Shanora Williams: “Expect chaos, adventure, humor, and spicy chemistry.”
In the darkly hilarious romantasy Mayhem and the Mortal, the diversity in this world sets it apart.
Dungeons & Dragons meets The Wizard of Oz in Shanora Williams’ darkly hilarious romantasy adventure Mayhem and the Mortal. The novel follows a young woman so desperate to save her sister from an evil sorcerer’s curse that she hires a ruthless assassin to help her do it.
Their uneasy alliance sparks a laugh-out-loud adventure alongside a band of misfits, one of whom harbors a devastating secret that could ruin her fairy-tale ending.
Mayhem and the Mortal taps into the cultural obsession with forbidden love interests, overcoming odds, and fantasy that refuses to play nice. It’s a book for readers who want their magic messy, their romance dangerous, and their fairy tales turned inside out.
“Expect sheer and utter chaos,” Williams told Paste magazine. “A lot of adventure, a little dark humor, and spicy chemistry between our heroine Zaira, and our morally gray sorcerer-assassin hero Thane.”
For the author, what sets this world apart is the diversity. “Right now, I don’t see many romantasies with lead characters of color,” she says. “So I’m excited to introduce Zaira to everyone and hope she’s loved, despite her differences.”
During the author’s research, however, the most unexpected question that came up is whether women in olden times wore bras. Because, it turns out, experts all disagree.
So, Williams chose to make her characters wear undergarments. “There’s no way a woman can run for her life without a bra or something to hold her girls in place,” she told Paste. “They’d be flopping around everywhere, and we don’t need that kind of fictional nuisance.”
Where to get Mayhem and the Mortal online
Bookshop.org (which also supports your local bookstore!)
Libro.fm (audiobooks which also supports your local bookstore!)
Some related articles:
Bookshop.org: How buying books AND eBooks can support your local bookstore
Libro.fm: Love Audiobooks? How to Support Your Local Bookstore Online
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About author Shanora Williams
Shanora Williams is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than 30 romance and diverse suspense novels. Whether grounded in reality, set in a world of magic, or immersed in suspense, her books explore connection, chaos, and emotions that linger long after the last page.
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Dungeons & Dragons meets The Wizard of Oz in the darkly hilarious romantasy Mayhem and the Mortal when a woman hires an assassin to save her sister from an evil sorcerer. (Chaos ensues.)