The Dagger and the Flame

After her mother is brutally murdered in their farmhouse, Sera is forced to flee for her life to the magnificent city of Fantome, taking only her dog, Pippin with her.  The city is ruled by Shade – a dark magic used in different forms: the Cloaks use it to hide in the shadows under magical cloaks to steal whatever they are assigned to take, and the Daggers are the city assassins, fuelled by vials of Shade where one touch could mean death.   This bitter rivalry between the two factions began many years previously with the two Versini brothers fighting for supremacy each using Shade to their own advantage, ending with the Daggers killing their younger sister as she had discovered an antidote to Shade which would counteract their powers.

Sera finds refuge with the Cloaks but soon realises there is a price on her head and also that her mother had been involved in nefarious dealings with Shade and was not as innocent as Sera had once thought.  Monsters are roaming the city, and it is suspected that Sera’s mother had created them.   When Sera comes face to face with her assassin – the wildly handsome Ransom – a spark is ignited between them and a furious game of cat and mouse ensues, chasing each other across the rooftops and the catacombs of Fantome.  The pace is fast and furious and the pair try to kill each other at nearly every turn but Ransom soon realises that Sera holds a power that he can’t extinguish, and that they are falling dangerously in love with each other.

This enemies to lovers romantasy is deftly plotted and makes for addictive reading as there are twists and turns throughout.  Sera’s fiery temperament and pithy asides are the perfect foil for the cool and calculating Ransom who falls under her spell.  There are all the usual tropes here – more than enough to satisfy any romantasy lover and even those who are not but it is the witty dialogue and the eye for detail that takes this above and beyond.  My only hesitation is the length, but brevity is rarely a feature of this genre.