The Dagger and the Flame (The City of Fantome #1)

Upon finding her mother murdered and her farmhouse set ablaze, 18-year-old Seraphine Marchant seeks asylum in the city of Fantome with the Order of Cloaks, one of the two feuding guilds that rule the city using Shade, a dangerous and contraband magical powder. As Seraphine settles into her new life, she plots to avenge her mother by deposing Gaspard Dufort, the power-hungry leader of the Daggers and her mother’s assumed murderer. This quest is complicated by 19-year-old Ransom Hale, the attractive heir apparent of the Daggers who has been tasked with killing Seraphine. Sparks fly throughout as Seraphine and Ransom clash in a cat-and-mouse chase across the city and as threads connect a spate of Shade-powered monster attacks, buried family secrets, and an unprecedented magic that could change Fantome forever. Using alternating third-person perspectives, Doyle (Pirates of Darksea) kicks off a steamy enemies-to-lovers romance set in an intricate world full of magic and mystery that checks all the boxes for romantasy lovers looking for the next series to sink their teeth into. Seraphine has tan skin and Ransom has olive skin. Ages 14–up. Agent: Claire Wilson, Rogers, Coleridge & White. (Oct.)