The Bookies Bookstore recommends titles that indulge fantasy

Each week as part of SunLit — The Sun’s literature section — we feature staff recommendations from book stores across Colorado. This week, the staff from The Bookies Bookstore in Denver recommends three books that offer an entertaining escape.

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From the publisher: Sir Una Everlasting was Dominion’s greatest hero: the orphaned girl who became a knight, who died for queen and country. Her legend lives on in songs and stories, in children’s books and recruiting posters — but her life as it truly happened has been forgotten.

Centuries later, Owen Mallory — failed soldier, struggling scholar — falls in love with the tale of Una Everlasting. Her story takes him to war, to the archives — and then into the past itself. Una and Owen are tangled together in time, bound to retell the same story over and over again, no matter what it costs. But that story always ends the same way. If they want to rewrite Una’s legend — if they want to tell a different story — they’ll have to rewrite history itself.

From Krystal Murphy, bookstore events coordinator: A quote from this book sums it up in one sentence: “Time travel is f*cking complicated.” This story captured my heart, and rather than feel redundant in its unique style of revisionist history, I found myself rooting for Una the lady knight and Owen the quirky historian over and over again, in their quest to find their happily ever after.

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From the publisher: Guy Shadowfade is dead, and after a lifetime as the dark sorcerer’s right-hand, Violet Thistlewaite is determined to start over — not as the fearsome Thornwitch, but as someone kind. Someone better. Someone good.

The quaint town of Dragon’s Rest, Violet decides, will be her second chance — she’ll set down roots, open a flower shop, keep her sentient (mildly homicidal) houseplant in check, and prune dark magic from the twisted boughs of her life. Violet’s vibrant bouquets and cheerful enchantments soon charm the welcoming townsfolk, though nothing seems to impress the prickly yet dashingly handsome Nathaniel Marsh, an alchemist sharing her greenhouse. With a struggling business and his own second chance seemingly out of reach, Nathaniel has no time for flowers or frippery — and certainly none for the intriguing witch next door.

When a mysterious blight endangers every living plant in Dragon’s Rest, Violet and Nathaniel must work together, through their fears, pasts, and growing feelings for one another, to save their community. But with a figure from her previous life knocking at her door and her secrets threatening to uproot everything she’s worked so hard to grow, Violet can’t help but wonder…does a former villain truly deserve a happily-ever-after?

From Krista Carlton, manager: Debut novel from a Colorado author, this book was a pleasant cozy fantasy with likable and relatable main characters (plus a little spice to heat things up). It was sweet, exciting and fantastical all while being sincere conversation about a villain’s history and her quest to be good. A perfect autumn read!

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From the publisher: When private investigator Shyla Sinclair is invited to the looming mansion of eccentric billionaire Saxton Braith, she’s more than a little suspicious. The last thing she expects to see that night is Braith’s assistant driving an iron rod straight through the back of his skull. Scratch that — the last thing she expects to see is Braith’s resurrection afterward.

Braith can’t die, it turns out, but he has no explanation for his immortality, and very few intact memories of his past. Which is why he wants to pay Shyla millions to investigate him, and bring his long-buried history to light.
Shyla can’t help but be intrigued, but she’s also trapped by the offer. Braith has made it clear that he knows she’s the only person he can trust with his secret, because he knows all about hers.

From Kirstin Gulling, owner: A blend of good old fashioned private detective mystery mixed with horror, splashed with found family and ultimately about our ability to forgive. “Dead First” starts with a woman private investigator with a hidden past, asked — or maybe threatened — into finding out why her rich client cannot die.  The investigation quickly gives way to horror as the PI unearths a supernatural secret that endangers her family.

Type of Story: Review

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