If you like sexy winged fae, fantasy-of-manners, and Downton Abbey, then The Lord of Stariel by A J Lancaster will be your cup of Darjeeling.
This book was originally written as a standalone, but thankfully the series continued for three more books, and now a spinoff novel featuring another character pair is on the way too.
Be warned: each book in this series is longer than the last, and each one is un-put-downable, so be prepared for some late nights! I finished book 4 at 3.30am with no regrets.
The cover of this book is also fantastic, so it’s worth getting a hard copy.
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. The Lord of Stariel is the first book in the Stariel quartet, a romantic fantasy-of-manners series about fae, magical estates, and complicated families.
