Of Shadows & Ash

A Shadow Magic Fantasy Romance with Enemies to Lovers Tension

By: Julie Blackheart

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Perfect for fans of The Plated Prisoner and A Court of Thorns and Roses, Of Shadows and Ash is the first book in a dark fantasy romance series with slow-burn heat, morally grey fae, cursed witches, secret identities, found family, and a heroine who refuses to go quietly.

They say I used to be someone else.

Someone powerful. Dangerous.

Now I’m just Felicity Forrest—journalist, sceptic, nobody. Until I kill a man…and the blood won’t wash off.

One problem. He wasn’t just a man. He was fae.

When a dark bargain rips away my identity and buries my past, I wake up in a world I don’t recognise with magic I’m not supposed to have and a snarky familiar who insists I’m a Shadowborn Witch. The Veil between realms is thinning. The monsters are stirring. And the dangerously beautiful stranger who watches me with haunted onyx eyes? He swears I’m fated to destroy everything.

He might be right.

But I’ve never been good at playing by the rules. If I’m the harbinger of chaos, then maybe it’s time the courts learned what happens when you back a witch into a corner.

Reader Note: Contains cliffhangers so rude they may cause yelling, late-night reading, and emotional damage.

EXCERPT:

“There’s something you need to understand,” he says, voice rough. “What happened tonight…you’re right. It can’t go beyond this field, this moment.”

My heart skips. “What do you mean?”

Pain flashes across his face. “This—us—it’s dangerous. For both of us.”

I want to scream at him, tell him I’ll take the risk. But before I can, he murmurs something in a language I don’t recognize. His hands move with precision, weaving a symbol in the air.

The world tilts. Magic surges.

“No, wait—”

Too late.

Everything slips. The rush of the ride. His lips on mine. The heat of his body. Gone. Like a dream unraveling.

Still, I lift my chin and lie through my teeth. “Fine by me. Trust me, you’re not that memorable.”

I turn and walk away, memory already dissolving behind me. But some part of me knows—I’ll feel this ache long after I forget his name.

“Fine, ye stubborn pain in me hole. Suit yerself and walk back for all I care,” he mutters behind me.

I smile to myself, even if I won’t admit that hearing him curse at me, his thick accent wrapping around the words like a goddamn spell, has anything to do with the curve of my lips.

I can’t help it. I shouldn’t want this. I shouldn’t want him. I keep moving, but I’m angry by the time I’m halfway back to town. I’m wondering how much of this I’ll remember tomorrow. Bastard. My head swims in a haze, but I cling to my memories with a vice grip, refusing to let them slip away.

The cold night air wraps around me like a pelerine, chilling my skin, but something else tingles at the back of my neck…

Different kind of Fae romance

This book is a bit slow burn but it does grab your attention from the start. The ending is a cliffhanger but I cannot wait to hear the next book in this series.

Ai reader is terrible

The Ai reader has weird gaps and can't pronounce several words. This was so beyond distracting. I had to turn the audio off half way through and just finish the book on Kindle. I'm disgusted with the quality of this "production" and I hope the author can get this taken down.

Not bad

Honestly could have been a little longer for some more substance maybe a little more build up but it wasn’t bad. Just interesting enough to keep you listening. It is read by AI so that’s a downfall because it doesn’t always flow like it should there’s extra pauses.

Hard to listen to

The AI speak is just like talking at you. It was so hard to listen to and follow. Got bored after a few chapters. I have no idea what the story was about cause I couldn’t follow it.

narrator

I don't know how the book is, the AI narrator is crap. I will have to check the narrator before I get another book. Do better.