A Winter’s Promise: Book One of The Mirror Visitor Quartet (The Mirror Visitor Quartet, 1)

An Amazon Best Book of October 2018: Adult readers who gravitated toward the intricate world-building of Harry Potter or reveled in the dark trickeries of Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass will find themselves ensnared by the enchantments of A Winter's Promise. The first in a quartet of books, this assured fantasy novel opens with young museum curator Ophelia becoming unexpectedly affianced to Thorn, a lord from the icy Pole. Arranged marriages aren't uncommon nor unexpected, but everything else about the situation is, from Thorn's apparent dislike of her to the realization that the rest of the Pole nobility definitely hates him…and would be quite happy to kill her. While marooned without allies in a magical court that has no use for her aside from her opaque role in a complex political game, Ophelia quietly develops a spine of steel that she must employ time and again to thwart enemies both obvious and veiled. A Winter's Promise is less a coming-of-age story than a coming-into-power story, as Ophelia puts her trust in her own instincts and wits to seize control of the situation as best she can. Gracefully written, yet potent and often dark, A Winter's Promise will mesmerize readers who have been searching for the next fantasy series to ignite their imaginations. —Adrian Liang, Amazon Book Review