Flame & Shadow

by AK Nevermore

Overview

Half-daemon Envy Starr is destined to die on Midsummer's Eve, still a virgin, on some crappy cult's live-stream feed. With thirty days left to live, the chance to escape her fate and get some action compels her into her absentee father's world of beautifully cultured cruelty. Once there, she's the object of a deadly game, slated to alter the Fae realm's power structure. Worse, the rules keep changing, and everyone has an ulterior motive, including her dae-licious guide, Brennan. Under a geas he's desperate to break, she can't trust him, or herself. Stupid Stockholm syndrome. But unless she can come to terms with what lies in her heart, her unlikely survival will be a fate worse than death. For her, and the rest of Fae.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781509251810
Publisher:	Wild Rose Press
Publication date:	11/13/2023
Series:	The Dae Diaries , #1
Pages:	364
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.75(d)

Editorial Reviews

2023-11-05
Nevermore offers an urban fantasy novel full of political intrigue and non-stop thrills.

Envy Starr, the daughter of a daemon and a Las Vegas showgirl, is 20 years old—and she only has until midsummer before she either explodes (due to her nature as a Fire elemental) or fades into nonexistence. Envy is kidnapped by a daemon named Brennan who has his own plans for her: he has been hired to teach her to become a proper fae lady by Midsummer, at which point, he says, she’ll be able to survive and even fully embrace her element, becoming a full daemon (“At the moon’s apex, Fire will come, cleansing away your humanity and filling you. It’s like being reborn”). Hidden away from the world with only a few servants for help, Brennan and Envy become incredibly close—but just when she thinks she can trust him, she discovers that he has his own hidden agenda. Adding to her troubles are Amelda, a daemon queen who wants Envy dead; Silas, the long-lost daemon father who has his own plans for Envy and the power she holds; a potential war brewing between the fae and the humans; and more than a little pain and torture along the way. Envy can’t catch a break—who can she trust? The action is nonstop—readers will barely be able to take a breath. Envy (who refuses to give out her real name since true names have power) feels incredibly human despite her abilities, experiencing moments of vanity and weakness while maintaining an amusingly lousy attitude. The world Nevermore has created is expansive; unfortunately, some of the lore and political maneuvering can be hard to follow with so much going on. This book works as a stand-alone story, but with such a big world to play in there’s plenty to keep the series going.

Full of action, this tale will keep readers turning pages, even if some details get lost in the shuffle.

Kirkus Reviews