Jennifer K. Lambert is the USA Today bestselling author behind the Never the Roses romantasy series, and joins the Salt Lake Book Festival to spotlight her newest novel, Among the Thorns (Tor/Bramble, July 2026). The book follows two rival sorceresses competing for the heart of a prince in the same lushly imagined world introduced in Never the Roses, which debuted at No. 29 on the USA Today bestseller list and was praised for its enemies-to-lovers slow burn and richly drawn magic system.

Lambert writes fantasy romance with a careful, character-first hand, building worlds where magic and longing are inseparable. Before publishing under this name, she spent more than fifteen years writing epic fantasy romance as Jeffe Kennedy, earning a reputation as one of the genre’s most prolific and trusted voices and serving as a Past President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association. Across both names, her work is defined by lyrical prose, slow-burn tension, and emotionally complex heroines who are never easy to put down.

She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with her husband, a chocolate lab assistance dog, two indifferent Maine coon cats, and a steady population of free-range lizards. Join us at the Salt Lake Book Festival for a conversation on magic, desire, and the romantasy genre’s rapid rise.