On Sale: Jun 15, 2027
Page Count: 400 pages
Publisher: Orbit
ISBN-13: 9780316592055

$19.99

Format

Format:

Trade Paperback $19.99
ebook $9.99

Preorder from Retailers:

They fought a tyrant king and won in A Kiss of Crimson Ash. But in the second book of this medieval India-inspired fantasy trilogy from a remarkable Canadian talent, the battle for the empire gets far more dangerous.

Taara, Queen of Abhaya, is eager to return home after her victory, with her love, Payal, by her side. But when the emperor she believed to be her enemy extends an invitation to the capital – and an offer of great power – Taara is faced with an impossible choice: love or destiny.

Meanwhile, playboy prince turned world-weary king Garjan must contend with the consequences of unleashing the Crimson Ash – a plague of rakshasas, vicious monsters escaped from the realms of demons. He has help from his friends – even though they might be thieves and monsters themselves – and the love of shapeshifter courtesan Bhediya… until divided loyalties and unexpected desires threaten to tear them all apart.

When demons stalk the streets and divinity and darkness intertwine – nobody knows who to trust. With an entire empire at risk, they must decide: What if the cost of saving everyone is more than anyone is willing to pay?

Genre:

Series:

Games of the Goddess

Anuja Varghese writes literary fiction, SFF, and erotica/romance— and combinations of all three—where women of color get leading roles! Her work has been featured in many literary magazines and anthologies, including Best Women’s Erotica of the Year, Volume 6 (Cleis Press, 2020), When Other People Saw Us, They Saw the Dead, (Haunt Press, 2022), Queer Little Nightmares (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2022), and Devouring Tomorrow: Fiction from the Future of Food (Dundurn Press, 2024). Her short story collection, Chrysalis (House of Anansi, 2023), explores South Asian diaspora experience through a queer, feminist, speculative lens. In 2023, Chrysalis won the Writer’s Trust of Canada Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBTQ2S+ Emerging Writers and the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction. In 2024, it was longlisted for the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction and shortlisted for the Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize for Fiction. Anuja lives in Hamilton, Ontario with her partner, two kids, and two cats.