Tricia Levenseller Storms into Adult Romantasy withWhat Fury Brings— See the Cover! (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Brekke Felt; Macmillan

Young adult author Tricia Levenseller is back for another tale of romance, fantasy and more — and this time, she’s making her first foray into adult fiction.

What Fury Brings,due out this fall from Feiwel, an imprint of Macmillan Publishing Group, tells the tale of a warrior princess who must kidnap a husband of noble blood from a neighboring kingdom in order to take her rightful place as queen, according to an official synopsis.

And while she’s known for YA fantasies like herNew York TimesbestsellersThe Shadows Between UsandThe Darkness WithinUs, Levenseller’s stories of romantic affairs, magic and battles for the control of the throne — all with a young audience in mind —What Fury Bringswill take a more adult approach to these affairs, the author tells PEOPLE.

“The differences between any two age categories are always the themes of the story,” Levenseller says, explaining that the themes in her books for younger audiences are about their “firsts” in life — like love, careers, leaving home and rebellion.

Macmillan

“Meanwhile [adult] characters already know who they are. They’re often established with jobs and in their social circle,” Levenseller tells PEOPLE. “The plot is less about figuring out who you are and more about figuring out how to be who you are in an ever-changing world. There is also, of course, the freedom to be a little less reined-in when writing for adults. I don’t have to use as much tact when discussing difficult topics, and it’s okay to be a little more graphic.”

According to the author, “it was exciting and freeing to write in this way for a change.”

Levenseller’s new novel gets to take some of these new “graphic” liberties to the extreme, as she tells PEOPLEWhat Fury Bringscontains some of the steamiest scenes she’s put in a book yet.

“I’m so excited to expand as an author as well as to provide a different kind of story for readers,” she says. “I love reading romance novels, but I’ve found that even the ones featuring strong female characters tend to have them be very submissive in the bedroom.”

“I wanted to see a woman who dominates on the battlefield as much as in the bedroom,” the author adds. “Better yet, what happens when a dominant woman and a dominant man clash? How do they find equality in all aspects of their relationship when one innately has power over the other?”

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The case art for ‘What Fury Brings.'.Macmillan

What Fury Brings’ explores gender roles in and out of the bedroom, taking what we think we know about how they work and turning those ideas on their head.

“This world is a complete reversal of our own,” the author teases. “Men are the weaker sex. They can’t hold their own property. Everything they own becomes their wives'. I wanted to look at gender roles and play around with reversing them.”

All in all, “readers can expect to see romance, political intrigue, action/adventure, humor and a little bit of magic in this story,” Levenseller tells PEOPLE. “At its core though,What Fury Bringsis a romance, and I hope readers will enjoy seeing Olerra and Sanos clash in the best ways.”

What Fury Bringsis set to hit shelves on Sept. 23, 2025 and is available now for preorder, wherever books are sold.

source: people.com