If I wanted to get a chic lit or romance reader into fantasy, I’d give them this series. (First book reviewed here.)
Twyla is 53, and is still trying to trying to find her way into what it really means to be a wife/widow, mother and grandmother. I don’t have kids, but I’m the right age, so it’s all pretty relatable.
She’s also a very competent marshal on a magical island that just might have dragons living on it. I love how normal this fantasy world is – it’s just got the best lived in vibe, and I can see non fantasy readers loving this story. (I particularly like how the gods show up in this book – they seem like they’re separate from humans, until one of them is very much not at an important point of Twyla’s journey.)