The Winged Game
A Novel
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
Fantasy meets sports romance in this sizzling slow-burn novel in which the disgraced star of a brutal magical sport must team up with the rival who destroyed her career, from the #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of The God and the Gumiho.
“Fourth Wing-meets-rugby is something I didn't know I needed in my life, but now I’m obsessed. The Winged Game is going to be the next big thing for sure!”—Ruby Dixon, New York Times bestselling author
Carriwitchet, the violent, rugby-esque game played atop winged beasts, was once Taissa Cho’s whole life, and she was once the United Kingdom’s most promising player. Until her nemesis, rival player Kion Locke, destroyed her career in a single moment. Expelled from the sport in disgrace, Taissa has spent the last two years dreaming of nothing but revenge and relishing watching Kion’s team plummet to the bottom of the league.
So when Taissa is offered the chance to redeem herself and her career, she can’t refuse—even if the offer is coming from the very man who ruined everything in the first place. It’s close to a dream come true . . . except for that pesky clause in her contract that demands she and Kion enter a fake relationship in order to garner some much-needed positive PR for the team. This could not be a worse match. Taissa and Kion only have two things in common: their love of the game, and their undying hatred for each other.
Yet as a mysterious illness befalls the winged creatures of the entire league—putting both the beasts’ lives and the very sport itself at stake—the athletes find themselves partnering up in other ways, determined to crack the case of the eerie sickness. As their investigation takes them on a whirlwind adventure, Kion and Taissa are prepared for anything . . .
Anything, that is, but their fake-for-the-cameras relationship to maybe, just maybe, become something real after all.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Former rivals in a magical game must learn to work together in this light and humorous blend of sports romance and contemporary fantasy from Kim (The God and the Gwisin). Two years ago, Taissa Cho was caught using magic to cheat by Kion Locke, effectively banning her from carriwitchet, a sport played on the backs of dragons, wyverns, and other flying beasts, collectively called Wingeds. Now Kion's team, the Stymphs, are on the verge of dissolution due to a generational losing streak. To save them, he recruits Taissa. She knows she's an excellent player and the Stymphs were once a good team, so when things don't improve after she joins up, she becomes convinced their abysmal performance can only be explained by a curse. Meanwhile, Wingeds fall into comas, confirming that curses abound in the carriwitchet circuit. Taissa and Kion's largely antagonistic relationship is magnetic and frequently hilarious, and investigating two major mysteries buoys their slow-burning romance. Somewhat clunky worldbuilding (the magic system is never properly explained) holds this underdog story back a bit, but it's still easy to root for the chaotic and diverse Stymphs and their snarky mounts. Readers in it for the romance will be well pleased.
