Chloe Gong is already an established author, especially with fantasy fans. Her debut series These Violent Delights is a loose retelling of Romeo and Juliet set in 1920s Shanghai, with rival gangs and a frightening monster lurking in the depths of the Huangpu River. It’s frequently mentioned in roundups for fans of Leigh Bardugo and other fantasy authors, but her latest, Immortal Longings, is Gong’s first foray into adult fantasy. It’s also an inspired retelling of another fated couple, Anthony and Cleopatra. In Gong’s tale, we meet the beautiful princess Calla, who fled into hiding five years ago following the massacre of her parents, leaving the palace of Er empty — a brutality she happened to orchestrate. And her plot to pull down the whole of the monarchy isn’t satisfied yet, as she also plans to kill her uncle King Kasa. But he’s a reclusive ruler, and her only hope is to enter into the palace’s yearly “games” in the capital twin-cities of San-Er, where brave competitors risk their lives for riches. The king is known to meet with the final victor of the games, and so Calla is determined to win. Except so is Anton, an exiled aristocrat with a lover in a coma who he’s desperate to keep alive, and winning the games will provide the money he needs for her care. Calla and Anton form an alliance, along with the help from the King’s adopted son, August, but with each one having different goals to achieve, their loyalties become a tangled mess of confusion and attraction. The book errs on the milder side of spice when compared to Armentrout’s work, but the romance and intrigue build, and by the end of the book, you’ll be right where Gong wants you — longing for more.