Master of Crows by Grace Draven

I love a good epic fantasy and love it even more if it has a good romantic subplot or the romance is the core of the story. Master of Crows has both.

Silhara is a powerful mage who answers to no one. Faced with an evil god who wants to use Silhara to destroy the world, he finds he has to rely on Conclave, the ruling mages, to send him an assistant who can both cast simple spells and help him translate arcane spellbooks.

Martise is a slave whose soul is held captive by a powerful member of Conclave. Sent to spy on Silhara, the Master of Crows, she finds she has a power that will solve all of Silhara’s problems and save the world. But kill her in the process.

I really liked this book. It has its flaws, but Silhara’s moodiness and treatment of Martise actually make sense as his backstory unfolds and given the circumstances he finds himself in. Though there’s instant attraction, the romance grows slowly enough that it makes sense when the two get together. They’re good together. Martise understands Silhara in a way that no one ever has and he not only helps her understand her gift, he moves her to action in ways that years of slavery had begun to erase.

They encourage and inspire each other, they care more about each other the further into the story we get, and they work well together at the thing they both love: magic. All in all, I highly recommend Master of Crows for anyone who wants to read a good epic fantasy romance.

(Note: For those who would like to know in advance, this would be classified, IIRC, as a spicy romance.)