12 must-read sci-fi and fantasy releases to escape with this March
By Lacy Baugher
March 2021 book release: Down Comes the Night – Allison Saft
A gothic YA romantic fantasy from debut author Allison Saft, Down Comes the Night is lush, eerie, and feels like something fresh within this genre. A tale of politics and war wrapped around an enemies-turned-maybe-something-more romance and all set inside a crumbling mansion full of deadly secrets all combine to create something truly unique.
Powerful healer Wren Southerland has always struggled to find her place in her kingdom of Danubia, a country that encourages its soldiers to eschew mercy in the name of victory. But when she’s demoted out of the Queen’s Guard, she’ll grasp at a summons from a reclusive lord in a neighboring country, determined to figure out a way to broker peace between two nations that have been at war for centuries.
But when she arrives she’s stunned to learn that the patient she’s been sent to heal is actually Hal Cavendish, the man known as the Reaper of Vesria and a sworn enemy of her people. He’s responsible for many deaths, and Wren wants nothing more than to punish him for the things he’s done. But since Wren can’t leave the estate, the two are forced to get to know one another, and when they discover a sinister secret, they’ll have to figure out how to save their kingdoms together.
The official synopsis offers a bit more detail about the story.
"Wren Southerland is the most talented healer in the Queen’s Guard, but her reckless actions have repeatedly put her on thin ice with her superiors. So when a letter arrives from a reclusive lord, asking Wren to come to his estate to cure his servant from a mysterious disease, she seizes the chance to prove herself. When she arrives at Colwick Hall, Wren realizes that nothing is what it seems. Particularly when she discovers her patient is actually Hal Cavendish, the sworn enemy of her kingdom. As the snowy mountains make it impossible to leave the estate, Wren and Hal grow closer as they uncover a sinister plot that could destroy everything they hold dear. But choosing love could doom both their kingdoms."
Down Comes the Night is available on March 2.