The banter is chef’s kiss! I had so much fun reading this specifically for the romance, which is unlike me! The plot is also really interesting and I enjoyed the magic, but the characters are the stars in this one.

I adored this book. The Italian setting and influences made this fantasy romance feel fresh and different for a genre bursting at the seems with great titles. Alessa is the latest Finestra gifted unbridled power to protect her home but she is the first Finestra whose power is killing those it's supposed to protect. After the death of her first three Fontes, she's becoming desperate, as are the people of Saverio, who face certain death if Alessa cannot find a partner to channel her power. Enter Dante, needed by Alessa to keep her safe as the pressure builds for her to prove her worth. Their charming friends to lovers relationship adds joy and humour to an otherwise dire situation and has all the classic hallmarks of YA romance but with some new and refreshing takes. This is YA fantasy romance at its finest, with engaging and witty side characters, a swoon worthy love interest and an MC who is trying to find herself in a world that keeps trying to tell her who she must be. I'm absolutely thrilled to have been able to read an advance copy of this, so thank you to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton. I CANNOT wait until the second instalment!

I was gifted this by Net galley and Hodder & Stoughton in exchange for an honest review. 5 stars, one of my favourite reads so far of this year. I’m obsessed, I need book two immediately and this one isn’t even released yet. This book has everything I look for in a fantasy romance; relatable characters, amazing world building, a complex but enjoyable romantic relationship, interesting side characters, and magic. As well as all of that it has some popular book tropes like found family and a kind of enemies to lovers theme. For context, this story follows our main character Alessa whose duty it is to protect the island she calls home from demon creatures. To do so, she’s supposed to pick a suitable partner to magnify their magic - however she keeps killing them. This is something that’s never happened before and her own people are starting to doubt her. For extra protection she hires Dante, a mysterious and secretive street fighter. The story follows Alessa’s journey throughout this and I liked that it had a really clear path. Quite a lot of it was predictable but not in a bad way. You still felt the emotional impact of everything that happened because it wasn’t supposed to be ‘figured out’ as such. The relationship is going to be a big appeal to fantasy romance readers. We have a dark haired, brooding love interest who goes from dark and mysterious to funny and warm and a somewhat feisty, sarcastic female main character. It ticks a lot of boxes for fans of the genre and I absolutely loved their relationship. This is definitely the perfect book for fans of ‘The cruel prince’, ‘Kingdom of the wicked’, or ‘Serpent and Dove’.

I adore this book. I cannot stress enough how underrated this book is. It is fantastically written, bringing in the Italian language in a really interesting and beautiful way. This book is highly character focused, with a war brewing in the background rather than in the foreground. If you need a soft/gentle fantasy book, this is perfect for that. There is an element of grumpy-sunshine, girly girl boss, found family and finding love in oneself. Alessa is a fantastic protagonist and I found her a wonderfully empathic and relatable character. Dante is a brilliant, grumpy love interest and probably my favourite character. The ground of reluctant allies turned family dynamic is one of my favourite dynamics in fantasy fiction and is done phenomenally.