Illusions of Fire [Hardcover]

Romance, magic, and mythology are woven together in this contemporary young adult urban fantasy from the author ofThe Letters We Keep.

Every morning Laila Bansal wakes up and trains in hand-to-hand combat with her adopted aunts who, when not tending to their thriving vineyard, are immortal demons sworn to protect Laila, who was born into a mythological Hindu bloodlineone infused with magic and entrusted with Lord Krishnas secrets of the universe. By all appearances, though, Laila leads a peaceful, protected life.

Then Ahvi, the new boy in town, arrives and immediately seeks out Laila. He happens to be a descendant of a demigod. Both his and Lailas origin stories (found in the Mahabharata, an ancient Hindu epic poem about the great war between demi-gods, witches, and demons) come crashing to the forefront. Magical powers are activated, dark forces converge, and it looks like Lailas quiet town in upstate New York might be the setting of the next epic battle.

Nisha Sharmais a YA and adult contemporary romance writer living in the Philly suburbs with her Alaskan husband, and a plethora of animals named after characters in literature. Her books have been included in best-of lists by the New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, Cosmopolitan, The Washington Post, Time Magazine, and more. Before she left the corporate world, Nisha spearheaded DEI initiatives at billion-dollar companies. She has continued her advocacy work by fighting for marginalized authors in publishing. When she’s not writing about people of color experiencing radical joy or teaching about inclusivity, Nisha can be found hitting the books for her PhD in English and Social Justice. She often consults with her very proud parents on the stories in theMahabharata,the epic poem upon whichIllusions ofFire is inspired by. You can find her online at Nisha-sharma.com or on TikTok and Instagram @nishawrites.
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