History Literature / AmaranthineSaga

The first book, ''Tsumiko and the Enslaved Fox'', was published in 2018 by Twinkle Press, followed by ''Kimiko and the Accidental Proposal'' and ''Tamiko and the Two Janitors'', as well as short stories "Marked by Stars" and "Followed by Thunder." There are expected to be seven full-length entries in the series. Audiobooks for the series are produced by Tantor Audio and narrated by Travis Baldree.

* AMagicContractComesWithAKiss: It is traditional for Amaranthine bonds to be initiated with a kiss, with the most prominent example being when Tsumiko and Argent must kiss during their bonding in the first book, although it crops up several other times.

** Jaques himself counts, as his attraction to Argent is obvious (and the on-going serial "Lord Mettlebright's Man" makes it clear he [[EatingTheEyeCandy appreciates]] male beauty in many different persons), but it's less clear whether his pursuit of Tsumiko (and the flirtation he employs towards it) is solely materially based in an effort to get his hands on her fortune--and Argent--or whether he is also attracted in any way to women.

** Suzuu Ferust and Akira Hajime: From the first book, they are noted to be constant companions, roommates who sleep on the floor together (albeit Suzuu usually in birdform), and Suzuu is frequently touching Akira. After seeing a picture of the two of them, Gingko suggests to Tsumiko (Akira's sister) that they are a couple, which she brushes off, partly because they are both young teens at that point. Having said that, Suzuu basically treats Tsumiko as his sister-in-law when they finally meet, and Argent, although highly possessive in regards to potential rivals, easily accepts this. By the second book, when Akira is a senior in high school, Akira has been officially accepted as part of Suzuu's family and Suzuu starts to obsess over the inevitability of [[WeAreAsMayflies Akira's death]] and an old legend that might grant him immortality. Akira makes a joke about Suzuu getting him pregnant (in context, it's [[WonderChild non-sexual)]]. The term used to describe their relationship is "nestmate" which is similar to, but not identical to, the "bondmate" used by canonical couples (and the avian couples in Book Three don't disclose which term they use for their relationships), and conflicting dialogue throughout the series casts either a platonic or romantic light on their relationship, ultimately leaving it unclear whether
*** Akira and Suzuu are in a reciprocal gay relationship
*** Suzuu is in love with Akira, but [[IncompatibleOrientation Akira sees their relationship platonically]]
*** Suzuu and Akira are both into each other, but Akira does not understand Amaranthine culture enough to signal his reciprocation of Suzuu's feelings
*** Akira and Suzuu are supposed to be very good friends

** The shop-boys in ''Tamiko and the Two Janitors'' that explicitly harass ''male'' customers and trying to make them put on various ensembles to become beautiful. However, avian clans are shown to be flamboyant throughout the series without it necessarily affecting their sexuality, with [[CampStraight Cyril Sunfletch]] being explicitly MistakenForGay

* ConvenientlyAnOrphan: Tsumiko and Akira, which allows Tsumiko to be scooped up and enfolded into the secrets of Stately House with a minimum of fuss. Averted for the other heroines, however, who have loving, if sometimes inteferring families. Ash is an orphan, but there's nothing convenient about it, and he has an adoptive family involved in the plot.

* HalfHumanHybrid: Children of unions between Amarathine and humans are called "crossers". Unlike their Amaranthine parent, they cannot change into an animalistic "truest form", and so show much more obvious animal traits in their appearance than full-blooded Amarathine do. They typically do not seem as magically powerfully as their full Amaranthine parents, but retain an Amarathine lifespan.

* TheIngenue: Tsumiko is so kind, accepting, and generous that others assume she must be naive and easily manipulated. Tsumiko herself disputes this, pointing out that she was ''ignorant,'' not naive, when she was first introduced to Stately House and TheMasquerade, and she has taken pains to educate herself, and that she has only given her trust to people who are actually worthy of it. She bears this out when she and Argent travel to England and she puts on a show of total childlike innocence and naivety that delights Argent to no end.

* IntimateHealing: Tending has a tendency to come across as this, especially as the tending sessions between Tsumiko and Argent are very obvious ShipTease... which makes the tending scenes between characters who otherwise seem to have platonic relationships somewhat confusing.

* LongestPregnancyEver: Amarathine, being long-lived, also take much, much longer than humans to heal, sleep, and to gestate. This results in human women pregnant with HalfHumanHybrids to be pregnant for ''years''

* MayflyDecemberRomance: Amaranthine are functionally immortal, which creates quite a bit of angst for Argent when he realizes he has fallen in love with Tsumiko, who will die just as all his previous mistresses have done. It's later revealed that [[spoiler: Amarathine can extend the lifespan of a Reaver to match their own by regularly tending him or her]]. Later couples in the series face this same conflict despite the readers already knowing this solution, although it does tend to have less time spent on it.

* PregnantBadass: Sansa, in the first book. Given that she's an elite Battler and this is her fifth child, this is probably not the first time she's fought while expecting, either.

* TheUnmasquedWorld: The Emergence, orchestrated by Hisoka Twineshaft, makes existence of the Amaranthine and Reavers public knowledge. Previously, all information about either group were closely guarded secrets of "The In-Between."

* WingedHumanoid: [[spoiler: Ash]], due to being a Crow crosser. He typically uses copious illusions to hide the fact, although he also has to be careful with his clothing and his movements, as the illusions don't change the ''feel'' of his wings.

* WonderChild: legend has it that anyone who swallows a golden seed will give birth to a child who is born with another seed in his/her hand. If that seed is planted, it will grow into an Amarathine tree, which will share his or her lifespan with his or her "twin." It is eventually confirmed that the legends are true, and do, in fact, work for [[MisterSeahorse male swallowers]] although details are kept off page.