Never the Roses

Description

AN USA TODAY BESTSELLER!

DELUXE EDITION―featuring beautiful stenciled edges, stylish endpapers, a foil casestamp and a detailed map.

The most powerful sorceress in all the world comes face to face with her greatest rival in this enchanting and seductive fantasy romance debut from Jennifer K. Lambert.

“Just beautiful. It’s beautifully written. Academic, intellectual, poetic… it’s everything.” –Katherine Heigl on #booktok

The Dread Sorceress Oneira has retired. She’s fought and won endless wars and has finally exiled herself to a remote forest where the mountains meet the beach.

But with one last curiosity to satisfy, Oneira makes a reckless trip to the most extensive library in existence: the collection of her most powerful rival, the sorcerer Stearanos.

There, she steals a book on rare roses, inadvertently initiating a forbidden correspondence with her once-enemy. Taunting notes and clever retorts reveal a connection neither has found―nor could ever find―in any other.

When Stearanos, bound to a vile king, is called to war against the queen she once served, Oneira knows a relationship with him is far too dangerous to pursue despite their mutual desire.

And yet, Stearanos is far too tempting to ignore…

Exquisitely crafted and bewitchingly lyrical, Never the Roses is like Circe by Madeline Miller meets The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent.

“[A] fresh take on enemies to lovers that will have readers swooning. A must-add for any romantasy shelf.” —Booklist, starred review

Expect:
– Rivals to lovers
– Forbidden love
– Slow burn
– Starcrossed lovers
– Tragic romance
– Dark past
– Redemption
– Unexpected ending

Binding Type: Hardcover
Author: Jennifer K. Lambert
Published: 07/08/2025
Publisher: Bramble
ISBN: 9781250360342
Pages: 368
Weight: 1.00lbs
Size: 1.40″ H x 8.30″ L x 5.70″ W

About the Author
Jennifer K. Lambert lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with her husband of over thirty years, his chocolate-lab assistance dog, two Maine coon cats who assist no one, and plentiful free-range lizards. Her high fantasy novel, Never the Roses, fell on her from out of the sky and became a dream come true. She also writes under the name Jeffe Kennedy, where she is a multi-award-winning and bestselling author primarily in epic fantasy romance, and is a Past-President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA). She is represented by Sarah Younger of Nancy Yost Literary Agency.