Anuja Varghese

The first book in a new medieval India-inspired fantasy trilogy from a remarkable Canadian talent, A Kiss of Crimson Ash teems with rich storytelling, lush worldbuilding, and spice of every variety.

Taara, the pious newly crowned Queen of Abhaya, a resource-rich city-state, must marry whether she wishes to or not. Her betrothed is Garjan, Prince of Nandapore, a neighbouring city-state full of secrets and spellcasters. His forbidden love is Bhediya, a courtesan with magic in her blood. And then there is Roland, a thief by trade, attached to nothing and no one, who stumbles into a power-hungry king’s plot to unearth a weapon that has only lived in myth...until now.

Linked by desire, destiny, and a dangerous foe, these four must summon the power of an ancient goddess and chart a course through the empire’s brothels, temples, taverns, and palaces, forcing them to confront the darkest kinds of magic and the truest parts of themselves—before it’s too late.

Locked in a battle that will reshape the empire, they each must decide: What will they risk for a weapon worth dying for, and a love worth life itself?