The Empress

Bestseller Cast (the House of Night series) kicks off the Towerfall series with this expertly genre-blended romantasy. Chicago marketer Hannah is trapped in a loveless relationship and on an—admittedly stalled—“self-help journey” when she stumbles upon a tarot shop and decides to venture in. A bizarre encounter with the fortune teller working there leaves her rattled—and soon thereafter she’s transported by a tarot card to the fantasy world of Towerfall, which is governed by figures from the major arcana. There she meets alpha male protector Kane, whose help she needs to survive the machinations of the Tower and the Empress—and hopefully get home in one piece. Cast’s sumptuously detailed worldbuilding combines themes from the tarot deck with elements of Regency romance, striking a perfect balance between fantasy and love story. The heroine makes some frustrating and unmotivated decisions and hero Kane’s grizzled warrior shtick can be a bit much. Still, their chemistry is spicy and intense, and a cliffhanger ending will leave readers eager for more. It’s a promising start. (Jan.)