Hello friend. Today’s Indie Recommends Indie post features author Mathilda Zeller and she shares her favorite indie reads. Her debut book, The Revenge of Bridget Cleary, is a YA Historical Fantasy that you can learn more about it at the end of the post.
Mathilda, welcome to Armed with A Book! Since it’s your first time on the blog, can you please tell me and my readers about yourself?
Hello, Kriti, thank you so much for having me! I am an indie author and my first YA historical fantasy debut, The Revenge of Bridget Cleary, was released October 2022. My shorter work has been published in literary magazines, including my novelette, “The Incident at Veniaminov,” which appears in the May 2021 issue of Mermaids Monthly. I have six children ranging from preschoolers to high schoolers, who also keep me very busy.
Do you read a lot of indie books?
I definitely read both! Right now, the divide is about 50/50.
Mathilda’s Indie Recommendations
Miss Percy’s Pocket Guide to the Care and Feeding of British Dragons by Quenby Olson
Adult Cozy Fantasy
Published 2022
Miss Percy Guide #1
Miss Mildred Percy inherits a dragon.
Ah, but we’ve already got ahead of ourselves…
Miss Mildred Percy is a spinster. She does not dance, she has long stopped dreaming, and she certainly does not have adventures. That is, until her great uncle has the audacity to leave her an inheritance, one that includes a dragon’s egg.
The egg – as eggs are wont to do – decides to hatch, and Miss Mildred Percy is suddenly thrust out of the role of “spinster and general wallflower” and into the unprecedented position of “spinster and keeper of dragons.”
But England has not seen a dragon since… well, ever. And now Mildred must contend with raising a dragon (that should not exist), kindling a romance (with a humble vicar), and embarking on an adventure she never thought could be hers for the taking.
First off, this book bucks a very longstanding trend of rendering older women, perhaps especially older single women, as irrelevant, invisible, and undeserving of being centered as the heroine in a fascinating story. Miss Percy is older, unmarried, and dull, but she still gets adventure! Intrigue! Danger! Romance!
While this is a historical fantasy, it does not suffer from the common plague fo death-by-epicness. The stakes are smaller but that doesn’t make them any less significant. Will Miss Percy survive the ordeal of having a baby dragon on her hands? Will she find love with the humble vicar? Will she learn to assert herself? These are questions that are quieter than Epic Battles of Good Versus Evil but no less significant, and Olson writes with all the humor and heart to make us care about a figure that is far too often ignored in society: the aging spinster.
The third person narrative style in this book is also very unique and fun.
📖 Check out my review of Miss Percy’s Pocket Guide to the Care and Feeding of British Dragons here. 📖
Between Jobs by W. R. Gingell
Urban Fantasy
Published 2018
The City Between #1
When you get up in the morning, the last thing you expect to see is a murdered guy hanging outside your window. Things like that tend to draw the attention of the local police, and when you’re squatting in your parents’ old house until you can afford to buy it, another thing you can’t afford is the attention of the cops.
Oh yeah. Hi. My name is Pet. It’s not my real name, but it’s the only one you’re getting. Things like names are important these days.
And it’s not so much that I’m Pet. I am a pet. A human pet: I belong to the two Behindkind fae and the pouty vampire who just moved into my house. It’s not weird, I promise—well, it is weird, yeah. But it’s not weird weird, you know?
The premise to Between Jobs it totally original: A mortal girl with murdered parents must play “pet” to three otherworldly creatures (two fae and a vampire) in order to eventually inherit her family home from them.
And it just gets weirder from there.
The vampire and fae are supernatural investigators solving problems at the intersection between the human and fae world. Humans are killed. Magical creatures are killed. There is a very suspicious human cop who keeps showing up and trying to stick his nose in everyone’s business. There is a soupçon of romance, a heavy helping of violence, and a whole lot of humor and heart. What’s more, it’s the start to a ten book series that is an utter delight to tear through–extremely binge worthy.
This series has stolen the hearts of so many there is a fandom, sheaves of fan art, and online communities devoted to the world of the City Between series.
As if that weren’t enough there’s a spinoff series following Athelas (one of the fae) that is also absolutely hilarious and releasing soon!
The Heir and the Spare by Kate Stradling
YA Fantasy Romance
Published 2021
Standalone
An evil princess, a ruthless persecutor, a wretched match.
Tormented at home and bullied during her studies abroad, second-born Iona of Wessett hides in the quiet corners of her father’s castle. Her art and music provide refuge, but her cruel sister Lisenn ever lurks like a monster stalking its prey.
Such has been her life for twenty years.
However, a promise of reprieve and retribution arrives when the neighboring kingdom of Capria proposes an alliance between their new crown prince and Wessett’s heir to the throne. The treaty will rid Iona of the toxic Lisenn, and the potential groom is none other than her erstwhile bully, Jaoven of Deraval. The marriage could not be more poetic: each deserves the misery the other might inflict.
Except that Jaoven, humbled by the war that elevated his rank, appears to have reformed, and the fate of both kingdoms now hinges on the disastrous union he’s about to make.
In The Heir and the Spare, Kate Stradling has crafted a beautiful Good for Her Story. For the uninitiated, Good for Her Stories (per a brilliant video essay by Rowan Ellis) must meet 5 criteria:
- Female Protagonist
- Protagonist falls victim to an unjust social system. In Iona’s case, she is tormented by her sociopathic older sister, bullied at school, and returns home to find that her bully from school has become engaged to her bully from home. You’d think this would fix everything (they DESERVE each other!) but PLOT TWIST–IT DOES NOT
- Heroine must outsmart/ subvert the unjust system by playing by her own rules. In this case, the rules are that the mean kids and bullies get their way and rule they day. And why should they? That’s not quite fair, is it?
- Heroine feels no guilt for doing things her way, but instead revels in her empowered state
- I can’t say much here without spoilers, but suffice to say, Iona’s empowerment and how she went about getting it were deeply satisfying
- There must be a catharsis for both the heroine and the reader.
If you want a bully romance that is better than a bully romance, the pursuit of good in the face of violent evil, and a fabulous heroine who is strong in unconventional but wonderful ways, this one is for you.
Jester by Brielle Porter
YA Fantasy
Published 2022
Standalone
Lisette’s father killed the King. His execution leaves Lisette alone, disgraced, and without the magic he intended to pass on to her. In Oasis, that’s a problem. Glutted with enchanted performers, Oasis is a sin city where courtiers pay in gold to drink, gamble, and above all, be entertained. To survive on its competitive streets, Lisette peddles paltry illusions in place of magic.
Desperate to prove herself, Lisette enters into a deadly competition to be chosen as the highest-ranked magician in the world, the Queen’s Jester. But her rival, the irritatingly handsome Luc, possesses the one thing Lisette does not—real magic.
Lisette will do anything to win, but when evidence implicating the Queen in her husband’s murder surfaces, Lisette must choose between redeeming her family name, or seizing the fame she’s hungered for her entire life.
In this wild enemies to lovers romp, the worldbuilding is gorgeous, the magic is hot, and stakes are high. Set in an alternate reality Las Vegas with real magic, Lisette is competing for the coveted job of Queen’s jester, against her rival, who seems to have every advantage.
Lisette’s yearning and determination are visceral, her character is well developed, and as a reader, you just bleed for her. As the plot unfolds and layers of complicated backstory and even more complicated emotions arise, this book becomes truly unputdownable.
The plot twists were amazing (and impossible to really talk about without spoilers!), the rivals to lovers (or enemies to lovers?) sizzled, and the worldbuilding–the worldbuilding was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before in YA fantasy. Clever, funny, original, and deeply beautiful, Jester is the sort of book that sticks with you for a long while after it’s done. The vibe is exactly what you might expect to happen if the movie The Prestige had a love child with Ava Max’s song Kings and Queens.
Demigod Magic Academy: Daughter of Zeus by J.A. Bennett
YA Fantasy
Published 2022
Series
A new generation of Demigods has risen, and they hate each other.
Rhea Olympios knows part of her is missing. Her looks, favorite foods, and even her last name are Greek, but the father who gave her those traits chooses to hide. It doesn’t help that Tarpon Springs boasts the largest Greek population outside of the country itself.
Drew is the first person who doesn’t make Rhea feel like she’s other. A Korean immigrant, Drew stands out in her small town. He has everything Rhea could want in a boyfriend, a loving family, a job at a bookstore, and gorgeous brown eyes a girl could fall into forever.
It’s Drew’s secret—however—that will prove to be Rhea’s entire undoing.
The magic Rhea hides in her empty heritage becomes manifest with Drew’s nearness. One minute Rhea is struggling to survive high school. The next, she’s thrown into the world of the gods where power rules and the weak get trodden over.
Rhea must struggle to put herself together or risk tearing everything and everyone apart.
J. A. Bennett is an extraordinary storyteller. Her stories are full of heart and humor, her romances are swoony, and her love interests are smoldering. Inspired by both K-Pop and Greek mythology, this book is everything you could want for a Percy Jackson meets BTS mashup.
Besides being a lovely swoony fantasy romance with K-Pop sensibilities, there is a strong coming of age narrative as Rhea (our heroine) must figure out who she is and what she really wants out of life. The friendship between her and her friend Lina is deeply satisfying, and the romance (and, um, side quests?) sizzle. The rivalries and intrigue between the demi gods keep the plot running thick and fast. Coming of age and learning who you are is much more difficult to do when you are the demi goddess daughter of Zeus with powers you can’t quite figure out and high stakes mysteries you have to solve!
Kissing, friends, lovers, magic, secrets, and coming of age: what more could you want from a magical YA romance?
Mathilda’s Book Spotlight
The Revenge of Bridget Cleary
YA historical fantasy; published 2022
Exiled for a murder her father committed, Brigid Cleary has until midsummer to gather what she needs for readmission to her home in the fairy mound: a chest of stolen gold and a chest full of her father’s blood. With nothing but her own wits and an ability to be mostly unseen, she takes a position as a scullery maid in a country manor house, where stealing gold is easy as dusting the candlesticks.
When discovery of her thieving becomes likely, she scarpers, embarking on a madcap season in London. With midsummer fast approaching, Brigid must recoup her stolen gold in any way she can, even if it means modeling for a lecherous pre Raphaelite artist, posing as a young debutante to spy on other debutantes, and forming a clandestine Pugilism Club for Young Ladies.
With gold filling her pockets and her father newly released from prison, the path back to the fairies should be clear. Or would be, were it not for her growing feelings for Edmund, the gentle young lord who hired her to spy on his sister; her burgeoning sense of loyalty and friendship to Adelaide, the sister upon whom she was meant to spy; and the unsettling question of whether she should–or even could–bloodily avenge her mother’s death.
Inspired by the actual 1895 murder of Bridget Cleary by her husband Michael, the struggle for Irish Home Rule, and events surrounding the late pre Raphaelite artistic movement, The Revenge of Bridget Cleary has been heralded by author Joanna Ruth Meyer as “equal parts haunting, compelling, and thoughtful.”
Find the book on Goodreads and IndieStoryGeek. It is available on Amazon.
If you liked Downton Abbey and Suzannah Clarke’s Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, you’ll like The Revenge of Bridget Cleary.
Did you add any books to your TBR today based on this post or did you see any you have already read? Tell us in the comments!
Thanks for hanging out with us today! Connect with Mathilda on Twitter, Instagram and her website. Join her mailing list here!
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Banner Photo of library by Alfons Morales on Unsplash
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