The West Wind

A novice rescues a wounded stranger from the forest, and in doing so lets a god in.

The West Wind by Alexandria Warwick follows Brielle of Thornbrook, who has devoted her life to the abbey and is about to take her vows. Then she finds a badly wounded man in the forest. She nurses him, and only later does it become clear who he really is: Zephyrus, the West Wind himself. His presence drags her into Under, a realm full of creatures with little love for mortals. There Brielle has to work out what her faith is worth when her heart pulls in another direction.

This time, book 2 of The Four Winds draws on the Greek myth of Hero and Leander and the Scottish ballad Tam Lin, which makes for a darker, more fairy-tale-like romantasy than the first book. For anyone who loves fantasy with a strong romance, a heroine with a conscience and a world that is just a little too beautiful to trust. English edition; best enjoyed if you read The North Wind first.