The Arestea Chronicles

The Black Lily, Book 1 of The Arestea Chronicles

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Courtesan. Spy. Assassin.

Across the Kingdom of Arestea, the shadowy league of professional killers known simply as the Guild has long since earned its terrifying reputation. And none of its current members are more infamous than the Black Lily. No one knows who the Lily is, but everyone recognizes the efficiency with which he or she brings down even the most guarded targets. There is no one, it is said, who is safe from this fiend once they have caught the assassin’s attention.

Now Lily herself is about to discover if her reputation has been inflated or not, for she has just been assigned the most daunting mission of her career: infiltrate the royal palace and eliminate the entire Arestean line of succession to make room for the Guild’s puppet ruler. It’s a challenging job, but one that will secure her place in history should she succeed.

But when unplanned circumstances take the king from his country to help secure the front lines in his latest war of expansion, Lily is left trapped in her assumed persona behind the palace walls and forced to stall for time. And when a particularly bad stroke of luck reveals her cover to the king’s brother, Crown Prince Adrian, Lily finds herself ensnared in her own web, forced to use all her skills of subterfuge and manipulation if she is to stay one step ahead of the naïve but righteous young man and finish her mission — or die trying.

What reviewers are saying about The Black Lily

Kitty G (SPFBO reviewer):

“I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this read as it’s a premise which could be relatively predictable, but it was written and read very cleanly and I found myself really curious for the next in the series after finishing it…. What I like about this book compared to other assassin books I have read is that Lily felt like a relatable character and a realistic one from her personality through to her past.”

 

Reviews from Amazon:

“If you ever wanted to meet a woman who can walk into a room full of male privilege and freeze the testosterone bath solid, look no further.” -PsAustrinus

“The Black Lily, by writing duo Mandy and G.D. Burkhead, is a low-fantasy thriller dripping with tension of all kinds, romantic, dramatic and sexual.” -Mr. T. Peers

“I tend to get bored with books from this time period due to all of the historical information in it. Not true with the Black Lily at all! No way could I predict what was going to happen, but yet it all flowed smoothly and didn’t seem to suddenly change directions.” -Janet Cline

 

Reviews from Goodreads:

“I would recommend The Black Lily to those interested in the non-magical dark fantasy genre, with assassins, guilds, castles, politics, and espionage galore.” -Jinx:The:Poet

“I felt I was in the castle and in the Kingdom of Arestea. The descriptions are great and the book is filled with unexpected twists. Suspense on every page.” -Jeffrey Hammerhead