What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

I read this book (I believe the first in a series), taking it out from a local library, in the early- to mid-2000s. One key plot detail stuck in my mind. In a pivotal battle scene involving an valley/cliff, the main character observes one side using black powder (ie gunpowder) to launch projectiles into the cliff/valley wall.
I can offer some more impressionistic description. There was some War-of-the-Roses inspiration, in the form of different sides being called "{color} Rose"

I remember feeling embarrassed to hand the book to a librarian to check it out. Not sure whether this was because of my childlike embarrassment at anything and everything or because the cover had a scantily clad woman. Either way, there was some romantic element which I think went as far as the main character and female lead having sex. ("I think" because I was a child at the time and this book was one of my first encounters with sex in literature, which is one reason I want to revisit it.)

Did you find the book in the teen or the adult section of the library?

How old was the main character? Male or female?

The main character was a young man. I believe they were an adult (but it could have been the fantasy "16 year old adult").

I missed the first part of your question, the book was in the young adult section of the library.

If it could have been published prior to 2000, you might want to check the 20th Century YA Fiction with Sex list.

Although it's not exhaustive, I'm sure.

Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately, I do not see the book there.
Edit: I also do not see it on Young Adult Fiction with Sex.

No prob!

When you say mid 2000s, would it definitely have been read before '07?

I would say "definitely" before '08.

The Warrior Heir sounds kinda similar, but I can't find a cover with a scantily clad woman.

Was your book historical, like a historical fantasy?

I don't think it was The Warrior Heir.
My book was more high fantasy, I don't think it was set on Earth.

Do you remember anything about the fantasy elements?

Did people have magic, were there magical creatures in the book's world?

I'm not sure if people had magic, but think there were "evil" races (whether orcs or goblins or similar).

Maybe something by R.A. Salvatore?

There are quite a few series by him.

I'm curious if it could be one of the Wheel of Time books by Robert Jordan?

Do you remember if it was part of a series?

@Rainbowheart, I looked through the blurbs of the first books in R.A. Salvatore's series and didn't see anything familiar.

@Emily, looked at the blurbs of the first few Wheel of Time books but none of them seemed familiar. Was there a particular book in the series that seems like a match (thinking of the use of black powder specifically).
It was part of a series (think it ended openly), but I only ever found/read that first book.

@Eric there are a lot of battles that had dark black magic used, but there's like over 14 books in the series and I haven't read all of them.

There's also the Temeraire series, one of the books is called the Black Powder War.
It's high fantasy, a male main character, but he has a dragon. So I don't know if that is relatable to the book you're looking for or not.

That motivates me a bit more to start the Wheel of Time series, but I'm fairly certain it's not what I'm looking for (for example, when I say "black powder" I'm referring to literal black powder, not magic).

As for Temeraire, the book I'm looking for was not set on Earth, which it looks like Temeraire is (looks interesting though).

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Found it. It was The Crown and the Sword, by Douglas Niles. One of the Dragonlance novels.

Great! Glad you found your book, Eric. Thanks for the update.

The Crown and the Sword (book 2) of the Dragonlance: Rise of Solamnia series by Douglas Niles

Yay, glad it's solved!