Solstice Of The Drowned Empire

Lord Rhyan Hart, Heir Apparent to the Arkasva, High Lord of Glemaria, Imperator to the North hates everything about his title. Its length, its pretentiousness, and the fact that it connects him directly to his father, the sadistic violent man he hates more than anyone in Lumeria. The last thing Rhyan wants to do is spend the summer before his Revelation Ceremony traveling across the Empire with him for a state visit. Rhyan's resigned to his season of misery until he reaches Bamaria and sees Lady Lyriana Batavia. Rhyan's sure she doesn't remember their meeting a decade ago, but an act of kindness from her stayed with him through the years. Though he longs to know the woman she's become, he must keep his distance to protect her from his father's sinister political maneuvers. But when the undeniable attraction between them garners the attention of two dangerous Imperators competing for power, Rhyan must play the villain to keep him and Lyriana from becoming pawns. Jules, Lyriana's cousin and best friend, is the only one to see through his facade, becoming his unlikely ally as they navigate instability in the Bamarian Court. Though Lyriana is suspicious of his true motives, Rhyan's plan has nearly succeeded—until the night of the solstice, when hidden enemies emerge, posing an even greater threat. To save the girl he loves, Rhyan must play the hero—but to do so involves risking not only his heart, but exposing his most dangerous secret.

Lord Rhyan Hart, Heir Apparent to the Arkasva, High Lord of Glemaria, Imperator to the North hates everything about his title. Its length, its pretentiousness, and the fact that it connects him directly to his father, the sadistic violent man he hates more than anyone in Lumeria. The last thing Rhyan wants to do is spend the summer before his Revelation Ceremony traveling across the Empire with him for a state visit.Rhyan's resigned to his season of misery until he reaches Bamaria and sees Lady Lyriana Batavia. Rhyan's sure she doesn't remember their meeting a decade ago, but an act of kindness from her stayed with him through the years. Though he longs to know the woman she's become, he must keep his distance to protect her from his father's sinister political maneuvers.But when the undeniable attraction between them garners the attention of two dangerous Imperators competing for power, Rhyan must play the villain to keep him and Lyriana from becoming pawns.Jules, Lyriana's cousin and best friend, is the only one to see through his facade, becoming his unlikely ally as they navigate instability in the Bamarian Court.Though Lyriana is suspicious of his true motives, Rhyan's plan has nearly succeeded--until the night of the solstice, when hidden enemies emerge, posing an even greater threat.To save the girl he loves, Rhyan must play the hero--but to do so involves risking not only his heart, but exposing his most dangerous secret.

19-year-old mage Lady Lyriana Batavia is third in line to the Seat of Power in Bamaria: a position of wealth and privilege, but not safety. Bamaria falls under the rule of the Lumerian Empire, survivors of a celestial war whose island sank in the Drowning. Now all Lumerians submit to the Emperor and his strict laws about magic. He decides what magic can be practiced and what powers remain forbidden. He decides who will die for possession of forbidden magic. Lyr’s own cousin was executed for wielding the wrong kind. And for years, Lyr has sworn to protect her older sisters, helping them conceal their own illicit magic. But when Lyr must participate in the ceremony that reveals her power, she uncovers something else entirely. Something that means banishment from the Empire. Faced with death in exile, and leaving her sisters behind, Lyr has no choice but to accept a deadly contract. She has seven months to train as a warrior and pass the Emperor’s brutal test of strength—all without magic. But when she’s forced to train with Lord Rhyan Hart, the man she’s secretly loved since she was a girl—a feared warrior in exile himself, forbidden to her in every way—she’s in danger of losing far more than her family, life, and country. Rebel forces, and an invading army, are destabilizing Bamaria, just as her family’s secrets threaten to reveal themselves. Surviving the training, and saving her sisters may mean sacrificing her own heart.

A Treacherous Oath Lord Rhyan Hart, Heir Apparent to the Arkasva, High Lord of Glemaria, Imperator to the North, has carried the weight of his title his entire life. But never has he felt it more than now. After sacrificing everything to protect the girl he loves, a shocking revelation endangers her again. The consequences stretch across the Empire and increase his father's power over him. Rhyan struggles to fight back, and protect his loved ones, but rising threats force new oaths to be sworn–oaths that could ruin everything. A Deadly Tournament As the anniversary of the Imperator’s rule approaches, he resurrects one of Glemaria’s deadliest soturion traditions: the Alissedari. Soturi must enter the arena on gryphon back in a fight to the death. Rhyan knows he has no choice but to win, no matter the cost to his heart or soul. A Forbidden Love When evil invades Glemaria, the lines between friend and foe are blurred. Rhyan has always lived by his oaths. But the only way he can fulfill one oath is to forswear another, and the only way to save a life is to take someone else’s. How can Rhyan tear the final rope apart to protect the girl he loves when he’s not even sure what it means to be a soturion anymore, and every step he takes towards his love puts her in more danger?

Now that Lyr has survived the Imperator's cruel punishment, she has only three months to prepare for the test that will decide her fate. Despite Rhyan's promise of additional training, her life has never been in more danger. Enemies known and unknown get closer every day. While the Imperator's soldiers occupy the city, the Emartis rebels grow bolder, marking Lyr as their target. Staying safe means more time under Rhyan's protection. But the closer they become, the more their desire ignites, the harder it becomes to resist temptation. Secrets can only remain hidden for so long. Even ones Lyr bled for. As new threats arrive at the Bamarian border, Lyr delves deeper into solving the mystery of her power. But revealing these secrets and surviving the Emperor's test may cost Lyr more than she can bargain for. Loyalty will be tested. Lines will be crossed. Ancient promises will be reforged. And most dangerous of all: as passion burns, oaths will be broken.

Blindsided by their aunt’s betrayal and stripped of the protections of their station, Lyr and her sisters’ only hope of survival is to throw themselves into the dark intrigue of the Bamarian Court. As Meera and Morgana struggle to hide their illegal magic while living amongst their enemies, Lyr uncovers long-buried secrets from her mother that may finally unlock her power. But the Imperators are determined to set decades-long plans into motion, with Lyr’s true identity placing her at the center of their game. As Morgana’s magic intensifies to its breaking point, she comes face to face with the Lumerian Empire’s most insidious secret—one that threatens her and Meera’s lives. To save her sisters, Lyr must escape Bamaria with Rhyan. Though they’re being hunted by demons and tracked across borders by the Empire’s forces, they’re determined to solve the puzzle Lyr’s mother left behind. But claiming Lyr’s power may not be enough as an ancient evil returns to Lumeria.

People Magazine Book of the Week A Best Book of the Year at Kirkus Reviews, Book Riot, The Chicago Review of Books, Minnesota Public Radio, and more An Indies Introduce and Indie Next Pick Fans of Maria Semple's Where'd You Go Bernadette and and Kevin Wilson's The Family Fang will delight in Annie Hartnett's debut, a darkly comic novel about a young girl named Elvis trying to figure out her place in a world without her mother. Elvis Babbitt has a head for the facts: she knows science proves yellow is the happiest color, she knows a healthy male giraffe weighs about 3,000 pounds, and she knows that the naked mole rat is the longest living rodent. She knows she should plan to grieve her mother, who has recently drowned while sleepwalking, for exactly eighteen months. But there are things Elvis doesn’t yet know—like how to keep her sister Lizzie from poisoning herself while sleep-eating or why her father has started wearing her mother's silk bathrobe around the house. Elvis investigates the strange circumstances of her mother's death and finds comfort, if not answers, in the people (and animals) of Freedom, Alabama. As hilarious a storyteller as she is heartbreakingly honest, Elvis is a truly original voice in this exploration of grief, family, and the endurance of humor after loss.

A USA TODAY BESTSELLER! "A powerful debut that proves the threads that interweave our lives can withstand time and any tide, and bind our hearts forever."—Susanna Kearsley, New York Times bestselling author of Belleweather and The Vanished Days A historical novel inspired by true events, Kelli Estes's brilliant and atmospheric debut is a poignant tale of two women determined to do the right thing, highlighting the power of our own stories. The smallest items can hold centuries of secrets... While exploring her aunt's island estate, Inara Erickson is captivated by an elaborately stitched piece of fabric hidden in the house. The truth behind the silk sleeve dated back to 1886, when Mei Lien, the lone survivor of a cruel purge of the Chinese in Seattle found refuge on Orcas Island and shared her tragic experience by embroidering it. As Inara peels back layer upon layer of the centuries of secrets the sleeve holds, her life becomes interwoven with that of Mei Lein. Through the stories Mei Lein tells in silk, Inara uncovers a tragic truth that will shake her family to its core—and force her to make an impossible choice. Should she bring shame to her family and risk everything by telling the truth, or tell no one and dishonor Mei Lien's memory? A touching and tender book for fans of Marie Benedict, Susanna Kearsley, and Duncan Jepson, The Girl Who Wrote in Silk is a dual-time period novel that explores how a delicate piece of silk interweaves the past and the present, reminding us that today's actions have far reaching implications. Praise for The Girl Who Wrote in Silk: "A beautiful, elegiac novel, as finely and delicately woven as the title suggests. Kelli Estes spins a spellbinding tale that illuminates the past in all its brutality and beauty, and the humanity that binds us all together." —Susan Wiggs, New York Times bestselling author of The Beekeeper's Ball "A touching and tender story about discovering the past to bring peace to the present." —Duncan Jepson, author of All the Flowers in Shanghai "Vibrant and tragic, The Girl Who Wrote in Silk explores a horrific, little-known era in our nation's history. Estes sensitively alternates between Mei Lien, a young Chinese-American girl who lived in the late 1800s, and Inara, a modern recent college grad who sets Mei Lien's story free." —Margaret Dilloway, author of How to Be an American Housewife and Sisters of Heart and Snow