Guest post written by Hearts of Fire and Snow co-authors David Bowles and Guadalupe Garcia McCall
David Bowles is an award-winning Mexican American author and translator from Texas. His books include Secret of the Moon Conch, The Smoking Mirror, Feathered Serpent Dark Heart of Sky, and They Call Me Güero. He has been published in the New York Times, School Library Journal, Strange Horizons, English Journal, Rattle, Translation Review, and the Journal of Children’s Literature. In 2017, he was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters, and in 2020, he co-founded #DignidadLiteraria, a social justice movement advocating for greater Latinx representation in publishing.
Guadalupe García McCall is the award-winning author of Secret of the Moon Conch, Under the Mesquite, Summer of the Mariposas, Shame the Stars, All the Stars Denied, and Echoes of Grace. She has received a Pura Belpré Author Award, a Westchester Young Adult Fiction Award, and the Tomás Rivera Mexican-American Children’s Book Award, and was a finalist for the William C. Morris Award and the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy. She advocates for literacy and diverse books. She lives with her husband in Texas.
Releasing June 11, Hearts of Fire and Snow sees award-winning authors David Bowles and Guadalupe García McCall reimagine a beloved Aztec tale of star-crossed lovers with one last chance to reunite.
There’s nothing more alluring than a shady porch swing on a warm, sunny afternoon when it’s too hot to get out but too beautiful to stay indoors. The luxury of such a space can only be made even more relaxing when we lose ourselves within the pages of a great book. And while there are many genres to entice us, none is quite as delicious and tempting as the Romantic Fantasy or Romantasy.
Whatever the contours be—Epic Fantasy, Alternative History, Urban Fantasy, Sword & Sorcery, Steampunk, Historical Fantasy, xianxia, etc.—the sheer joy of slipping into a book filled with not just romance but all kinds of magical, mystical, and fantastical elements truly appeals to readers young and old.
On that note, David Bowles and Guadalupe McCall have curated a list of six swoony romantasies guaranteed to make you curl up on that porch swing dreaming of extraordinary worlds with heroic characters engaged in wondrous, magical adventures while they fall in love.
Some suggestions from Guadalupe:
The Vampire’s Bargain by Jasmine Walt
There are two things I love more than anything in a novel: Vampires is one and Witches are a very close, very marginal, third to Werewolves. So, when I saw the title and then read the description, I was all in!
Kitana Nightshade is one of the most powerful witches in Valentaera. A fierce defender of witchkind and humanity, she stands against the vicious threat of the vampire kingdom until her lover betrays her in cold blood, sealing her away in a magical prison. For fifty long years, Kitana dreams of vengeance. But when she is finally freed, it is by Maximilian, an enigmatic vampire lord. He offers a bargain—assassinate the vampire king, and he’ll help her take back her coven and get revenge. Kitana wouldn’t normally work with a vampire. (Me? I would totally ally, marry, hunt with and do all kinds of vampire things till the end of days.) But the world has changed. The sun has disappeared, the vampires have conquered the human kingdoms, and the witches are nowhere to be found. In a world shrouded by darkness and abandoned by the gods, she needs help. But she’s not expecting to fall for Maximilian.
If you’re ready for a great enemies-to-lovers slow burn romance, then go ahead, take a bite out of this book.
Tales of the Celestial Kingdom by Sue Lynn Tan
I have to admit, I haven’t read Sue Lynn Tan’s Celestial Kingdom romance fantasy novels yet, but they’re in my pile. So when I saw this collection of short stories, I thought it would be the best way to dig into her highly acclaimed, bestselling books, especially because the tales are all set before, during, and after the events in Daughter of the Moon Goddess and Heart of the Sun Warrior.
Tales from the Celestial Kingdom collects nine spellbinding stories set in the enchanting world of Sue Lynn Tan’s stunning debut. Filled with magic and mythology, friendship and love, these stories intertwine through the past, present, and future of the two novels, told from the perspectives of multiple characters, including Chang’e, Shuxiao, Liwei, and Wenzhi.
Another feature I adore in books is artwork and this book is beautifully illustrated by Kelly Chong. If you love to have your mind, heart, and eyes completely immersed in a whole other world, full of the kind of drama that carries you away, then this book is for you!
The Seventh Veil of Salome by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Silvia Moreno-Garcia is one of my most beloved authors. She never fails to bring on the chills and squeals out of me. Mexican Gothic is still my favorite book from her thus far. If you haven’t read it already, then now is the time to do so.
However, when I saw she had another book coming soon, I just had to put it on this list. Even though it doesn’t drop until August 6, The Seventh Veil of Saloma is technically still a summer read, so I say let’s all pre-order it and sit on our hands on our metaphorical porch and wait for it. Because based on this description, it’s going to be epic!
A young woman wins the role of a lifetime in a film about a legendary heroine—but the real drama is behind the scenes in this sumptuous historical epic. It’s 1950s Hollywood, and every actress wants to play Salome in a big-budget movie about the legendary woman and her tragic obsession with John the Baptist.
When the film’s director casts unknown Mexican actress Vera Larios in the lead role, she becomes the talk of the town and an object of envy for Nancy Hartley, a bit player whose career has stalled and who will do anything to win the fame she believes she richly deserves. Two actresses, both determined to make it to the top in Golden Age Hollywood make for a sizzling combination. Add to it a series of love interests that reflect the legend of Salome, and you get the interwoven stories of three women torn between duty and the yearning of their heart. Before the curtain comes down, there will be tears and tragedy aplenty in this sexy Technicolor saga. I have to admit, I love the promise of a heartbreaking, harrowing premise on this one!
Some suggestions from David:
Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas
Vampires of El Norte combines elements of horror, romance, and historical fiction to create a chilling narrative. The book alternates POV chapters between Nena and Néstor, initially a teenage couple in northeastern Mexico in 1837, a time when tensions are on the rise between local Mexican ranchers and Anglo settlers crossing the border from Texas. Nena is fascinated by her grandmother’s folktales, especially of the menacing Cuco, that sucks the blood of its victims and leaves them to die.
One night, the teens’ planned tryst is interrupted by a monstrous being that drains Nena of her blood. Néstor, believing her dead, withdraws from the world for nine long years. Néstor drowns his sorrows in a life of debauchery, while Nena, who has survived and believes herself abandoned by her beloved, trains as a healer in the art of home remedies.
Nena and Néstor unexpectedly reunite when the Anglos bring a full-scale war to Mexico. Nena struggles to forgive Néstor for leaving her and succumbing to a life of vice. But (of course) their romance slowly rekindles in the sweet middle portion of the book, even as the Mexican-American War breaks out and the couple grapples with fear of the unspeakable horror they encountered.
Isabel Cañas carefully balances the historical, romantic, and Gothic folk horror aspects of the novel while offering a freshly creative and compelling depiction of vampires, which she uses as cyphers for the real terrors of aggression and nationalist war. A stunning and swoony Weird Western love story!
Faebound by Saara El-Arifi
In an alternate world where humans, elves, and fae have fought to carve out spaces for their separate peoples, Yeeran is a warrior in the elven army. She has known nothing but violence her whole life. Her sister, Lettle, makes a living as a diviner while seeking prophecies of a better future. When a fatal mistake leads to Yeeran’s exile from the Elven lands, they are both forced into the terrifying wilderness beyond their borders. There they encounter the impossible: the fae, who haven’t been seen for a millennium. But Yeeran and Lettle are thrust into the seductive fae court and find themselves torn between their loyalty to their elven homeland and each other, and to their hearts. For the sisters find themselves drawn inexorably toward two people: Yeeran to the genderfluid fae “princess” Furi, whom she lusts after even while initially hating, and Lettle to Rayan, the Captain of Yeeran’s regiment, who has followed the sisters into this realm … and whose tragic fate Lettle is devastated to augur.
The first book of a trilogy, Faebound plays brilliantly with the tropes of the genre, giving us Black elves and lots of queer representation, from Sapphic love to nonbinary fae. Highly recommended!
Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (translated by Suika)
Xianxia is a genre of fantasy popular in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, a blend of magic and martial arts. One of the main elements is the existence of mage warriors who “cultivate” (add to and strengthen) their spiritual energy (chi) through various means, making themselves more powerful and often virtually immortal.
A danmei (gay) webnovel in this genre that took the world by storm is 魔道祖师 (Mó Dào Zǔ Shī, popularly referred to as MDZS), translated into English as five bestselling volumes titled Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation. The series centers on two very different men. One is Wei Wuxian, orphaned as a child, who, while fiercely loyal and just, is also a sarcastic rogue with little patience for tradition and tendency to see the world in shades of gray. The other is Lan Wangji, his polar opposite, a quiet proponent of tradition and proper cultivation from a very respectable clan.
The two study together as young men and become very close (each harboring an unspoken, unrequited desire for the other). But various twists of fate lead Wei Wuxian to start cultivating using darker energy derived from ghosts and revenants. He is eventually killed in a massive conflict among clans … but returns thirteen years later in a new body, reconnecting with Lan Wangji as they try to understand the villains behind the scenes. They realize they feel more for each than friendship, and a really amazing romance blossoms between them.
When the novel was adapted for TV (the English title is Untamed), the Chinese government’s prohibition of LGBTQ content meant their love became more brotherly, though clearly gay-coded. If you decide to watch it, I recommend reading the books first.
