As I continue trying to home newer stories, I’ve been struck by the question: What is high fantasy? Some publishers say it’s any story set in a new world. Others say it implies elves and dwarves. Still others expect swords and magic as weapons. I wonder…what if we wielded ordinary objects that housed magic? Would we be in a high fantasy story? Or do we need royals for that?
Do you think epic fantasy and high fantasy are the same? If not, reply in the comments with the differences.
“Quench to the Hilt” is now available to read on Amazon! For a limited time, you can download the anthology it’s in as part of Kindle Unlimited. You have only a couple months left to do so! Otherwise, you’ll need to buy the e-book or order the paperback. I may publish an epilogue later, so make sure you have read it before then!
“Quench to the Hilt” is the last story in the anthology. Go get your blacksmith hippo shifter x dark hero love! Extreme heat awaits.
Originally, this story was going to be contributed to an anthology this year. However, the anthology date has been pushed back past the end of the year, and the dragonfly story continues to evolve. It’s unclear whether this story will grow from novelette into novella length. If it becomes a novella, it may be queried to publishers instead.
We’ve seen plenty of fire-breathing dragons, but what about dragons of the other elements? Enter Theodyne, a rock dragon hybrid with a stony secret.
Don’t miss that there are two stories in this sequence, coming out back-to-back this fall!
Ready for the sweaty weather to finally cool down? This winter, dig into a different kind of heat in the snowstorm with a yeti shifter. More info to come.
I’m excited to share I will be releasing two stories in new worlds with new characters this year (2024).
Last year, I released MAN OF MANY SMILES, the first of two Amagladeus x Kitiora pairing short stories running concurrent within the larger Beastking Chronicles series.
The story was published in Seattle Erotic Art Festival’s literary anthology for 2023.
Break into a world of treetop clan battles and castle captivity as one member of the evolved hummingbird race fights against the clock to uncover why her people keep disappearing into the recesses of the dragonfly castle. The future holds the key to the past, but the enemy commander may be the only path to the future.
This story will likely be published in an anthology.
Enemies-to-lovers, implied time travel, high fantasy, dark fantasy, dark romance, pseudo-monster romance, pseudo-shifters, hybrids, forced proximity, warring clans, prisoner of war, magic mirror, interracial/humanoid interspecies, dub-con
You may like this if you like:
humanoid shifters, winged people, beauty and the beast castle, captive dark romance, parallel dimensions romance, time paradoxes, Green Goblin-like armor
Blacksmiths service heroes, but this hero is getting more than he bargained for when he hands a blacksmith apprentice his sword. Turns out there’s more than one way to quench a blade, and a love potion more than does the trick. Commissioned on a side quest under the influence of the blacksmith’s potion, what at first looks to the hero like a break from the snotty heroine on his own quest has him side-questing into a whirlwind of trysts with the wrong type of woman for a hero.
This story will be published in an anthology
with other erotic stories.
Love potion, dub-con, side quest, high fantasy,
erotic romance, erotic fantasy
You may like this if you like:
heroic journey spinoffs, isekai, unconventional shifters, monster fighting, quest-based fantasy anime, role-play games, “grease monkey” heroine
Heartless by Gena ShowalterMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
My Summary:
Cookie may be dying, but she’s not going to let that stop her from kicking butt at video games. A heart transplant offers Cookie an extension on life, a chance to enjoy living in her dream house. But this fey heart comes with complications. Sucked into the world of the fey to become Kaysar’s revenge pawn against those who imprisoned, tortured, and kept Kaysar from his little sister, Cookie’s new life becomes one dangerous mishap after the other. Kaysar is not a very patient man, but he can’t imagine life without revenge. Soon he can’t imagine life without Cookie either. That’s just fine; he can adjust his plans. Or so he thinks. Kaysar is good at acting to get what he wants, but Cookie doesn’t like being lied to, and she can dish back just as much as she’s served. With abandonment of him on the table like it’s never been with any other woman, Kaysar begins to realize his stake in Cookie’s life might need to be permanent. As Cookie and Kaysar try to feel out what a hot, steamy future together might look like, their aspirations to help each other backfire. Cookie fights for first place in Kaysar’s priority list, but even if she can free him from his revenge cycle, she would be signing up to be Revenge Target #1 instead.
This is an adult High Fantasy Romance fey story, heavy on the spice and, later, heavy on the sex. The plot is the Romance, not the Fantasy.
My Thoughts:
The book starts out in Kaysar’s POV, which is incredibly helpful. DO NOT SKIP THE PROLOGUE!!! Kaysar is more than a little off his rocker, and you need to know why. Yes, I know, it’s long enough to be a chapter. Take it as it is.
Kaysar himself is difficult. His motivations aren’t difficult to understand, but it’s hard to wrap your mind around him, and therefore hard to understand how he should be handled. Kaysar is, in fact, the villain of the book. He has kidnapped and mutilated and stolen and conquered, and he fully intends to continue to do so. Not all of the characters Kaysar is harming fully understand what happened to Kaysar, and while few who do would dispute that what happened to him wasn’t right, that wouldn’t slow his revenge.
The temptation, I think, is to see this as a breeder book. Don’t. It’s set up that way in the beginning, with Kaysar’s revenge goal for the remaining Frostline prince using said prince’s wife, but the real romance is about prioritizing each other and overcoming obstacles. It’s also, interestingly enough, about embracing the darkness inside one another rather than trying to change one another. The book raises an interesting question: Would one man’s wife be a different man’s wife if she had gone through a different set of life experiences, or been rejected more? Should one partner really expect the other to be happy like they “used to” be?
The story is also a really interesting play with organ donor ideas. It’s said that, when someone gets an organ transplant, they may take on the likes or propensities of the organ’s original owner. In this story, the heart transplant literally changes Cookie from the inside out, to the point where she has to rediscover who she is and what she is capable of in her new life.
Consensus:
In terms of narrative voice, Showalter by far outdid herself. I had previously read her Urban Fantasy-set (Paranormal) Romance, Playing with Fire, and while it helped get me into non-wolf shapeshifters, the engagement of the narrative doesn’t even compare. That’s aside from my preference for otherworld Fantasy anyway. This series came recommended to me, but I don’t remember if it was by an MFA teacher or another reader. Yes, it’s a series, but I think the next one might be a little too brutal for me. And that’s saying something.
Why three stars? It’s not the writing. Though pressing some of the romantic points home did get a little redundant, the way those things were said felt fresh and new every time. The mashup between a vengeful dark fey self-made lord antihero and a boyfriend-ditched gamer who loves junk food was perhaps the most original pairing I’ve seen, as well. The sex scenes never got old. I think my real problem, quite honestly, was Kaysar. I was intrigued, but I never fully connected to him. He was vivid, hot, larger than life. But he was so trapped in his childhood, and in childish malice, that I never felt like I’d actually want to bring him home or stay in his castle, even if I could understand why the heroine did. Cookie didn’t really have any adult moves to make up for that. In the end, they got their happy ending, but I wasn’t convinced it would stay that way for long.
In all, it’s a brilliant piece of fiction, and it’s permanently staying on my shelf. Even though they were not my favorite characters of all time, they are dynamic, and you need to find out what happens next. I do recommend it to graphic readers who, like me, are so sick of people setting all their Romance in the real world. The book’s a wild ride, and enough to digest that at times I had to take a break. It’s good to have a book like that sometimes. Do note that there is violence and explicit sex in it, and that it’s not about optimism, before you pick it up.
Seriah Black 