Faraj’s portrait is drawn by the ridiculously amazing Maasyme.
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In Chai and Charmcraft…
Even the powers of the gods can struggle when faced with both scandalized courtiers and gossiping aunties.
His Imperial Highness Nur-ul-shuruq Faraj al-Nadhir has never thought himself a charming sort of prince. He’s shy, round, middle-aged, and always dutiful. But he has also secretly spent years dreaming of a man tending jasmine in a sun-lit window — prophetic visions that led him at last to one blissful night with someone who sees his heart, not his crown.
He did not expect to wake up with a cat walking on his face.
Cat-familiars are forbidden in the Imperial fortress. They might be spies. They might be soul-charmers. They might even sharpen their claws on thousand-year-old tapestries. But Faraj cannot regret that sweet little Sahar chose him — just as he cannot regret Asharan bir Chameli, the enchanting owner of the House of Jasmines. Asharan wants nothing to do with Faraj’s title and power, only his kindness. And Faraj hadn’t expected either the delights or the dilemmas of Asharan’s magical, soft-pawed little gift.
The rules have always been different for the God-Emperor’s brother. Faraj never before realized how much.
Now he’s breakfasting from community cauldrons in back alleys full of children and kittens. His foresight shows him a thousand paths toward disaster, but not the way through. His devoted chamberlain fears that Faraj has been bewitched by a purring agent of chaos, and Faraj can’t exactly say he’s wrong.
When the choice comes down to betraying his lover’s name, his cat-familiar’s life, or his own use of forbidden magic, Faraj does the only thing he can: He gets himself put on trial for heresy, trying to change the laws of the Empire itself.
If his visions always lead him into trouble, he might as well make useful trouble.
Chai and Charmcraft is the first book in a cozy and queer Middle Eastern M/M fantasy trilogy brimming with magic, intrigue, later-in-life romance, body positivity, and so many kittens. Here, nobody needs a magical makeover to be loved exactly as they are — and their night of joy together isn’t where the story ends. That’s where it begins . . .
Looking for more?
Other stories about Faraj and Asharan and their community include Chai and Cat-tales and Haroun and the Study of Mischief.
Content notes
Content notes for Chai and Charmcraft
Per early readers, you may want to have eaten recently and have your favorite beverage at hand!
There is a temporary offstage death of a magic-created cat-familiar who is then resummoned and returns to his usual mischief-making.
Some body insecurities and acephobia are followed by support from their loved ones.
Spice level (not the tea kind): My other books to date haven’t had onstage intimacy. This book does have onstage intimacy, but the details aren’t explicit and the specifics are largely left to your imagination; this is probably a 0 to 1 on the pepper-meter, mainly in the prologue.
So we resolve “will they or won’t they” early on, and after that we explore “how can these two very different people find what they both need in life and relationships?”
As the first book of a trilogy, we don’t get all the way to a final happily-ever-after here, but I do promise a happily-looking-forward.
Lynn Strong 