Lunar Fire

by Tamara Rendell

Revised and republished as LAHANA (2026), featuring new content and romantic scenes distilled to their essential storytelling elements with suggestive rather than explicit language.

A Saga of The Savage Innocence and Power of Ancient Druidism.

Lahana, an innocent young princess, is traded for an appeasement treaty with a tyrannical king. On arrival, she is immediately caught in a web of evil sorcery and a sex cult – overwhelmed and mesmerised and drugged. Her inner power awakens to fight and escape this dark kingdom.
Her freedom journey takes her to sanctuary with a powerful Druid priest whom awakens her true destiny within her deepest soul’s yearnings.
After trials and tribulations, she becomes a powerful queen and destroys the evil king’s realm and rebirths a new civilisation out of the ashes of a dark age into an era of peace and prosperity.
Her coming of age is full of love and pain until, finally, her true soul mate embraces her vision, and together they triumph over injustice and ignorance.

606 pages, ebook

Published July 20, 2022

About the author

Tamara Rendell has been forever fascinated by mythology, folktales and accounts of magic and mystery. She is inspired by the trees and rambling flower gardens surrounding her home and by an ocean bay along her northern horizon. An author of poetry and fiction, she holds a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from the University of Waikato.

Tamara is the author of Lahana, a novel of ancient paganism, and Mystical Tides, a collection of short fiction and poetry. Autumn Moon, a tale of supernatural Japan, will be released in late 2026. Her work in progress is currently too odd to describe except to say that it features Kassandra and Helen of Troy and is titled The Language of Wonders.

Reviews

[Ivy Whitaker · Rating 5 out of 5]

For starters, I want to say that there are some trigger warnings that should be noted before reading Lunar Fire. These include: sexually explicit content (if we’re going by a salsa gauge, I’d say a spicy medium), domestic abuse (physical, sexual), sexual assault, mentions of suicide/depiction of suicide attempt, and general violence.

I have to begin by saying that I am not at all surprised that Rendell has a background in poetry. Her writing is stunning — her grasp of imagery is positively exquisite. I found myself in a state of writerly envy quite often.

Rendell created a vivid portrait of a magical world with unique mythology that was so exquisite it took my breath away. I was, from the beginning — and to the very end — enamored by this story.

I am keen to find more of Rendell’s work and sink my greedy little claws in! I do hope you do, too!.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Rach · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful and gripping fantasy novel. Definitely a bit lengthy, but worth it. Lahana is a strong protagonist, the worldbuilding and spiritual realm is compelling, the story is never boring. Highly impressed with the author’s writing as well. Although this is fantasy, it has a lot of relatable elements between relationship dynamics. I would recommend this to anyone who loves an adventurous story with romance!

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Andira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lunar Fire chronicles our heroine Lahana's life from a timid young bride being abused by her first husband through her escape, gradual healing and awakening, another failed relationship until she finally finds true love and a partner who appreciates and reveres her. Together they grow spiritually and magically while raising children, founding a nation and taking care of their people.

This was an unusually slow read for me, because i connected deeply with the story on both a spiritual and emotional level and needed time to digest bits and pieces, like you can only have a few spoonfuls of a rich chocolate mousse before it becomes too much. I generally reach for fantasy and romance books when I am looking for an engaging but relaxing read, so it took me by surprise that i found insights and healing for myself here.

It also took me a while to get used to the storytelling. As the book covers so much time, it jumps forward in time from scene to scene, almost like a movie, highlighting the important bits while skipping over months or years where nothing noteworthy happened.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Haley ⚔️ · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was obtained through Book Sirens and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

The world building in this book was absolutely incredible and the characters had a lot of depth to them, however, there seemed to be little to no plot structure and new characters were introduced as if they had been there the entire time. The beginning is extremely confusing because the author does not distinguish between dream, flashback and reality and it is incredibly hard to decipher what is going on most of the time. That being said, there is a lot of depth in the conversations between characters and passages filled with wisdom. If you're up for the challenge of a harder read and love epic fantasies, this book is for you ⚔️

[Toni · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a fantasy book that does a lot of world building and brings in a lot of characters, many of whom you get to know a lot more about than the others. There are a lot of wonderful moments/conversations between characters once you get past the first parts of the book. I will say it was confusing at times in regards to knowing which POV you were reading or if it was a dream. The times also jumps around a lot. I would recommend this book to those who enjoy a fantasy novel that has a lot of depth to it and goes into an extensive world build.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Mc Chanster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. This was a beautifully written book. The depth of the characters and the world building were incredible and I was very much immersed in Lahana’s story. I loved how mythology and spirituality weaved in throughout the novel and I appreciated the romance portion not taking over the entire plot. The relationships and emotions between characters felt honest and there were definitely parts where I felt my heart wretch in my chest. Fantasy isn’t the genre I typically reach for, so the length was a bit of a struggle for me, but I am definitely glad I gave this book a chance.

Thank you Voracious Readers and Tamara Rendell for my copy! All thoughts an opinions are my own.

[Emmeline Everdeen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The words of this book are painted beautifully on the page. A tale woven with a dream like quality. The journey of a lifetime of experience and knowledge and friendship and love. This is an epic tale fitting amongst other Odysseys from times long ago. To say I enjoyed it is an understatement. I still have tears in my eyes from the passing of the character I had watched grow from naive to greatness. I feel I spent a lifetime along side her and the tears are mix of sadness for the end but joy for the reuniting of two perfectly matched souls.
This is a long tale but one that I am thankful to have read.
I received this book from the author through Voracious Readers Only

[Amber Keehn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really good debut novel, a lot of world building and character development that you see in these types of books but with a whimsical temperament that was very poetic in nature. Usually that’s not my type of book but in this case it lended itself nicely to the story. Some of the content, while written in this fanciful style, was pretty sexually explicit and could be a bit triggering for more sensitive readers. There was a lot of very empowering storyline for women as well, which I enjoyed reading. Overall a good book for lovers of high fantasy.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Cat Bowser · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

The world within this book is a fascinating one. There are conflicting cultures, religious beliefs and morals, all that make an intriguing plot.

Our main lead is empathetic and the reader connects with her quite easily. While one might wish her to be a bit more active, especially in the beginning, the story makes it clear very quickly why she isn’t and wanting her to break free of that is definitely one of the draws.

Definitely pick up a copy of this book to explore for yourself.

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The length made this seem a bit daunting but it seems completely necessary in order to tell such a beautiful tale. My favorite thing about this story is the breathtaking imagery. Some books feel like movies, but this one felt like a dream. I knew the scents and atmosphere as if I lived with them my whole life. Being able to encompass that feeling in writing is truly magical (even more so when the story involves actual magic).

*I received this for free by way of Voracious Readers Only in exchange for an honest review*

[Kat M · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was a great mythology and magic story and I really had a great time reading this. The characters were great and I enjoyed what was going on.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Margaret Both · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intriguing concept of the world's mythology beginnings. Well developed characters and descriptions of events and places.
Many thanks to Tamara Rendell for the Complimentary Copy via Voracious Readers Only.

[Rachael Fader · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of Lahanna is one where she comes into her own powers. It does read like one long epic poem. The interwoven tales between the characters throughout this story are fantastic, but there were parts where a major incident/tragedy happened that would be disregarded in the next chapter and not talked about like it never happened. Overall, it was a good, long read that I would encourage others to read and make their own opinion.

[The Mundivagant Bookery · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a poetic styling to this book. It read like an epic poem, however, I couldn't quite get the feel of the culture in the book. I neither loved nor hated this book, but I am glad to have read it and that it is available for others to discover and read.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[samantha • insomniabungalow • · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF