The Empress of Time by Kylie Lee Baker
They had come here expecting to find a runaway orphan, but I would show them a goddess.
Half British Reaper, half Japanese Shinigami Ren Scarborough is no longer the girl who was chased out of England – she is the Goddess of Death ruling Japan’s underworld. But her problems have never been greater. Her Shinigami see her as a foreigner on the throne. Her brother, Neven, is gone, lost in the deep darkness. And her fiancé, Hiro, has been killed by her own hand.
Then Ren receives the most troubling news yet – Reapers have been spotted in Japan, and it’s only a matter of time before Ivy, now Britain’s Death Goddess, comes to claim her revenge.
Ren’s last hope is to appeal to the god of storms and seas, who can turn the tides to send Ivy’s ship away from Japan’s shores. But he’ll help Ren only if she finds a sword lost thousands of years ago – an impossible demand.
Together with the moon god Tsukuyomi, who shares an uncanny resemblance to his brother Hiro, Ren ventures across the country in a race against time. As her journey thrusts her into the middle of scheming gods and dangerous Yokai demons, Ren will have to learn who she can truly trust – and the fate of Japan hangs in the balance.
Published 19 October 2022| Publisher: Harlequin AU | RRP: AUD$19.99
Buy it at: Dymocks | Booktopia | A&R | Abbey’s | QBD
My Blurb (3.5 / 5 stars)
The ending of The Keeper of Night practically killed me so I needed a good & proper closure. I was terribly upset and needless to say, so was Ren. Well, Ren was absolutely LIVID. She would do anything… ANYTHING to get her beloved brother back and that’s what she’s trying to do in this sequel to The Keeper of Night. On top of that, she’s had to put up with insubordination of her underlings AND the British Reapers coming for revenge against her.
There was a lot going on in this book. I must admit that my memory of The Keeper of Night was kind of sketchy but it didn’t really matter in the end. The Empress of Time is another tale of quest and adventure involving Japanese mythology (gods & creatures) wherein Ren finally truly found herself and home. A truly satisfying but grueling ending for our self-made goddess of death.
My thanks to Harlequin Australia for ecopy of book via NetGalley in exchange of my honest thoughts
About the author
Kylie Lee Baker grew up in Boston and has since lived in Atlanta, Salamanca, and Seoul. Her work is informed by her heritage (Japanese, Chinese, & Irish) as well as her experiences living abroad as both a student and teacher. She has a BA in creative writing and Spanish from Emory University and is pursuing a master of library and information science degree at Simmons University. In her free time, she plays the cello, watches horror movies, and bakes too many cookies. The Keeper of Night is her debut novel.
Erin Hahn is an author of YA romances, including “You’d Be Mine”, “More Than Maybe” and “Never Saw You Coming”. Up next, she will be venturing into adult romance with her 2022 debut, “Built to Last”. She married her own YA love interest whom she met on her first day of college and has two kids who are much, much cooler than she ever was at their age. She lives in Michigan, aka the greenest place on earth and has a cat, Gus, who plays fetch and a dog, June, who doesn’t.
Award-winning author Isabella Maldonado wore a gun and badge in real life before turning to crime writing. The first Latina to attain the rank of captain in her police department, she retired as the Commander of Special Investigations and Forensics. During more than two decades on the force, her assignments included hostage negotiator, department spokesperson, and precinct commander. Selected to attend the FBI National Academy in Quantico, she uses her law enforcement background to bring a realistic edge to her writing. She lives in the Phoenix area where her uniform now consists of tank tops and yoga pants. Instead of bad guys, she chases around her young son when she’s not handcuffed to her computer. THE CIPHER, the first book in her new series featuring FBI Special Agent Nina Guerrera, was published in November 2020 and the sequel, A DIFFERENT DAWN, will be published in August 2021.
E.J. Mellow is an award-winning, bestselling author of five novels. She grew up in a household of artists, surrounded by three sisters who were often found traipsing through the small grove of trees near their home. There they morphed into wolves and wild horses, escaping capture from many foe. Today, E.J. has taken her imagination to the page where readers have said her “lyrical, vibrant, and imaginative” writing sweeps them into “stunning worlds”. She is also the co-founder of She Is Booked, a literary themed fundraising organization that supports women’s charities.
mily R. King is the author of the Hundredth Queen series, as well as Before the Broken Star, Into the Hourglass, and Everafter Song in the Evermore Chronicles. Born in Canada and raised in the United States, she is a shark advocate, a consumer of gummy bears, and an islander at heart, but her greatest interests are her children and their three cats.
Tania Blanchard writes historical fiction inspired by her family history. She grew up listening to her grandparents’ fascinating tales of life during World War Two and migrating to Australia. Coming from a family with rich cultural heritage, stories have always been in her blood. Her first novel, The Girl from Munich, was a runaway bestseller and shortlisted for the ABIA Best New Writer Award. Tania lives in Sydney with her husband and three children where she can often be found in the kitchen, cooking up a storm for her family, including her two cheeky dogs who think they’re human too.
Tee O’Fallon is the author of the Federal K-9 Series and the NYPD Blue & Gold Series. Tee has been a federal agent for twenty-three years and is now a police investigator, giving her hands-on experience in the field of law enforcement that she combines with her love of romantic suspense. When not writing, Tee enjoys cooking, gardening, chocolate, lychee martinis, and spending time with her Belgian Sheepdogs Loki and Kyrie.
USA Today Bestselling YA Fantasy Author, Stacey O’Neale, lives in Annapolis, Maryland. When she’s not writing, she spends her time fangirling over books, blogging, podcasting, and hanging out with her husband and daughter.
USA TODAY bestselling author Olivia Wildenstein grew up in New York City and earned her bachelor’s in comparative literature from Brown University. After designing jewelry for a few years, Wildenstein traded in her tools for the writing life, which made more sense considering her college degree.
Katie grew up in Racine, Wisconsin where she acquired an irreversible nasal twang and an addiction for books with a slightly dark edge. She now lives in Geneva, Switzerland with her husband, two daughters, and a very fuzzy cat. She has been an avid reader of YA fiction for years. While she has a penchant for the paranormal, she devours a range of books — along with popcorn and black licorice. She consumes all three in large quantities. Luckily, the books don’t stay on her hips.
Mark Lawrence was born in Champagne-Urbanan, Illinois, to British parents but moved to the UK at the age of one. He went back to the US after taking a PhD in mathematics at Imperial College to work on a variety of research projects including the ‘Star Wars’ missile defence programme. Returning to the UK, he has worked mainly on image processing and decision/reasoning theory. He says he never had any ambition to be a writer so was very surprised when a half-hearted attempt to find an agent turned into a global publishing deal overnight. His first trilogy, THE BROKEN EMPIRE, has been universally acclaimed as a ground-breaking work of fantasy. Following The Broken Empire comes the bestselling RED QUEEN’S WAR trilogy. The BOOK OF THE ANCESTOR trilogy, in an entirely new setting, commences with RED SISTER in 2017. Mark is married, with four children, and lives in Bristol.
Tien's Blurb 