Sorcerous Rivalry by Kaleigh Nicol

          There's something oddly endearing about the idea of a damsel in distress story, we always know how it'll turn out. It's like canned chicken noodle soup, classic, cozy comfort food that always makes you smile. But just like the canned stuff, it's even better when you get the real, homemade version; it's meatier, more filling, and sometimes you can mix up the ingredient list for an out of this world version of the childhood classic. Sorcerous Rivalry is the homemade soup equivalent of that classic damsel in distress story. Kayleigh Nicol brought a whole new list of ingredients to the table and it couldn't have turned out better. Our damsel is actually a male, as is the unsuspecting hero, and the badass barbarian is a woman with loads of smarts and personality.

          He must have been a soldier once, judging by his steady, solid gait and the way his eyes swept the room, as if evaluating it as a potential battlefield. His face held no expression at all, even as he approached the bar and gestured to the innkeeper. He looked perfectly balanced, perfectly aware and perfectly prepared for anything. 

           My favorite part about this book is that the story starts exactly when it should. No backstory or introduction to the characters, Kayleigh just puts us right into the exact moment that the plot starts moving. Reshi (our main character) doesn't know it of course, neither he or the soldier do, but it doesn't take very long for everything to change.

            Reshi is one of seven bastard children born to the king. All seven of them were born with the ability to wield magic. Reshi's ability is that he can take on the shape of any animal that's known for being a witch's familiar (the cat is his favorite). But when society decides to hunt down anyone with magic, Reshi and his siblings run and escape to various areas around the kingdom. Reshi had been hiding with a fairy named Wix until a mage hunter named Kestral came to collect the bounty on him.

       He glanced up, meeting my gaze for the first time since we sat down. 
      "You have unusually colored eyes. Mage blood?"
       I looked away hurriedly. Dust it, what had I gotten into? 
     "Possibly. I grew up in an orphanage in Giltner until they kicked me out. Ended up here after a time." I shrugged. "Are you a mage hunter? Should I be running?"

           But Reshi still has a few tricks up his sleeves and is able to escape the inn before Kestral can hunt him down. Now that Reshi is being hunted again he decides to find his sister Cera, and maybe get his siblings to protect him. Cera is as helpful and loving as he had hoped, so he decides to stick with her and wait for his brother, Velyn to show up.

           Velyn is like Cera, he's charming, friendly, and full of affection for his new found siblings. But for Velyn, being a loving sibling is all an act. He has other plans for his new found family. This is where things start to get spoilery, so I'll stop before I give away to much of the story. There are a lot of other characters that pop up (we get to meet all of Reshi's siblings) but my favorite character of them all was Reshi's older sister Kila. She is everything that a classic barbarian should be. She reboots her power with the blood of her enemies, swears like a sailor, and can drink anyone under the table; the only thing that differs from the classic is that she isn't male. She has all the things we love about barbarians with just a touch of feminine style that makes her absolutely perfect.

          I knew most of us had gone into hiding after our bounties had been posted. But our sister Tekilashan had announced that anyone who wished to kill her could find her on the bloodiest battlefield in the kingdom. The last thing I had heard was that she had killed over forty mage hunters, all while participating in border skirmishes and house wars.

          If you like slow-burning romances, lgbt characters, intriguing magic systems, and enthralling world building, you should definitely give Sorcerous Rivalry a try. The only complaint I have is that it was a little confusing at the beginning with Reshi, but I didn't have to wait very long to figure it out. This book was the perfect mix of action and magic with just a touch of romance to give it some extra flair, I can't wait to read what Kaleigh Nicol puts out next!     

           
Goodreads

Where To Buy:
Amazon

(Also part of Amazon's Kindle Unlimited program)