The Younger Gods

Shepard pivots into romantasy (after the contemporary No One Does It Like You) with this pulse-pounding series launch about a priestess who travels from the mortal world to reach her lost lover. Iona Night-Singer started the mortal rebellion against the greedy god Death, and she paid the price. In a final stand against Death, her lover, Taran, threw himself into the line of fire, securing their victory through his demise. Unable to accept a life without him, Iona appeals to Wesha, the goddess of mercy to whom Iona nearly committed her life. Wesha agrees to help only if Iona can convince Taran to return to the mortal realm. But Taran isn’t in the Underworld, as Iona expected; he’s in the Summerlands, the realm of the gods. Worse, he has no memory of her or his past. Hard and bitter, Taran is far from the person she knew in the rebellion—and he harbors a shocking secret. Meanwhile, Iona is horrified to realize that the other gods are regrouping and preparing to retake the mortal world. Palpable danger and romance fill this fast-paced novel, which comes complete with a complex religious system and some tantalizing teasing about where the series will go next. Fans of Hannah Whitten and Elizabeth May should check this out. (Jan.)