Babylon Steel

Babylon Steel, ex-sword-for-hire, ex… other things, runs the best brothel in Scalentine; city of many portals, two moons, and a wide variety of races, were-creatures, and religions, not to mention the occasional insane warlock.
She’s not having a good week.  The Vessels of Purity are protesting against brothels, women in the trade are being attacked, it’s tax time, and there’s not enough money to pay the bill.  So when the mysterious Darask Fain offers her a job finding a missing girl, Babylon decides to take it.  But the missing girl is not what she seems, and neither is Darask Fain. In the meantime twomoon is approaching, and more than just a few night’s takings are at risk when Babylon’s hidden past reaches out to grab her by the throat.

“Ingenious, gripping and full of pleasures on every level. Exceptional.” Mike Carey

Dangerous Gifts

Babylon Steel, former avatar of the goddess of sex and war and owner of the Scarlet Lantern brothel, has been offered a job as bodyguard to Enthemmerlee, candidate for the Council of Incandress, and as spy for the barely acknowledged government of Scalentine. Incandress is on the verge of civil war; Enthemmerlee represents the hopes or fears of many of its people and is a prime target for assassination.

Babylon must somehow turn Enthemmerlee’s useless household guard into a disciplined fighting force, dodge the “Moral Statutes” and soothe the very lovely, and annoyed, diplomat Darask Fain, who had no intention of joining her on Incandress. And all the while, those she most loves back home are facing a threat she’d never dreamed existed…

“Dangerous Gifts has all the qualities that made Babylon Steel such a pleasure to read: a blend of comedy, romance, and action that’s smart, sexy and fun, but with enough of a dark edge that it retains a necessary degree of realism…” Simon Bestwick