A band of killers unites to destroy a god king in Mai Corland's breathtakingly high-action romantic fantasy Five Broken Blades.
Euyn, the former crown prince of Yusan, is mistrustful when his lover-turned-betrayer, Mikail, finds him in hiding. Mikail works as spymaster to King Joon, the elder brother who ordered Euyn to be left for dead. Mikail has come to Euyn with a proposition: kill the god king Joon and take control of Yusan. The king is not just heavily guarded but also wears a crown that renders its owner immortal, so a frontal assault would be a fool's errand. However, Mikail has two aces up his sleeve in Aeri, an adorably quirky master thief, and Sora, an indentured servant raised as an expert seductress and poisoner. Joining them are Aeri's gruff bodyguard, Royo, and nobleman Tiyung, who pines for Sora and is also the son of the man who owns her indenture. To seize the crown, the would-be murderers will have to trust one another, no mean feat when there may be a traitor in their midst.
The party journeys across a vast Korean-inspired fantasy landscape beset with mythical beasts and populated by scheming nobles and suffering peasants. Corland, who has also published middle-grade and YA fiction as Meredith Ireland, explores the chemistry in multiple romantic pairings, and builds a dense network of friendships, alliances, and love. This triple-romance wrapped in a heist and rolled up into an epic fantasy will grab romantasy and fantasy fans alike, and its daring cliffhanger ending will leave its readers breathlessly awaiting the sequel. --Jaclyn Fulwood, blogger at Infinite Reads