(Union Square & Co., February 2025)
Unlike most of her classmates, Laila Bansal doesn’t roll out of bed and head to school. Instead, she wakes up early and trains in hand-to-hand combat with her adopted aunts who, when not tending to their thriving vineyard, are immortal Rakshasi demons sworn to protect Laila. Laila was born into a mythological bloodline—one infused with magic and entrusted with Lord Krishna’s secrets of the universe. By all appearances, though, Laila leads a peaceful, protected life.
Then Ahvi, the new boy in town, arrives and immediately seeks out Laila. He happens to be a descendant of a demi-god. Both his and Laila’s origin stories (found in the Mahabharata, an ancient Hindu epic poem about the great war between demi-gods, witches, and demons) come crashing to the forefront. Magical powers are activated, dark forces converge, and it looks like Laila’s quiet town in upstate New York might be the setting of the next epic battle.
Author Nisha Sharma deftly weaves together romance, magic, and mythology in this contemporary young adult urban fantasy novel.
Nisha Sharma is the author of the contemporary YA novels My So-Called Bollywood Life (a Kirkus starred review, NPR Best Book of 2018, and RITA Award Winner for Best Young Adult Romance) and Radha and Jai’s Recipe for Romance. She is also the author of The Singh Family trilogy (contemporary adult romance) and the rom-com series If Shakespeare Was an Aunty. You can find her online at nisha-sharma.com. She’s also on Twitter and Instagram at @nishawrites. Nisha and her family live in Pennsylvania.