Valley of Wonder and Blood: Epic Romantasy (The Numinous) by Jamie Thornton

On the shattered bones of the Forgotten War, two souls discover the one person the world can never let them keep. In the landmine-scarred Saksmara Valley, a single brush of skin can mean death. Sabel survives by hunting the “buried death” left from a Forgotten War, hiding the truth of what she is: a void-bearer who can unmake anything she touches. If the Emperor’s new Sensing Tithe exposes her forbidden magic, she’ll be collared as an imperial weapon. Aedar Baltha was born to be a Sword: heir to a legendary military line, raised for command, and promised to a political marriage he never chose. Instead, his cursed Numinous gift makes every brush of skin unbearable, drowning him in the raw emotions of others. Gloves, masks, and distance are the only things keeping him upright—until he collides with a strange girl and, for the first time, feels blessed silence. Sabel’s void drinks the fire in Aedar’s blood, making her the only person in the world he can safely touch. In a world of landmines, invaders, and power-hungry courts, their dangerous, impossible bond might be a sanctuary…or the spark that burns everything down. Epic romantasy for readers who like slow burn romance, complex characters, empires at war, forbidden love, enemies-to-lovers, second chance romance, and epic stakes. Read more