Diem is a fantastic female main character. I found parts of this predictable, but they made the story more enjoyable. I am excited to read more of this series!

Holy crap that was amazing! I have no words. I need the other books now! That ending!!!
I loved every second of this book! I need to know what happens next it’s driving me nuts!

So many of my favorite bookish creators have sung the praises of this book since it was first indie published. So I was excited to get an eARC for the traditional re-release. I was intrigued at the beginning when we were getting to know the characters & their places in the world. But the book really lost me around the halfway point because it felt like we were still getting introduced to the main characters & plot. Even the "high stakes" test that Diem is put through didn't feel like it was high stakes at all & that she got out of the situation way too easily.

I'm bummed out that I didn't like this book as much as I'd hoped to. Maybe it was a "wrong place, wrong time" situation but I doubt that I will continue the rest of the series going forward.

Thank you to Penn Cole, Atria Books, and NetGalley for sending me an early copy!

**Features:**
- Slow burn, enemies to lovers Romantasy
- Feisty FMC x Broody MMC
- Discovery of hidden abilities and true identities
- Court intrigue and political espionage

**Summary**

The day that her mother disappeared with a mysterious man down an alley never to be seen again was the day Diem Bellator felt her world begin to shift. In order to keep her mortal brother in the school meant for the Descended, children of the Gods, and uncover the secrets her mother was hiding, she will have to take up her mother’s mantle as healer to the Descended. But with the King dying and the heir to the throne uncertain, the Descended court has become even more treacherous to navigate than ever. Chief among Diem’s concerns is Prince Luther, the one everyone thinks will be next on the throne and the last person Diem saw her mother talking to before her disappearance. As tensions between the mortals and Descended rise, Diem finds herself caught in the middle of the conflict as she tries to unravel the web of secrets her mother left behind.

**Thoughts**

I’m not going to lie, I definitely picked this book because of the gorgeous cover and I was not disappointed! This book is a perfect example of a story being more than the sum of its parts and I was hooked all the way through. The world that Cole creates is intriguing and has an incredible sense of history that we get to uncover as the story unfolds. Though Diem often feels like a bull in a china shop on many occasions, it is fitting for her character and the lack of experience she has. I found myself rooting for her even when she was making some questionable decisions because she has so much potential and I can’t wait to see how she continues to grow throughout the series.

In terms of romance, ‘slow burn’ is almost an understatement. This book is very much a set up for the rest of the series, and that seems to include the actual romance as well. This is a slow burn in the sense that sparks don’t start to fly until the end of the book rather than because there is a slow build up throughout the story. I am sure that the romance will feature a lot more centrally in the following books, but readers should be aware they only get a little taste of it in this particular installment. Despite that, I found this a really fun read and am looking forward to starting the next book in this series!

I absolutely loved this book, it is for sure one of the best romantasies I have read this year, and in my top overall. The tension and the slow burn were delicious, and I am dying over the ending! Cannot wait to read the next one!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

I would recommend if you're looking for (SPOILERS)

-m/f fantasy romance
-sloooow burn
-first book in the series
-enemies to lovers
-family rivalry
-love triangle
-hate how attractive you are

This book had me in an absolute chokehold. Fast pacing, exciting, filled with twists and turns. All I can say is be prepared becasue you are going to need to immediately dive into book 2 with that cliffhanger.

*Thank you SO much Atria Books and Simon & Schuster for sending me a review copy!*

If you are yearning for a new, super-bingeable fantasy romance, look no further! I was hooked from chapter 1, and couldn't put this one down! Act first / think later FMC, icy & brooding MMC, Enemies to slow-burn not quite yet romance, gods vs. mortals, class divide, political intrigue, and a world / magic system that is clear and makes sense from the get.

I can't remember the last time I had that couldn't-put-it-down, kicking my feet & giggling reading experience. I'm astonished that this is Penn Cole's first book, it is so, so well done. You best believe I will be jumping right into book 2!

I found this amateurish and surprisingly boring, but big kudos to Penn Cole for having huge success twice over, and I also hear she's mega nice.

But: the worldbuilding is flat, the characters do exactly what you would expect them to at every given moment, the bits that are supposed to be hot are extremely un-hot, and the writing is clunky as all hell.

Still, if you like cookie-cutter romantasy (no shade), you might dig this!

I received an eARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Diem Bellatour is given the opportunity to take her missing mother’s post tending to the dying king. Her mother had gone missing months ago and not knowing if she is dead or alive leads her to discover the secrets she left behind. Finding out those secrets pertaining to herself and who she really could be, is more than she ever expected, but discovering all of these secrets about herself under the watchful eye of the heir to the throne is something else entirely. One of the strongest magical beings in their land, the heir to the throne is handsome, smart, kind, but extremely dangerous. Can Diem make it out of this situation alive?

I LOVED THIS BOOK!!! I loved the shadow daddy, the magic system, the characters, the slow burn, but mostly I loved the politics. The politics in this book is what made it for me! It kept me so intrigued and enraptured that I just ate this book way up. I cannot wait to finish out this series!! 4.5/5 stars for sure! Loved it!

Wow! I finished this and left it shocked. I'm definitely a hesitant romantasy fan as I've been let down a lot, but this was so engaging. I can't wait to marathon the series!

I am OBSESSED with this series. Diem is amazingly fierce in situations where others would cower. The burn is sloooooow (don’t say I didn’t warn you), but the tension is hot. I love the side characters so darn much. The cliffy on this is INTENSE at the end. Definitely recommend!

Slow burn. Banter. Tension. Enemies to Lovers.
NEED I SAY MORE?!

Wow! I went into this book knowing absolutely nothing about it besides that it was fantasy and sheesh am I happy for that!

I actually really appreciated that the world building in this was somewhat simple for a fantasy book. It didn’t waste too much time jumping in and really set the pace early on. The underlying political aspects were interesting as well and as a reader it felt like I was right along Diem understanding the new life that she was thrust into!

I DEVOURED this book. I wasn’t sure where this story was going, which immediately had me enthralled. The slow burn, the touch-her-and 💀 shadow daddy, and the ending?!?! Ugh, just so, so good. I immediately downloaded book 2 to read. I only wish we had dual pov for this one!

Thank you for NetGalley, Penn Cole, and Atria books for the opportunity to read Spark of the Everflame 🫶

Characters you root for, romantic tension that makes your heart pound, and a world bursting with magic and danger! Diem Bellator is fierce, unbreakable, and battling an epic choice between duty and desire. Thrown into a web of royal secrets and an uprising against cruel rulers known as the Descended, she's a take-no-prisoners heroine you'll fall for. Cole's worldbuilding and the slow burn between Diem and the mysterious heir had me fully immersed-right up until | "accidentally" took a sick day just to finish. High-stakes, high passion, and completely unmissable; I immediately dove into book two, and I'll stand by it—no fantasy romance compares!

I don’t get the high rating with this book honestly. I had such high hopes for this one! Everyone I’ve seen talk about this book gives it such high ratings and says nothing but good things about this, but I just could not get into it or even care about the characters. The summary and the beginning was so promising but it fell flat for me. Literally felt like nothing happened and it took FOREVER to get to something worth while. I am sad that I did not enjoy this, but now I can take the series off my tbr. Fantasy is not my all time favorite genre, but I just expect so much more from fantasy books, and this was not it.

Spark Of The Everflame by Penn Cole
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶🌶
Diem is a mortal healer in a world where the Decended control magic, power, and laws. She's been kept separated from the world of the Decended until a few months after her mom disappears. Suddenly she's trying to navigate new information, rebels, and her own feelings about her best friend, the Decended prince (hello Shadow Daddy, I can't wait to see more of you) and the entire realm.

Net Galley gave me a copy of this book, but
I was not expecting to be as enthralled by this book as I was. The world building started out feeling slow but was absolutely necessary for the rest of the story to unfold with the action and emotional impact that it did. You know it's a tremendous book when there's next to no spice, but I wasn't able to put it down. I can't wait to read the rest of this series.

I know that I enjoyed a book when I want to immediately start the next one and this is exactly how I feel about this one.
Diem’s character, attitude, personality is everything that I look for in a heroine. Her heart is in a good place and she can’t help but charm all those in her wake. She is not afraid of putting people in their place and goes after what she feels is right. Her boyfriend Henri, best friend since youth, is a good side character, but it is Luther that steals the show. Luther is grumpy and mysterious and the more I get to know about him, the more I fall for him. Diem can’t help but be drawn to him, while also not - you’ll understand what I mean when you pick up this book, because you will at some point.
The oppression of the mortals by the Descended is felt very strongly and this brings in a rather interesting magic system. There are so many layers to Diem’s character and I can’t wait to see that the rest of the story has in store.
I recommend this book to all fantasy (and romantasy, because there will be more) lovers out there.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for a digital arc of the book. The opinions expressed are honest and my own.

HOLY CRAP THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING! I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to put it on my radar! This was a captivating and brilliant fantasy you won’t be able to put down!

Astounding read! Romantasy readers will devour this mythical world.

Slow burn
Enemy to lovers
Touch her and die

Beautiful world building snd a fast paced read!

This book is full of magic and dragons. Amazing for reading slumps.

I really enjoyed reading Diem’s story. It is the first book that I have read by Penn Cole and it won’t be the last, if Spark of the Everflame is anything to go by. I found the story very interesting and really liked the main character. I can’t wait to read what happens next, particularly pertaining to Diem and her mom.
I do wish that Diem didn’t blindly trust certain people, when her gut is telling her the opposite. I absolutely loved reading the interactions between Diem and Prince Luther. The chemistry between them leapt right off the page every single time. The only thing is that I would have loved reading more interactions between the two of them.