Note: This is book 2 in a duology, and while it follows a different couple than book 1 and can be read as a standalone, it will spoil the events of book 1, The Musician and the Monster. It is also better read after the first one.

She loathes him.

He craves her.

But when a deadly curse threatens those they love, these reluctant allies must work together to hunt down its wielder before time runs out.

Bronwyn Kinsley helped overthrow a malicious and corrupt monarch. Now, she wants nothing more than to return to a quiet existence painting artwork in the countryside. No more pretentious court life, and definitely no more of the infuriating Malik who touched her heart and then went right back to being the flirtatious prince she swore to loathe.

But the so-called dragons, dissenters of the new monarchs’ reign, are hell-bent on preventing that peace and causing chaos within the kingdom.

Alistair (Malik) Ithael is determined to hunt down the last of the dragons and end their reign of terror. But his attempts to infiltrate their number require him to wear the careful façade of the playboy prince they expect. A guise that puts him at odds with Bronwyn, the only woman he’s ever truly wanted and one that seems to hate him more than ever.

When the dragons strike close to home and afflict Bronwyn’s sister with a deadly sleeping curse, Bronwyn and Malik must team up to save her. In doing so, Bronwyn enters the place she loathes most—high society. Because dragons live disguised in plain sight, and they’ll have to find them first. That is, if a pesky little distraction like love doesn’t get in the way.

The Artist and the Dragon is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty with themes and motifs from The Phantom of the Opera, and set in a gaslamp fantasy world akin to Bridgerton, but with magic. You can look forward to a slow burn, angst-ridden romance between two reluctant allies who harbor secret feelings for one another while trying to solve a deadly mystery.