Following her mother’s disappearance, Diem’s life is turned upside down by dangerous secrets that are slowly unraveling. Now Diem has to balance her family, friends and the purpose she is finding in joining the resistance against the Descended royalty. Spark of the Everflame is a perfect start to an epic fantasy romance series. I really enjoyed the world that Penn Cole created in this book. I could feel how well thought out each part of the lore, magic, politics and characters were. This book did a great job of introducing us to the world and setting up a bigger plot we can see coming while also being able to stand on its own. Though I’m not normally a fan of love triangles, I really enjoyed the different romantic dynamics in this books. The contrast of a safe, deep, friend to lovers to the reluctant chemistry between enemies really helped build Diem as a character and showed us how she can be angry and brutal but at the same time see the best in everyone and do everything she can to help innocents. Can’t wait to jump to the second book.

I haven't been swept away so swiftly by a book since ACOTAR.
I was HOOKED from the very beginning, highlighting like crazy and theorizing before I was even 100 pages in. Get ready to fall in love with another man written by a woman. I think I might just be in love with Penn Cole at this point.
i mean, the dedication?
*For anyone who has ever been told their spark shouldn’t burn so bright and for all the people who loved them precisely because it did.* im sobbing

I NEED THE NEXT BOOK IMMEDIATELY

Thank you Netgalley & Atria Books for a copy of this eArc!!

“For anyone who has ever been told their spark shouldn’t burn so bright and for all the people who loved them precisely because it did.”

Spark of the Everflame is book one of a Romantacy series called The Kindred’s Curse by Indie author Penn Cole.

As Diem searches for her missing mother, she stumbles upon clues that not only unveil her true self, but also reveal a web of hidden truths that have shaped her entire existence.

Healer
Magic & Realms
Monarchy System
Enemies to lovers!
Found Family
Dragon riding
Mystery
Prince Luther 🔥
The slowest of slow burn ever!!

“Let me die with the taste of you on my lips.”

“I’d never been kissed like this before. I’d never even known this was what a kiss could be. And that scared me even more than a blade to the throat.”

The new print coming out October 8, 2024 has a stunning new map in the front, gorgeous artwork, and a bonus chapter from Luther’s POV. This chapter from Luther is pure gold!


This series has a Throne of Glass / Fourth Wing feel to it and I’m here for it!! Loved it!!

Romance Content: Open door - not explicit - easy to skip

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌶️

“𝑭𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒍𝒍, 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏, 𝑰’𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒓𝒐𝒚𝒂𝒍 𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝒐𝒇𝒇 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒕.”

Go read this book. Right now. Then come back and talk to me. This book is absolutely phenomenal and it absolutely deserves every bit of attention it's been getting. I loved getting introduced to a new fantasy world. The lore is interesting, the world building is intriguing, and the characters are so, so good.

I don't think I can adequately express how obsessed I am with the FMC in this book. Diem is potentially one of my favorite FMCs I've ever read. She is fierce and fiery and absolutely hilarious. The majority of lines I highlighted in this book were just her making me truly laugh out loud. I love her.

Luther is everything you want from a dark, broody, mysterious MMC. This book is a sloooow burn and the amount of Luther we get is not enough. Actually, there might never be a satisfactory amount of Luther in these books. He is cranky and shadow wielding and I cannot get enough. My dual POV loving heart wants his POV so freaking bad! (The bonus chapter really hits the spot on this. 😏)

Like I said, this book is a SLOW burn. But the angst! And the tension!And the steam! And the "touch her and I'll kill you!" 🫠 I loved it so much. And the last 100 pages had me in a chokehold. I stayed up way too late to finish. I was going to spread this series out but I can tell you now that is probably not going to happen. Instantly obsessed.

“𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝑰 𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒎𝒚 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉?” 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒆𝒂𝒓. “𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝑰 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒘 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂 𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒈𝒊𝒇𝒕. 𝑰’𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒆. 𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆, 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏’𝒕 𝒇𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒎 𝒂 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒆𝒏𝒅.”

This is the PERFECT romantasy story, replete with all of the delicious, classic-for-a-reason trope staples in the genre: enemies-to-what-I-hope-will-be-lovers, rebel groups, hidden identities, LAYERS of mysteries, and a cute gryphon/wyvern combo I've already grown emotionally invested in and who must be protected at all costs.

The story here centers on Diem, a healer with a feisty spirit in a world where mortals are second-class citizens to the ‘descended’ — a race of people born into bloodlines tying back to the kindred, who were gods that came into their world and reshaped the religious, social, and political aspects to fit them. They interbred with mortals, and thus birthed a hybrid race of people who are strong, blue-eyed (at least in Lumnos, where our story takes place!), and often entitled. and royalty, of course.

This book tackles a lot of social politics from the lens of justice, and what that justice looks like to a healer torn between her vow to heal all and harm none, and the incandescent rage at how mortals are neglected and often killed by the descended in power.

This is UNPUTDOWNABLE (I finished it in a SINGLE DAY), a whirlwind both romantically and plot-wise, and a delight to read from start to finish. It has swoonworthy romance (and a burgeoning love triangle), it has exciting, complex worldbuilding (every realm has a thing it’s known for), it has plot twists, mysteries, and even a chapter where her hot, brooding enemy pats her down for weapons (a criminally underrated microtrope. the TENSION. *fans self*).

This was positively riveting, and SO much fun, with an ending that'll make you utterly feral to learn what happens next.

The gasp I just gusped (is that the funny saying) at that ending?! WHAT. okay I am obsessed. I was hooked on this one immediately but I was legit speed reading, nearly hyperventilating through that last 15% or so. Let me tell you. The plot twists. The secrets. THE TENSION. maam you could cut it with a dang plastic baby spoon, it was TENSE. At one point I literally, and I do mean literally, kicked my feet like a love sick teenager. And as much as I’m still not over that particular moment it’s the overall plot and that gosh darn ending that has me in a chokehold. I’m reading book 2 stat. But fantasy lovers, trust me and dive into this one okay? It’s got an easy to understand world, a badass fmc, secrets and twists and turns for days, and the promise of some good romance (at least I’m assuming). Frick, it was so good, I’m addicted!

Penn Cole did something amazing with this book. There is a good reason it is so popular. The world building is world class and Diem is a top tier main character. This is a series I would recommend to all my friends and it's also great as an audiobook.

Read this if you like:
Slow burn
Unique world building
Powerful female main characters
Rebels vs. Royalty

“You think I fear my own death?” he whispered in my ear. “Every day I draw breath is as much a curse as a gift. I’ve been living on borrowed time for longer than you can imagine. If you’re the way my fate finally catches up to me, I can’t fathom a more beautiful end.”

GO GET THIS BOOK!!!! it’s on KU too. There are three books out in this series right now, and I binge read them all in 4 days. I need more people to talk about this series with because it’s truly phenomenal!

This is a romantasy full of magic, war, tension & banter, and lots of secrets. The romance is written so well that it doesn’t take away from the plot. The plot kept me hooked for the entire story. The twists had my jaw dropping. I will warn you that it ends on a cliffhanger. I stayed up late each night back-to-back because I was so submersed into this world. I haven’t done that since I read Throne of Glass.

This edition is being published through Atria and there is new artwork throughout the book plus an exclusive chapter from Luther's Pov. I devoured his chapter. I want to read many more from his perspective.

Spark of the Everflame has:
✨ Morally grey characters
✨ Touch him/her and 💀
✨ War and politics
✨ Found family
✨ Betrayal / secrets
✨ Magic
✨“Who did that to you?”

This is in my top 3 favorite reads of the year!

Spark of the Everflame follows a healer named Diem as she navigates life after her mother's disappearance. We are introduced to the different realms in the world, types of magic, mortals vs "Descended". Book 1 was fast-paced, but limited in the setting and characters. Overall I really enjoyed this book, and I am really looking forward to the world-building to come.

I received an ARC from Atria Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This fantastic indie author has been picked up by Atria, and I’m so excited! This series deserves all the praise!!

✨ 𝐌𝐲 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰
I really enjoyed reading this book! It was a good setup for what’s to come in the rest of the series. The world-building was intriguing and easy to follow. It had a good amount of suspense and tension that kept me engaged in the story. I enjoyed the politics and character relationships. I’m looking forward to seeing Diem grow as a character as the series continues.

This is 💯% worth the read if you are a fantasy romance lover!

✨ 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐈𝐟 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞
🗺️ Fantasy books with maps
🪄 Unique magic systems
✍️ The authors Sarah J. Maas, Jennifer L. Armentrout, and Carissa Broadbent
👑 Court intrigue & politics
😡 Enemies to lovers
🔥 Slow burn romantasy
🚫 “Touch her and die”
🗡️ Fierce FMCs
🤴🏻 Brooding and mysterious MMCs
🌎 World building that is easy to understand
📚 Books currently available on Kindle Unlimited