Recommendations based on "Quasi Redux"

Uncover the lost years of Critical Role’s unrelentingly upbeat undead spellcaster in this original prequel novel to Laudna’s adventures with Bells Hells.   For as long as she can remember, Laudna has had a friend. A mentor. A little voice whispering in her cropped ear, promising that, no matter how monstrous she becomes or how far she wanders, there will always be someone to guide her.   And so, Laudna is content.   But the thought of more—of life, of love, of the magic stirring in her still veins—is unrelenting in its familiarity. More is the dream of the young girl trapped behind the bloodstained walls of Whitestone, and the nightmare of the woman who now stalks the woods outside them. More, Laudna’s little voice reminds her, is dangerous. From Tal’Dorei to Marquet, the world is infested with heroes destined to rid their kingdoms of creatures like Laudna.   The little voice is right, she knows.   But still, she thinks of more. And when she reaches for that dream, what reaches back will change everything.   Written by USA Today bestselling author Cassandra Khaw, Critical Role: Bells Hells—What Doesn’t Break delves into the unexplored years before Laudna joined up with the crew of Bells Hells, chronicling her departure from Whitestone and her solo adventures on the road to Jrusar.

The only guy in the world who could kiss me was about to be taken out by some Nightling with a vendetta against his family. Fallon Bane thought that being cursed to feel pain every time she was touched was the worst thing that would ever happen to her. She was wrong. The worst thing was finding and falling for Ariyon-the only person in the realm who can touch her-only to accidentally trap him in the land of souls and swap powers with him. Now she must act as Maven healer to Queen Solana while trying to figure out how to sneak into the Realm of Eternity to save Ariyon. She drove me crazy, in both good and bad ways, and all I wanted to do was finally kiss her, hold her, feel her body relax into mine like it'd found its missing other half. Aryion Madden had enough to deal with- heir to the throne, Maven healing powers that meant he would die young, and orphaned by Marissa Bane. Then, he met Marissa's daughter and fell in love, upending everything he thought he knew. Now, he has to fight for his life-and maybe his afterlife-against the undead using Fallon's dark magic. And if that's not enough to worry about, all the while, the prophesied Nightling war is approaching.

A woman with the strength to rebel.A shapeshifter who wears the souls of the dead.Together, they face a lethal enemy.Em helped create it. Now she must craft its defeat.In a city owned by industrialists, Em sells her magic to make ends meet. The extraction procedure is brutal and potentially deadly. Desperate for change, she joins an underground resistance movement to weaponize her magic and stop the abuse of workers.Meanwhile, a mysterious voice wakes Ruk from a decades long slumber and compels him to become human. He wants to break free but is torn between his shapeshifter instincts and the needs of the soul that sustains him.On streets haunted by outcasts and predatory automatons, a new danger emerges – an ever-growing corruption of magic and science. Em and Ruk must put aside their differences and pursue it – each for their own reasons.What they discover will forever change their lives…Or end them."Victoriana comes to Sydney in an alternative 19th Century, bringing dark Dickensian factories and even darker souls. Mages too, practising heart magic and skin magic, along with shapeshifters, demons and automata. Mix in a mad scientist, a touch of romance and a plot to keep you guessing—wild! What’s not to love? Highly recommended." —Richard Harland.Edited by Amanda J Spedding and Pete Kempshall.

In this addictive new fantasy series set in a world where magic is fueled by pleasure and pain, an obsessive detective infiltrates a brutal gang of dark mages—knowing that one wrong move will get her killed. . . .The stunning first edition hardcover features teal stained edges, a designed case stamp, and full-color endpaper maps—while supplies last!“A dazzling (and frequently sizzling) new fantasy.”—Kiersten White, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Lucy UndyingTwo decades ago, the Bloodmoons ruthlessly murdered Saffron Killoran’s parents, destroying her idyllic childhood. Hell-bent on revenge, she lies her way into Silvercloak Academy—the training ground for her city’s elite order of detectives—with a single goal: to bring the Bloodmoons to justice.But when Saff’s deception is exposed, rather than being cast out, she’s given a rare opportunity: to go undercover and tear the Bloodmoons down from the inside.Descending into a world where pleasure and pain are the most powerful currencies, Saff must commit some truly heinous deeds to keep her cover—and her life. Not only are there rival gangs and sinister smuggling rings to contend with, but there’s also her growing feelings for the kingpin’s tortured son, with his vicious pet fallowwolf, his dark past, and the curious prophecy foretelling his death at Saffron’s hand.With each day testing her loyalties further, Saff finds her web of lies becoming harder to spin. And when one false step could destroy everything and everyone she’s ever loved . . . the detective who’s dedicated her life to vengeance just might die for it.Book One of the Silvercloak Saga

The most excitement teacher Shannon Parker expected on her summer vacation was a little shopping. But then her latest purchase—a vase with the Celtic goddess Epona on it—somehow switches her into the world of Partholon, where she's treated like a goddess. A very temperamental goddess…It seems that Shannon has stepped into another's role as the Goddess Incarnate of Epona. And while it has some very appealing moments—what woman doesn't like a little pampering now and then?—it also comes with a ritual marriage to a centaur and the threat of war against the evil Fomorians. Oh, and everyone disliking her because they think she's her double.Somehow Shannon needs to figure out how to get back to Oklahoma without being killed, married to a horse or losing her mind….

From USA bestselling author K.M. Moronova comes a delicious arranged-marriage romantasy. In a world ravaged by war and ruled by vengeful gods, love is both a weapon and a curse... Haunted by her role in a massacre that reignited an ancient war, demigod knight Alira is cursed to relive her kingdom's destruction--dying again and again at the hands of the Blood Knight, a ruthless demon commander. But when the demons propose a peace marriage to end the bloodshed, Alira volunteers herself, desperate to break the cycle and save her people. Betrothed to her enemy--who is also the lost demon boy she once tried to save--Alira must navigate a dangerous path between vengeance and forgiveness. Kalel Lornhelm, haunted by his own dark past and the monstrous hunger within him, is torn between hatred and a growing, forbidden attraction. As assassins close in, gods interfere, and the threat of betrayal hangs over their union, Alira and Kalel are forced to confront their intertwined destinies and the curse that binds them. Can their love bring peace to Faultore, or will it doom them all?

A changeling will do anything to find and keep his mate in this smoldering story from New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh.  Bastien Smith is frustrated. A changeling male should be able to track his mate anywhere—through fire and hail, snow and rain. But he keeps finding and losing her scent in the city streets, ever since he first became aware of it two weeks earlier, when the elusive fragrance awakened the leopard within him...  Then Bastien is suddenly confronted with his prey. Kirby is an all-too-human woman who wants Bastien just as much as he wants her. But he can’t deny what his body and senses are telling him: there is a raging chaos inside of Kirby that he doesn’t understand, secrets that whisper awake at midnight and cause her terrible pain. If they’re to have any chance of forever, then he must solve the mystery that is Kirby... Secrets at Midnight originally appeared in Night Shift. INCLUDES A TEASER FOR ALLEGIANCE OF HONOR Praise for Nalini Singh and her Psy-Changeling Novels “Nalini Singh is a master storyteller.”—Maya Banks, #1 New York Times & USA Today bestselling author “An amazing…series.”—USA Today “An amazing storyteller.”—Smexy Books

Mighty Kushiel, of rod and wealLate of the brazen portalsWith blood-tipp'd dart a wound unhealedPricks the eyen of chosen mortalsThe land of Terre d'Ange is a place of unsurpassed beauty and grace. The inhabiting race rose from the seed of angels and men, and they live by one simple rule: Love as thou wilt.Phèdre nó Delaunay was sold into indentured servitude as a child. Her bond was purchased by a nobleman, the first to recognize that she is one pricked by Kushiel's Dart, chosen to forever experience pain and pleasure as one. He trained Phèdre in the courtly arts and the talents of the bedchamber--and, above all, the ability to observe, remember, and analyze. When she stumbled upon a plot that threatened the very foundations of her homeland, she gave up almost everything she held dear to save it. She survived, and lived to have others tell her story, and if they embellished the tale with fabric of mythical splendor, they weren't far off the mark.The hands of the gods weigh heavily upon Phèdre's brow, and they are not finished with her. While the young queen who sits upon the throne is well loved by the people, there are those who believe another should wear the crown... and those who escaped the wrath of the mighty are not yet done with their schemes for power and revenge.

Four of the bestselling names in romance and fantasy come together in this collection of thrilling novellas featuring powerful women who know how to handle a hex or two... New York Times bestselling author Ilona Andrews spinns 'Magic Dreams.' Shapeshifting tigress Dali Harimau finds herself in deep waters when she must challenge a dark being to a battle of wits or risk losing the man for whom she secretly longs. In 'Ice Shards,' New York Times bestselling author Yasmine Galenorn returns to the Otherworld as Iris Kuusi, a Finnish house spirite, journeys to the frozen Northlands to confront the crazed shadow of her former lover and break the curse that is keeping her from marrying the man she loves. National bestselling author Allyson James takes you to Magellan, Arizona, where Stormwalker Janet Begay and her friends are trapped by a powerful curse. It will take every bit of magic simmering beneath her skin for the Stormwalker to survive being 'Double Hexed.' From national bestselling author Jeanne C. Stein comes 'Blood Debt,' in which bounty-hunter-turned-vampire Anna Strong is visited by three witches who ask her to right an old magic wrong. Anna will have to live up to her last name to make it through alive.

Dorina Basarab is a dhampir—half-human, half-vampire. Subject to uncontrollable rages, most dhampirs live very short, very violent lives. But so far, Dory has managed to maintain her sanity by unleashing her anger on those demons and vampires who deserve killing... Dory is used to fighting hard and nasty. So when she wakes up in a strange scientific lab with a strange man standing over her, her first instinct is to take his head off. Luckily, the man is actually the master vampire Louis-Cesare, so he’s not an easy kill. It turns out that Dory had been working with a Vampire Senate task force on the smuggling of magical items and weaponry out of Faerie when she was captured and brought to the lab. But when Louis-Cesare rescues her, she has no memory of what happened to her. To find out what was done to her—and who is behind it—Dory will have to face off with fallen angels, the maddest of mad scientists, and a new breed of vampires that are far worse than undead…