Demons, angels and magical pipes…best Romantasy out now: The Wretched Divine by Adalyn

The Wretched Divine by Adalyn Grace (Orion £25, 512pp)

In a world torn between angels and demons, the wonderfully named Aurelie Chantelune has a fighting chance of wreaking vengeance: killing a demon will let her bond with an angel and deal with her mother’s slayers.

But there’s more to demons than their swishing tails and diabolic nature. Sexiness, for one thing, along with the ability to enjoy the odd goblet of the finest vintage.

It all makes Yuriel, her handsome angelic bondee, seem like a bit of a plodder and when Aurelie is kidnapped by the self-same handsome devil she swore she’d chopped up, let’s just say that complexity occurs. Sharp, original and compelling.

The Sweetest Fiend by Raven Kennedy (Michael Joseph £22, 480pp)

Leaving aside the fact that the author sounds like one of her characters, this is a smart, searing and sometimes gnarly reworking of the famous Pied Piper fairy story.

Hamelyn is a town ravaged by plagues and hatreds. Right at the bottom of the pile are the Banes, blamed by the townsfolk for everything, so when the Pied Piper magics away the plague and the Bane-born Esti as part of his payment, you’d think she’d be pleased.

Oh no, and despite the Piper’s extreme muscles, clavicular jawline and almost obsessive interest in her, Esti is furiously determined to escape his clutches and the unfair power of magical pipe.

Disenchanted by Lucy Jane Wood (Macmillan £22, 416pp)

A splendidly original setting provides a warm backdrop to this affectionate, funny and endearing story of a disaffected witch. Red-headed, stroppy and engaging, Sage Hemlock is said witch. She’s brimming with power but reluctant to use it, owing to a tragedy in her past.

Instead she gives magical mystery tours of a Port Sunlight-ish hometown, while running her little museum and library.

And then an old book turns out to be more than just ink and paper. It’s a proper spell book and when she inadvertently unlocks its powers, real fairy tales start coming true.