The Lord of Stariel by A.J. Lancaster is book one of the Stariel series. I picked this book up over the winter holidays and fell in love with the series. So far I’ve read the first two books and I’m trying to not move right onto book 3 to pace myself while I wait for the next book in the series to come out. Confession time, I love books about the fae. I’ve never been able to get enough of them and don’t be surprised when you see my posting more fae book recommendations.
The Lord of Stariel is dead. Long live the Lord of Stariel. Whoever that is.
Everyone knows who the magical estate will choose for its next ruler. Or do they?
Will it be the lord’s eldest son, who he despised?
His favourite nephew, with the strongest magical land-sense?
His scandalous daughter, who ran away from home years ago to study illusion?
Hetta knows it won’t be her, and she’s glad of it. Returning home for her father’s funeral, all Hetta has to do is survive the family drama and avoid entanglements with irritatingly attractive local men until the Choosing. Then she can leave.
But whoever Stariel chooses will have bigger problems than eccentric relatives to deal with.
Winged, beautifully deadly problems.
For the first time in centuries, the fae are returning to the Mortal Realm, and only the Lord of Stariel can keep the estate safe.
In theory.
I really enjoyed the family relationships in this book. Hetta originally left to pursue her passion that her father disproved of, but she was surprised to find herself fitting in better with some family members than she expected while also struggling to reconnect after her time gone. It felt realistic and added some interesting nuances to some of the relationships. I also loved how the Stariel lands are basically a character as well with the magical land-sense making it so the lord can sort of speak with the land.
And of course this book has fae in it and I recommend it to my fellow fae lovers. Quick note for Kindle Unlimited users, this was available in KU when I read it and is one of my favorite series I’ve picked up since trying out KU.