A Forbidden Alchemy

by Stacey McEwan

Overview

This stunning slow-burn romantasy follows a fated pair who uncover a world-changing secret and are thrust into a violent class war, navigating love, loss, and devastating betrayals.

Nina Harrow and Patrick Colson are twelve years old when they are whisked away from the shadows of their disenfranchised mining towns to dazzling Belavere City to discover their magical potential. Those who pass Belavere’s test will become Artisans, wielders of powerful elemental magic destined to fulfill the city’s grand ambitions. For Nina, the Artisan School symbolizes a dream and an escape from her harsh reality, while Patrick yearns to return to his Craftsman family, whose extraordinary physical strength serves the idium mines keeping the city alive.

And then they uncover a devastating truth: Artisans aren’t born, they’re chosen. They part ways on very different paths, leaving them to carry the burden of this secret alone.

In the years that follow, a Craftsman revolution ignites, thrusting Nina and Patrick into opposing factions of a brewing war. Now an elite Artisan with the very rare talent for charming earth, Nina has turned her back on the fight, haunted by the loss of her found family. But fate intervenes when she is captured by Patrick’s rebel group. Despite the years and conflict that separates them, Patrick hasn’t forgotten Nina. He desperately seeks her help for a mission that could shift the tides against Belavere City. Reluctantly, she agrees, battling the sparks flying between them. But when Nina’s first love reappears, asking her to betray Patrick for the sake of the Artisans, Nina faces an impossible choice that could alter the fate of their world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781668076187
Publisher:	S&S/Saga Press
Publication date:	07/01/2025
Series:	The Artisan Trilogy , #1
Pages:	480
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.60(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Stacey McEwan is the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of the Glacian Trilogy. Her debut fantasy romance novel, Ledge, has been published in several languages. Stacey received a bachelor’s degree in education in 2012 and was a classroom teacher for eleven years. She is a content creator on multiple platforms, including TikTok and Instagram. Stacey first published after book lovers of the internet encouraged her to share her story ideas. She was born and raised on the Gold Coast, Australia, and still resides in her hometown with her husband, two children, and one questionable dog.

Read an Excerpt

Chapter 1: Nina <figure> CHAPTER 1 NINA
In late September, I boarded a train.

The smokestack left plumes in our wake, dirtying the carriage windows, and I wondered if the smoke hadn’t followed us from home. I pressed my nose to the glass and made out the silhouette of Scurry in the distance, then saluted the town with my middle finger and turned away from it forever.

The carriage was filled to the brim with children: twelve years of age, fraying socks, soot on their eyelashes and mush in their heads, I imagined. Lady chaperones in long woolen skirts and slickened faces stumbled down the aisle against inertia. One leaned across the seat and flattened the lace trim collar of my blouse without looking me in the eye.

They yelled ineffectually at those who hung over their seats, at the boys who dared take off their caps, at the girls who bunched their dresses above the knee. Sit proper! Wipe your nose! Roll down your sleeves! The pleas went unnoticed. The children of Scurry bickered and caterwauled. We were teeming and swelling and spilling over with adventure. Something new was upon us. Something vast and frightening and intoxicatingly possible.

Possible.

I clung to that word. I wasn’t swept away by the same vicious thrill as the rest. I sat quiet and still. I gripped a badly bound wad of parchment, its pages filled with profile sketches and plant anatomy. I looked dead ahead and saw the possibilities my brain conjured. It drew me pictures of white marble walls and clean canvas. Of starched white blouses and badly stained aprons, imbued with years of paints and clay and charcoal. A landscape stretched in my mind of never-ending rooftops, where the church steeples and bell towers stretched high enough that one could see all the way to the edge of the continent from their rafters.

Soon, the pictures turned to dreams. The chaos aboard ebbed and flowed. The steam chest coughed. The floor rattled atop the cranks. We were carried farther and farther away from all we’d ever known.

I journeyed all the way to the Artisan capital city without a single thought for home. There were only dreams of brilliant crimson blood that turned inky blue.

Editorial Reviews

"[A] unique romantasy that seamlessly blends genres...[and] will resonate with readers who have enjoyed McEwan’s previous series and books such as Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games and Rebecca Ross’s Divine Rivals."

Library Journal (starred review)

"Stacey McEwan's writing has a way of drawing you in and never letting go. A Forbidden Alchemy was no exception, and I found myself gripped by these pages, following the tale of Nina and Patrick and rooting for them every step of the way. I loved the secrets, the tension, and the burning chemistry. Romantasy lovers need to add this one to their TBR."

Nisha J. Tuli

Stacey McEwan once again delivers a high-stakes fantasy that not only keeps you on the edge of your seat, but squeezes your heart until it bleeds.

Amber V. Nicole

I’m never going to shut up about this book. An epic, breath-of-fresh-air romantasy. A feat of genius magic system and banter so feet-kicking good you’ll need breaks to scream. McEwan’s writing is the kind that leaves you staring at the wall wondering how you’ll go on waiting for the next installment. A Forbidden Alchemy is the romantasy book you’ll never get over.

Hannah Nicole Maehrer