While Ellara and Terran's relationship develops quickly, their stories are shared in a more deliberate manner, within their alternating perspectives. This battle-scarred world is built in perfect balance, with enough details to ensnare attention while skirting exposition. The couple learns how to lower their defenses against one another, working to fight on a united front. Though Ellara swears she can never love him, and Terran is certain he can never fully trust her, they agree to a marriage of convenience. Terran, under pressure to marry and produce an heir, counters with an offer of marriage. She offers him a deal: her freedom, and the freedom of her people, in exchange for her service as his sorceress and an alliance with the witches. When Ellara is captured and learns Terran is Aulen's new king, she requests an audience with him, presenting the token he gave her a decade earlier when she saved his life at school. Taller than humans, and possessing powerful abilities and green skin, witches are feared and loathed by humans for now, their exile protects them from genocide. She fought in the war to ensure the freedom of the witches, backing whichever self-declared kings promised to release them from their banishment. He most wants to forge peace, both between the remaining factions, and between the humans and witches banished to Outerland.Įllara is a light witch. Terran comes to its throne having lost his entire family in the war. The fantasy novel The Almost Queen begins in the aftermath of eight years of war, when Aulen is soaked in blood. Retrieved from Īlys Murray THE ALMOST QUEEN Sword & Silk Books (Fiction: Fantasy) 12.99 ISBN: 9781736430040 MLA style: 'The Almost Queen.' The Free Library.

Agent: Maggie Cooper, Aevitas Creative Management. Fans of Grace Draven’s Radiance will find much to admire. Though the ending feels a bit convenient, the tenderness of the romance, playful banter, and courtly scheming are sure to endear readers.

Both Terran and Ellara seek love in a lonely world of death and war, but each must weigh their relationship against loyalty to their people. But marriage to Ellara quickly becomes more than a political machination. Terran is under pressure to marry and sees opportunity in having a witch at his side, despite the disgust and suspicions at High Court. Terran offers mercy in the form of an unthinkable compromise: become his queen. She recognizes the king instantly as the boy who showed her kindness when they were children-and who owes her a debt for once saving his life. As an adult fighting for freedom for her kind, she is captured, accused of treason, and brought to Terran, the new king of Aulen, for execution. Witch Ellara Wist has always felt alone among humans, her magic and green-tinted skin having marked her as an outcast since childhood. Murray ( Small Town Secrets) delivers a fast-paced, enjoyable fantasy romance between a witch fighting for justice and a king trying to avoid another bloody war.

The Almost Queen by Alys Murray