Mistress of Winter

Years ago, Brophy, the Heir of Autumn, sacrificed himself to save Ohndarien from the insidious Black Emmeria. Ever since, his beloved Shara has spent her life trying to free Brophy from the ensorcelled dreams that keep the ancient terror at bay. But her struggle is all for naught, until the mysterious Arefaine Morgeon returns with the key to releasing the trapped hero. Yet, once woken, Brophy has been twisted into a vicious monster after years of tormented dreams. Heartbroken and betrayed, Shara buries her broken heart in a single-minded quest for pleasure and prestige in the Summer Isles, until she is forced into a deadly clash with a sadistic mage whose power comes from pain and humiliation. In the struggle that follows, both Shara and Brophy will be tested to the limits as they fight to save Ohndarien.

From Publishers Weekly

The sequel to 2006's Heir of Autumn is another tangle of convoluted plots, age-old grudges and old-fashioned empire building seasoned with plenty of sex and violence. Eighteen years earlier, heroic young Brophy sacrificed himself to save the kingdom of Ohndarien, submitting to an endless sleep of terrible dreams induced by a curse called the black emmeria. Since then, the best efforts of sex-magic sorceress Shara have been unable to free him. But then Arefaine Morgeon, the ambitious teenage sorceress revered as a goddess in the kingdom of Ohohhim (the Opal empire), Ohndarien's rival—manages to awaken Brophy. She convinces him to come away with her to the ruined magical city of Efften, where he will finally be free of the taint of the black emmeria. If the Opal empire gains the magical powers of Efften, however, Ohndarien will fall. Carwyn and Fahnestock keep the plot and onslaught of characters churning forward; fantasy readers who missed the first book in the series—and even some who didn't—will find it a challenge to keep up. (May) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

The adventures of Brophy, exiled heir to the city of Ohndarien, and the sorceress-courtesan Shara continue. After Shara has spent years trying to waken Brophy from his accursed sleep, the feat is accomplished by Arefaine, the Awakened Child, a young sorceress who survived 300 years of nightmare. Awakening from one bewitchment into another, Brophy allies himself with Arefaine, while Shara seeks consolation in the Floating Palace, a glittering ship-city full of wealth and intrigue. The drawback for some is that, as in Heir of Autumn (2006), there is so much action and overdone eroticism that the plot gets lost betimes. Frieda MurrayCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Publishers Weekly

“Old-fashioned empire building seasoned with plenty of sex and violence.”

Library Journal

“With its lush settings and erotic passages, [this] should appeal to fans of Terry Goodkind and Jacqueline Carey.”

About the Author

Todd Fahnestock and Giles Carwyn met in high school nineteen years ago. Within an hour of meeting, they started a philosophical conversation they haven't been able to finish yet. Their nomadic lifepaths have crisscrossed again and again. Through the years they have dated the same women, been best man at each other's weddings, and attended the births of each other's children. They currently live twenty-five blocks from each other in Littlewood, Colorado, with their stunning wives, Lara and Tanya, and their freakishly well-named children: Liefke, Elowyn, Luna, and the Dash-man.

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