After a volatile relationship, all Aura wanted was to start a new life far from her ex-boyfriend, Dave. A sleepy café in a small town seemed the perfect place to reinvent herself, and when a mysterious woman befriends her, enchanting her with fairytales and offering an escape to another world, Aura could have got into more than she bargained for. But when Dave unexpectedly shows up, angry and determined, Aura’s left with little choice but to run.
This time, she runs far, far away, across an invisible border to another world; a world of magic where everything is possible. A world, where Aura is known to everyone but her, as The Princess of Light. And although her new title comes with the daunting responsibility of saving the world, the prize of doing so could give her what she’s always A family.
As Aura engages on a magical journey of discovery, her hopes to break free from Dave once and for all soon start to fade as she realizes that breaking up with The Angel of Darkness is easier said than done. And even the light needs darkness to cast shadows...
Will Aura have the courage to embrace her new world, or will the shadows of her old life keep her in darkness forever?
Author of The Palace of Winds trilogy (book 1 Winds of Destruction) and Heir to The Sun.
I write original fantasy with a twist of humor. I love broken families and found family, soft girls who kick ass, and tough guys who cry. I add love of all colors and shape, and touch on heavy subjects of depression, anxiety, and greif.
A thrilling adventure with an empathetic protagonist
I wasn’t sure what to expect but what I got was a thrilling adventure! The story starts out in the mundane everyday world but the characters involved were so interesting and felt like real people. I enjoyed their interactions with our lead, especially Mike.
Aura is an intriguing protagonist. She has a lot of sound that has been beaten down by an abusive relationship. But I loved seeing her rediscover herself. She is insecure and uncertain but I love that the effects of her previous relationship didn’t just go away. It stays with her. She grows and learns but I appreciate trauma given proper weight.
Truthfully my only gripe with the story is the fate of her abuser. In my mind, it was not a wise choice nor did I find it fulfilling. Honestly, I’m still a bit mad about it.
But everything else in here is good so I’ll forgive it. Aura gives me Usagi-learning-to-be-a-Moon-Princess vibes and that’s high praise.
What an epic adventure this was! I love contemporary fantasy and secret worlds tied to the real one. Definitely some fun worldbuilding going on. But the best part of this book for me were the characters. Aura and Dave/Davnuiel have such a deeply developed arc, both as individuals and together, that it really made for a page turning climax at the end. And the trolls! Loved the trolls, and Aura “marinating” herself had never dying. Nico & Dorian both provided some nice side swoon, and Jackie was the perfect older badass. Overall a really fun read.
I was truly captivated from the start by this brave and troubled young adult’s story. An extremely neurotic boyfriend situation morphs into something way more than she bargained for. Transcending worlds, this is a magical tale of shifters, angels, fallen angels, elves, dwarfs, knights, sorcerers, dragons, and so much more. It was a delight to read, especially watching such an independent modern character fit into all that was expected of her as a princess in a magical world. I highly recommend it to fantasy enthusiast everywhere.
Heir to the Sun is a fantasy written by independent author Karen Lykkebo. The story starts off with a young woman leaving behind an abusive relationship to start life anew in an isolated town.
In terms of characters, Aura has had a rough life. Her parents are dead, she suffers from skull splitting headaches, has nightmares about a fiery car crash, and was lost by the system as a child. A shiny beacon of light in her life are stories that an aunt would tell her, ones so wild that she dismissed them as fairy tales.
The story steers towards the fantastical when her boyfriend returns. After a near fatal escape, she ends up in the very world she thought to be fictional. With the world teetering on the brink of oblivion, Aura must drive headfirst into her new reality.
Lykkebo weaves a tale that evokes the nostalgia of the fairy tales of old, but with a modern take. While Aura is no damsel in distress, she feels entirely human and believable. Ultimately, this quick read has a satisfying ending and will leave you yearning for more!
After all kinds of fantasy, mystery, sci-fi books, movies and series I really didn't think I could be surprised. But here I was. reading and mind were blown how from troubled and struggling young women formed into something else. Something totally new and I couldn't wrap my head around it and found myself clueless while I tried to predict what will happen next. When I least expected I was thrown into a major fantasy battle from every direction. No prep or warning. I was going through pages forgetting everything around me. And irritated every time someone tried to snap me out of it. Karen has mastered the balance between thrilling action and quiet breathing spaces. Still leaving a whole bunch of questions in the air. Questions preventing you to put down a book. Yearning for more and more. With super vivid descriptions of everything, you will be lost in a supernatural wonderland growing and exploring alongside Aura. Never going too overboard with the description but giving just enough to really get the picture. Or the feelings of characters - the curiosity, fear, anger, frustration, love.
A fascinating read. When her already challenging world is suddenly turned upside down, Aura reacts... badly. She drinks, she swears, she is belligerent and difficult... her reactions are very believable in an absolutely incredible world. Lykkebo writes an absorbing depiction of a woman who has faced a life of misery and adversity, whose reality is completely shifted out from under her: nothing is what it seems, and she finds out that her whole (albeit crappy) life – and everyone she knows – has been a lie.
Lykkebo's main strength is in her characters and their relationships. The plot is slightly overshadowed by the characters, who leap from the page with humour, bitterness, and fittingly inappropriate behaviour. I'm looking forward to seeing how they develop as the adventure continues in the next book in the series.
Heir to the Sun starts out slow building up revealing one secret after another that kept me on the edge of my seat wondering and waiting how everything was going to intertwine in the end. There were more twists and turns than a spiral staircase. I was drawn in from the first page wondering what was going on as each character was introduced giving us a little insight into each as their stories were revealed.
The suspense and mystery alone are enough to keep those pages turning. All of the characters were great and amazing well, maybe not all but most. There was this one character which I kept waiting for each and every appearance to see where they were going to end up next. A character that I do consider as one of the main characters in Heir to the Sun and that is the relm themselves.
interesting story but the continued interactions with Dave as a love interest were a mistake
This is an interesting story, but Dave has no place in it as he is an abusive boyfriend to the main character and he is allowed to stay in her life by angels no less.
I like the main character as she was fun and thought of ways to save others.