Monday Book Recs--Elliott and Carson

Cold Magic by Kate Elliott

I love everything by Kate Elliott, but this book was particularly good. I enjoyed the alternate history and the steam punk feel of the background setting. I also liked the twists on the romance. You've got a girl who has been promised to a man of a group she hates and her parents have kept this secret from her all her life. He suddenly shows up to claim her, and she is forced to go with him to save her family. But he's mysterious, dark, and nearly silent. Of course, she hates him and mistrusts him. Then gradually she gets to know him a little better. Lots of standard romance tropes are in play here, but Kate Elliott deals them out with a gentle, sure hand. She knows just where to change them, just where to go a little deeper. I loved the sister relationship in this book, too, and the sense that women are women, but also capable of being warriors, witches, and strong in any role. I don't know any writer who does women as well as Kate Elliott.

Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

I picked this up after continued recommendations from friends I trust. Again, this was a book with a forced marriage to an unknown, older man from a different kingdom. The main character is immediately torn away from all familiar surroundings, with only a few friends to sustain her, who are gradually taken away, as well. In this case, the setting was a pseudo Spanish medieval one (I think). I especially liked the godstone which the main character has embedded in her and which makes her valuable to others. I liked how religion was a real part of this fantasy and wasn't either mocked or used as a way to talk about modern religion. I liked the way things were always turning over on their heads, not what the main character or audience expected. Also, this is a main character who thinks of herself as fat. One of the main male leads falls in love with her when she is fat. The other seems only to do so when she has lost a lot of weight after a trying physical experience. Yeah, guess which one I liked better? I won't tell the ending to avoid spoilers, but I was intrigued by it. It certainly wasn't what I expected.