The Lord of Stariel – AJ Lancaster

Hetta Valstar is the black sheep of the family – her father banished her from their home when she wanted to practice magic, and she’s now made a pretty good living for herself in the capital city, practicing illusion magic. But her father has passed away, and she has to go home. Her family rules the land of Stariel, and the land itself will pick the heir. The two leading candidates are her older brother Marius and her cousin Jack. So of course Hetta is chosen.

This is where the story stops being predictable. Naturally, Hetta’s in way over her head, and there’s a whole bunch of fun family dynamics at play, but just to throw a monkey wrench in things, the turnover of the lordship has brought on a Fae incursion. It’s a fun story – nice take on magic, and the Valstar family dynamics are pretty well worked out. I’ll definitely be interested to see where this goes – there are two more books in the series.