I’m a Canadian fantasy and horror writer living on Vancouver Island. In my spare time I collect far too many candles and dabble in tea leaf reading, so stories of witchcraft and witches are naturally right up my alley.
It doesn’t take much beyond the term “sapphic witches” to get me really excited about a book. Additionally, we’ve got elemental magic, blood rituals, and the store in Salem where the main character works is called the “Fly by Night Cauldron” and I was completely sold. This is a light, fun read that I thoroughly enjoyed. I was drawn in by the conflict, not only with the main villain, but a tense history with an ex, and a potential new romance. I really enjoy finding fantasy books where the queerness of the character is not an “issue” or questioned at all. It was something I badly needed as a teen, and it's a relief to be finally getting this kind of thing in literature. I wish I could send it to my younger self!
I found the magic system to be delightful as well, with the elemental powers reminding me strongly of the types of fantasy books I grew up reading.
"Infused with page-turning suspense, bittersweet romance, shocking twists, and tragic turns, Sterling has written a standout debut." --Dana Mele, author of People Like Us
Hannah's a witch, but not the kind you're thinking of. She's the real deal, an Elemental with the power to control fire, earth, water, and air. But even though she lives in Salem, Massachusetts, her magic is a secret she has to keep to herself. If she's ever caught using it in front of a Reg (read: non-witch), she could lose it. For good. So, Hannah spends most of her time avoiding her ex-girlfriend (and fellow…
A laugh-out-loud snarky (and definitely steamy) enemies-to-lovers story about a witch hunter falling for the witch he’s supposed to kill. Though there’s a lot of romance and tension between the characters, we also get a good amount of action and exploration of this world of “Chasseurs” and witches.
New York Times Bestseller * Indiebound Bestseller * An Amazon Best Book of 2019 * B&N's YA Book Club Pick
"A brilliant debut, full of everything I love: a sparkling and fully realized heroine, an intricate and deadly system of magic, and a searing romance that kept me reading long into the night. Serpent & Dove is an absolute gem of a book." -Sarah J. Maas, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Court of Thorns and Roses series
Bound as one, to love, honor, or burn. Book one of a stunning fantasy trilogy, this tale of witchcraft and…
A gorgeous story set in New York’s “gilded age” about magical women forming strong bonds. Also, it’s set in a tea shop called “Tea and Sympathy” and I just wanted to live in that world as I was reading. Not only is Ami McKay a terrific writer, her attention to detail and her research shines through in this book, as even the witchcraft the women practice is based on old folklore and tradition.
Witches Adelaide Thom and Eleanor St Clair have opened a tea shop in Manhattan specialising in cures, palmistry and potions.
When an enchanting woman called Beatrice joins the witches as an apprentice, she soon proves indispensable, but her new life is marred by strange occurrences.
She sees things no one else can see. She hears voices no one else can hear. Has she been touched by magic or is she simply losing her mind?
Amidst the witches' tug-of-war over how best to nurture her gifts, Beatrice disappears.…
A dark and complex feminist story of magic and the patriarchy. A young woman living in a puritanical society discovers the power within herself. Echoes of the church’s own dark history with witch hunts can be found throughout the story, which makes Immanuelle’s story feel real and powerful. With my own history of growing up in religion, the town’s rhetoric about purity and sinfulness really hit home for me. It was in places (particularly at the start) difficult for me to read. But it also completely captured my attention as it felt so real, and it made the ending feel more like a triumph than ever. As someone with a complicated past with religion, there's something cathartic about reading about a character who seizes her own inner power and uses it to tear down the system.
A young woman living in a rigid, puritanical society discovers dark powers within herself in this stunning, feminist fantasy debut.
In the lands of Bethel, where the Prophet's word is law, Immanuelle Moore's very existence is blasphemy. Her mother’s union with an outsider of a different race cast her once-proud family into disgrace, so Immanuelle does her best to worship the Father, follow Holy Protocol, and lead a life of submission, devotion, and absolute conformity, like all the other women in the settlement.
But a mishap lures her into the forbidden Darkwood surrounding Bethel, where the first prophet once chased…
I absolutely loved this story of brujas, magical disasters, and unexpected (and queer) love triangles. Labyrinth Lost explores the subject of family, generational magic, and feeling out of place in your own world. We embark on a quest to rescue Alex’s own family, through the strange, monster-filled underworld of Los Lagos. Welcome to the in-between.
The first book in the Latinx-infused Queer fantasy series from highly acclaimed author Zoraida Cordova that follows three sisters-and teen witches-as they develop their powers and battle magic through epic questing in the realms beyond. Alex is a bruja and the most powerful witch in her family. But she's hated magic ever since it made her father disappear into thin air. So while most girls celebrate their Quinceanera, Alex prepares for her Deathday-the most important day in a bruja's life and her only opportunity to rid herself of magic. But the curse she performs during the ceremony backfires, and her…
Seventeen-year-old Dayna Walsh is struggling to cope with her somatic OCD; the aftermath of being outed as bisexual in her conservative Irish town; and the return of her long-absent mother, who barely seems like a parent. But all that really matters to her is ascending and finally becoming a full witch-plans that are complicated when another coven, rumored to have a history with black magic, arrives with premonitions of death. Dayna immediately finds herself at odds with the bewitchingly frustrating Meiner King, the granddaughter of their coven leader. Then a witch turns up murdered at a local sacred site, along with the blood symbol of the Butcher of Manchester-an infamous serial killer whose trail has long gone cold. If they don't stop the Butcher, one of them will be next.
Willem and Jurriaan have a miserable childhood thanks to their cruel, controlling mother—Louisa Veldkamp, a world-renowned pianist. Dad turns a blind eye. One day, Louisa vanishes without a trace during a family vacation.
Adoptee Anneliese Bakker survives a toxic childhood and leaves home, vowing never to return. While searching for her biological mother, she meets the adult Willem, and they fall in love. Pregnant and engaged, she moves into the family mansion, wanting nothing more than to create a loving family for her child. But the Veldkamps are cold and distant. And why is Louisa a taboo subject?
An expectant mother gets more than she bargained for when she marries into a seemingly perfect family in this gripping debut novel–a must read for fans of A. J. Finn and B. A. Paris.
After surviving a nightmarish childhood, Anneliese Bakker is on the mend and searching for her birth mother. But when she meets Willem, she falls madly in love and finally finds a safe place to land. Engaged and expecting her first child, she moves into the Veldkamp mansion on a stately, tree-lined avenue in Amsterdam. And yet, nothing about Willem’s family is as it seems. Instead of…
