What is the title of your latest release?
THE SEVENTH CHAMPION
What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
A sunshine heroine determined to look on the bright side teams up with a scarred and brooding assassin to escape a competition for her hand in marriage . . . but must discover her own inner fire if she is truly to save the day.
How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
I let my imagination run wild, coming up with the abandoned dwarf city in which the marriage competition trials are hosted! It was a unique setting with lots of potential for creativity and magic along the way.
Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
Absolutely. I think everyone deserves a cheerful Rosie in their lives.
What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Optimistic, determined, kind
What’s something you learned while writing this book?
This book was a constant balancing act of light and dark themes. The setting and situation is full of darkness, but my heroine is so bright and cheerful, the contrast could be a challenge to manage at times! But I loved it and feel it is some of my best work.
Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I draft each chapter back-to-back: first a messy draft, then a polished draft immediately after. In this way I get the best of both worlds: I can let my ideas flow, uninterrupted by perfectionism, but then I can turn around and immediately edit, polish, and know exactly what I have and where the story needs to go next.
What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Samosas! My husband buys me beautiful veggie samosas from our local Indian restaurant every time I finish a manuscript. It’s good motivation!
Describe your writing space/office!
Enormous picture windows overlooking tangled wildwood in which deer and foxes abound. A fireplace with a mantel on which I display special editions of my books. My grandmother’s cozy armchairs, in which she used to sit and embroider every day, and in which I now sit and write (and think of her). A dragon tapestry hangs on one wall, a gift from my husband. Another wall is filled with thirty-plus framed book covers, creating a timeline of my writing career.
Who is an author you admire?
T. Kingfisher. Possibly the most creative voice writing in romantasy of this day and age. Also Beth Brower, who infuses everything she writes with her love of classic literature.
Is there a book that changed your life?
The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley – opened my eyes to what adventurous and romantic female-led fantasy could be!
Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
When I heard from my editor, Mary, at Ace, she told me she had already read my indie-published Bride of the Shadow King before my proposal crossed her desk . . . so she was already a fan of me and my work! It was validation that this was the right home for my newest book baby.
What’s your favorite genre to read?
I love the classics—give me a big, chunky Victorian novel by Elizabeth Gaskell or George Elliot! I’m also a big fan of old school Agatha Christie mysteries.
What’s your favorite movie?
1995 Pride and Prejudice with Collin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. Sublime!
What is your favorite season?
When it’s spring, I say spring, when it’s autumn, I say autumn. So since it’s autumn now, I suppose I have to say autumn!
How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
My husband makes me a GLORIOUS lemon-poppyseed cake with raspberry curd and citrus buttercream. It takes him three days to create and is the best cake in the world.
What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
I recently watched the Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel miniseries on Prime. A perfect combination of fantasy and history for me—I LOVED it. Already want to watch it again.
What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Sri Lankan. My husband is Sri Lankan and is a phenomenal chef. He makes me Sri Lankan feasts, and every bite is more delicious than the last.
What do you do when you have free time?
I enjoy hand-quilting while listening to an audiobook, preferably with several of my five cats curled up around me.. Also long walks in my forest with my many children and my dog.
What can readers expect from you next?
The second book in the Dragon Queen Duology is releasing in late 2026. In the meanwhile, my indie-published series, WarBride is coming to a conclusion in March 2026, and I am currently writing a cozy romantasy, due to release sometime mid-year.
THE SEVENTH CHAMPION by Sylvia Mercedes
Narrator: Katharine Lee McEwan, Steve West
A dragon princess joins forces with a scarred prince to escape a competition for her hand in marriage, unaware he is hiding dark secrets of his own in the first of a new romantasy duology from the author of Bride of the Shadow King.
Swept from her quiet life as an apothecary’s apprentice to the treacherous court of the High King, Rosie Harpwood is shocked to discover she is the long-lost daughter of the demonic Dragon Queen. Reawakening her dormant magic is the kingdom’s only hope for salvation, but the journey is perilous, and she’ll need a champion to guide her. So the High King hosts a series of trials to determine which prince is worthy of the honor — as well as claiming Rosie’s hand in marriage.
Rosie, however, has other ideas.
A talented healer and lover of small, fluffy creatures, Rosie wants nothing to do with demon queens or saving the world. Determined to escape this fate, she joins forces with one of the champions to plot her getaway. Prince Valtar may be enigmatic and a little bit terrifying, but something about him makes her blood burn in ways that have nothing to do with her dragon heritage.
Trained from youth to serve the Dragon Queen, Valtar has proven himself a ruthless assassin. Posing as a suitor to get close enough to his target shouldn’t be a problem. But Valtar wasn’t planning on his target being Rosie, the girl he failed to assassinate years ago . . . who has haunted his dreams ever since.
Fantasy Romance [ Ace, On Sale: November 11, 2025, Trade Paperback / e-Book / audiobook, ISBN: 9780593952238 / eISBN: 9780593952245 ]
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About Sylvia Mercedes
Sylvia Mercedes makes her home in the idyllic North Carolina countryside with her handsome husband, numerous small children, and the dynamic cat duo known as The Fluffy Brothers. When she’s not writing she’s . . . okay, let’s be honest. When she’s not writing, she’s running around after her little girl, cleaning up glitter, trying to plan healthy-ish meals, and wondering where she left her phone. In between, she reads a steady diet of fantasy novels.
But mostly she’s writing.
After a short career in traditional publishing (under a different name), Sylvia decided to take the plunge into the indie publishing world and is enjoying every minute of it. She’s the author of the bestselling Venatrix Chronicles, The Scarred Mage of Roseward trilogy, and the romantic fantasy duology, Of Candlelight and Shadows.
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