Legend of Meneka

Meneka is an apsara, a celestial dancer in Indra's court. Her particular gift is bending the desires of mortals, and Indra sends her to seduce them. She wants to stop. Her one hope is to remain in heaven for good, with no more missions below.

When a powerful mortal sage offends Indra, she sees a way out. She makes a bargain with the lord of heaven: if she brings the sage down, she will never be sent to Earth again. The sage is Kaushika, and he is not the easy target she expected.

Kaushika disarms her with his energy and his empathy. Soon Meneka cannot tell whether she is seducing him or he is seducing her. Meanwhile war is building in the heavens, and she is pulled between her duty to defend her home and the man who is showing her what love means.

This is a romantasy that reimagines the Hindu myth of Meneka and Vishwamitra, with an open, spicy heat level. It is the first book in the Divine Dancers duology, written by Kritika H. Rao, and it centres on a love story shaped by bargains, duty and divided loyalty.