Bitter Medicine
“The only romance novels I go for these days include elves and fairies in slow-burn steam and magical mythology…and Mia Tsai’s debut has plenty of all of it.”
Ms. Magazine
A New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice of the Week
A BuzzFeed Books Pick of Must-Reads
A Literary Hub Pick of the Month
A Publishers Weekly Pick of the Top 10 SF, Fantasy & Horror Books of Spring
The Mary Sue Book Club Pick for the Month
As a descendant of the Chinese god of medicine, ignored middle child Elle was destined to be a doctor. Instead, she is underemployed as a mediocre magical calligrapher at the fairy temp agency.
Nevertheless, Elle has been covertly outfitting her client and crush with high-powered glyphs.
Half-elf Luc, the agency’s top security expert, has his own secret: he is responsible for a curse laid on two children from an old assignment. To heal them, he’ll need to perform his job duties with unrelenting excellence and earn time off from his tyrannical boss.
When Elle saves Luc’s life on a mission, he brings her a gift and a request for stronger magic—except the next job is to hunt down Elle’s murderous younger brother. But Elle is loyal to her family, and Luc is bound by his true name. To win freedom from duty, and find happiness together, they will need to make unexpected sacrifices.
Praise