Part of The Ashes of Thezmarr
First published 2025
Wren Embervale has two identities pulling her in opposite directions. At Drevenor, the ancient academy of alchemy, she is an advanced student still measuring the edges of her own power. Beyond its walls, she is an heir to a lost kingdom, and the midrealms are sliding toward war again. Torj Elderbrock, the legendary Warsword who shares a golden bond with Wren that runs deeper than love, is keeping secrets to keep her alive. He believes the truth about their connection would destroy her, so he buries it. That choice costs them both. Wren is not waiting to be protected. She pushes further into her alchemical studies and discovers her gift is far larger and more dangerous than anyone told her. It could fracture the kingdoms entirely. New political forces are moving across the midrealms, and Wren has to choose between loyalty to her legacy and the freedom to decide her own future. Between the kingdom she might inherit and the man she cannot stop wanting. The bond that once nearly broke them is still there, gold and tight and old. Whether it saves them or finishes what it started is the question neither of them can answer alone.
Genres: romance, adventure, fantasy, young-adult, dark-fantasy, epic-fantasy
Vibes: dark, emotional, intense, intimate, lyrical, suspenseful
Tropes: chosen-one, fated-mates, forbidden-love, protective-hero, slow-burn
Setting: Drevenor, Midrealms
448 pages · Kindle Edition · Tor Bramble
Content warnings: death, war