My Lady Mage

Morgan (The Darkness Beyond) opens the Warriors of the Mist series with a sweet romance in a bland fantasy setting. Merewen’s gift for controlling wild horses makes her valuable to her uncle, Fagan, but she can’t protect her family from his cruelty or save the land of Agathia from the plague of dark magic. Her attempt to summon a hero raises five warriors—all equipped with magical animal companions and boatloads of heroic manliness—from their centuries-long sleep under the river. Their leader, Gideon, is torn between his desire for Merewen and his knowledge that once the warriors bring justice, he is cursed to fall asleep once more. The broadly generic fantasy world has little sense of time or place, but Morgan’s smooth, natural storytelling conveys the caring relationships among the longtime friends, and between humans and animals, with a surprising amount of warmth. Agent: Michelle Grajkowski, 3 Seas Literary Agency. (July)