing. It is not.

The theft sparks an unlikely correspondence — taunting notes, clever retorts, a dangerous back-and-forth that neither of them can quite bring themselves to end. In Stearanos, Oneira finds an intellect and a wit that matches her own. It's a connection she has never found anywhere else.

But Stearanos is bound to a vile king, and that king has set his sights on the very queen Oneira once served. Every letter they exchange, every moment they draw closer, carries the weight of that impossible conflict.

A relationship between them shouldn't exist. The risks are too great, the loyalties too entangled, the history between their worlds too bloody. And yet neither of them seems capable of staying away.

For Oneira, who has long made peace with the idea that her death is near, something about Stearanos feels like the first warmth she has allowed herself in years. Whether that warmth saves her or consumes her entirely is another matter.

"An extraordinary novel! Full of unexpected love, magic, heartbreak and healing." — Sarah Beth Durst, New York Times bestselling author of The Spellshop

Series Information

Series Name: Never the Roses

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