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Wings so Soft
Can love bloom in war’s darkest hour?
Mara and her owl work surveillance to keep Kuppham safe, but the news on the Stream is grim. The humans are coming, and she and her owl will soon be in the line of fire. Her once-vibrant city is a ghost town, with little to distract her as she waits for the skin-covered hordes to overrun the Maer capital.
Until one day, this timid little artificer wanders into the aerie, asking to watch her owl land over and over.
Uffrin makes owls powered by clockwork and magic to guard the great automatons on the northern front. He visits the aerie to study the owls’ flight mechanics, but it’s the owl handler who captures his attention. So gentle, so in control, with quick eyes that seem to stay with his all the time.
Amid the looming clouds of war, hearts intertwine and feathers fly, but duty soon flings these two lovebirds apart. If the war goes as badly as everyone seems to fear, how will they ever find each other again?
Love might be the only thing that saves them.
Fly away from your troubles with this standalone fantasy romance, part of the Time Before trio. It’s steamy, with over 150 kisses, and includes a picnic in the park, a date in a basement speakeasy, and a secret mountain lake far from the ravages of war.
Content This book is intended for adult readers only. It includes depictions of wartime violence, drinking, drug use, and explicit, consensual sex scenes.
Mara and her owl work surveillance to keep Kuppham safe, but the news on the Stream is grim. The humans are coming, and she and her owl will soon be in the line of fire. Her once-vibrant city is a ghost town, with little to distract her as she waits for the skin-covered hordes to overrun the Maer capital.
Until one day, this timid little artificer wanders into the aerie, asking to watch her owl land over and over.
Uffrin makes owls powered by clockwork and magic to guard the great automatons on the northern front. He visits the aerie to study the owls’ flight mechanics, but it’s the owl handler who captures his attention. So gentle, so in control, with quick eyes that seem to stay with his all the time.
Amid the looming clouds of war, hearts intertwine and feathers fly, but duty soon flings these two lovebirds apart. If the war goes as badly as everyone seems to fear, how will they ever find each other again?
Love might be the only thing that saves them.
Fly away from your troubles with this standalone fantasy romance, part of the Time Before trio. It’s steamy, with over 150 kisses, and includes a picnic in the park, a date in a basement speakeasy, and a secret mountain lake far from the ravages of war.
Content This book is intended for adult readers only. It includes depictions of wartime violence, drinking, drug use, and explicit, consensual sex scenes.
- GenresRomance
292 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 15, 2023
About the author
Dani Finn
44 books66 followersDani Finn (they/them) is a nonbinary fantasy romance author who occasionally writes fantasy without romance as well.
They favor high-steam love stories that crisscross the gender spectrum, from swords and sorcery to sword-free fantasy with meditation magic and everything in between.
They favor high-steam love stories that crisscross the gender spectrum, from swords and sorcery to sword-free fantasy with meditation magic and everything in between.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
Want to Read
August 23, 2024This is not a full review. I read through the beginning of all 300 SPFBOX contest entries. This was a book I wanted to read more of.
A lonely non-human artificer building an automaton owl begins to wonder if it is more alive than it should be… but his nation is at war with the humans, and his peaceful life will soon be changing.
The tone of this is what I most want to emphasize. It is quiet, gentle, wistful, somewhat sad, but not quite melancholy. There is a sense of longing to our MC, and an enduring, if repressed, hopefulness that I feel in his persistence.
This is a fantasy romance novel, and our MC has already been established beautifully. In only a few pages, I already feel I know him. Not everything about his life maybe, but the sense of his character is profoundly clear to me.
Though a non-human Maer(? I don’t know what that is yet), he feels deeply human to me. The prose is descriptive and precise without ever feeling bogged down. It is measured and precise. Every sentence feels like it’s doing something.
This has been easy to read and engaging in more ways than I expected. The setting has a wonderful sense of depth, which I’m always glimpsing more and more of as our MC moves through the status quo of his life (for now).
The nation is at war. The front is some ways off, but images of human prisoners in chains filter through to the city. There is a magical/technological stream of information our MC can tap into. He likes a special fungus soup.
His mechanical owl looks at him and seems to see him - to really see him - before he powers it down. The light dims in its eyes, and it is surprisingly sad.
In a word, I think this opening is a marvel. There is something really special here, truly special, such that I have to recommend it to everyone.
Even if a romance novel doesn’t sound like something you’d like, I recommend everyone download the free sample from Amazon to read this opening. To all the authors: Dani Finn has made an artistic achievement here that is worth studying. To the readers: you’ll love it.
This was released almost a year ago and has 3 ratings on goodreads, all 5 stars (much like its 10 ratings on Amazon US). I think this deserves much, much more attention. I think we may all be missing out on a sublime novel.
Steady, absorbing, focused, full of feeling and fantastical detail and character, the opening of this fantasy romance had wow’d me. At 0.99c (at the time of this review), it is not to be resisted.
I bought it. I’m in!
A lonely non-human artificer building an automaton owl begins to wonder if it is more alive than it should be… but his nation is at war with the humans, and his peaceful life will soon be changing.
The tone of this is what I most want to emphasize. It is quiet, gentle, wistful, somewhat sad, but not quite melancholy. There is a sense of longing to our MC, and an enduring, if repressed, hopefulness that I feel in his persistence.
This is a fantasy romance novel, and our MC has already been established beautifully. In only a few pages, I already feel I know him. Not everything about his life maybe, but the sense of his character is profoundly clear to me.
Though a non-human Maer(? I don’t know what that is yet), he feels deeply human to me. The prose is descriptive and precise without ever feeling bogged down. It is measured and precise. Every sentence feels like it’s doing something.
This has been easy to read and engaging in more ways than I expected. The setting has a wonderful sense of depth, which I’m always glimpsing more and more of as our MC moves through the status quo of his life (for now).
The nation is at war. The front is some ways off, but images of human prisoners in chains filter through to the city. There is a magical/technological stream of information our MC can tap into. He likes a special fungus soup.
His mechanical owl looks at him and seems to see him - to really see him - before he powers it down. The light dims in its eyes, and it is surprisingly sad.
In a word, I think this opening is a marvel. There is something really special here, truly special, such that I have to recommend it to everyone.
Even if a romance novel doesn’t sound like something you’d like, I recommend everyone download the free sample from Amazon to read this opening. To all the authors: Dani Finn has made an artistic achievement here that is worth studying. To the readers: you’ll love it.
This was released almost a year ago and has 3 ratings on goodreads, all 5 stars (much like its 10 ratings on Amazon US). I think this deserves much, much more attention. I think we may all be missing out on a sublime novel.
Steady, absorbing, focused, full of feeling and fantastical detail and character, the opening of this fantasy romance had wow’d me. At 0.99c (at the time of this review), it is not to be resisted.
I bought it. I’m in!
February 24, 2025
The meeting of two lonely, appealing owl handlers, and their growing affection amid the horrors of approaching war, is lovely and absorbing. Alternating POVs of Mara and Uffrin develop their backgrounds and war work, their culture, and their mounting love. Delightfully steamy. World building felt layered in effortlessly, as I never felt adrift within the Maer world despite not having read any of the other books in this universe yet. The writing is suffused with care for all the characters we meet, whether human or mechanical owl (Friend.) Definitely will go on to read more from Dani Finn!
October 27, 2023
What a sweet (and spicy!) fantasy romance, set amid the horrors of war. I found myself quickly rooting for Mara and Uffrin, as well as Cleo and Friend. My only complaint? I didn't want it to end.
Excellent story. Highly recommend.
Excellent story. Highly recommend.
February 16, 2025
I received a free ARC of this book and am leaving a review voluntarily.
I am sold on any of Dani’s books and this one is no exception. There’s always such clever ideas and the owls in this one are just one example. The way they’re tied into not just our characters but the culture itself is such a wonderfully thought out concept. It’s gives the world such a fun color!
And our couple…I adore how Dani writes romance for a very simple reason—it’s natural. The way they talk is natural, the way they show affection is natural, the cute little gestures that no one else notices in a relationship but absolutely tells you how well someone knows another person…they’re all here. And it’s all healthy. That’s one thing I love seeing. Healthy relationships still treated as romantic and sexy. Dani is a master at it.
If you’re looking for a story with heart, spice and sone lovely owls with a twist of creativity to them, definitely add this to your TBR.
I am sold on any of Dani’s books and this one is no exception. There’s always such clever ideas and the owls in this one are just one example. The way they’re tied into not just our characters but the culture itself is such a wonderfully thought out concept. It’s gives the world such a fun color!
And our couple…I adore how Dani writes romance for a very simple reason—it’s natural. The way they talk is natural, the way they show affection is natural, the cute little gestures that no one else notices in a relationship but absolutely tells you how well someone knows another person…they’re all here. And it’s all healthy. That’s one thing I love seeing. Healthy relationships still treated as romantic and sexy. Dani is a master at it.
If you’re looking for a story with heart, spice and sone lovely owls with a twist of creativity to them, definitely add this to your TBR.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews