Hey, im searching for a (character driven) fantasy book written by a female author with a female lead, who despite being strong doesnt loose her feminity over it. So absolutely no “not like the other girls” characters pls. I want a strong mc whos feminity is part of her, which she’s proud of. The book also would preferably not be solely romantasy. I love love love interpersonal relationships in books a whole lot but i would prefer the romance not being the sole focus.
Many of the books by Mercedes Lackey. The cloudmages series (can’t remember the author off the top of my head). Dragonriders of Pern (anne mccaffrey?). The witches of eileannan (Um… shoot, another author I can’t remember off the top of my head). The silerian trilogy by laura resnick (technically it’s not a female only lead, but the male main character and the female main character have about equal writing time).
There’s a series that I just can’t remember the name of, fire something was the first book, and earth something was the second book. The two main characters are mages/smiths, and I think each book focuses on a particular one of the pair. Romance is definitely not the main focus, it’s about the elemental magic they weave into their smithing. I’m also not 100% sure it was by a female author, but I want to say it was.
Non female authors but still noteworthy series: The wi’tchfire series by james clemens.