Author: Julia Bianco
Genre: Urban fantasy, adult fiction, romance, romantasy, BIPOC rep
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Format: Ebook (NetGalley Copy)
Release Date: March 3rd, 2026
TW: murder, death of a teen (on page), arson, cutting of the body, drug use, addiction
I really really wanted to love this book, but there were a few glaring flaws that caused me to only 'like' it.
But first, the plot: Kathrine is a witch, who puts her blood-cut powers to use serving as the enforcer of the L.A. based Aestas coven. Aestas protects unsettled witches like her-witches that weren't born into a magical family, and instead awaken to their powers in tragedy-from prejudice and discrimination, and gives them community. However, that community is threatened when Silas Khatri, leader of the powerful coven Noctis comes to inspect them, looking for any excuse to bring the wayward coven to heel. At the same time that she must deal with the infuriatingly handsome rich boy, Kathrine must also deal with an insidious threat eating her coven alive from the inside, and may be forced to work with her enemy to save it.
The world-building was the best part of this novel. I loved the distinction between old magic (magic relying on ritual and reagents, which doesn't work half the time, or worse works too well) and the new magic that Kathrine and her coterie do (storing runes inside themselves through meditation, and using their blood to cast); it really felt like an evolving system. I am also a sucker for political jousting and I loved seeing how the covens reacted to and pushed against each other. (Libertad rules!) The settings were vivid and believable enough as well (I love Aestas's restaurant). The language was snappy and easy to read, matching such a vibrant setting, as well. (Although, are there not bloodborne diseases in this world? Cool if true.)
However, this was a character piece, and the characters fell flat to me. Katherine was fine, however, her self-flagellation became tiresome after a while. I outright hated the MMC. Silas was a whiny rich boy, and his actions were reprehensible. I hadn't forgiven him by the end of the book, even after he 'atones.' I cannot say more about his actions due to spoilers, but every time he was on page, I wanted to scream at him. It is a shame, because I love that he is a PoC too, it's just his constant 'oh pity me' routine was so grating. The side characters were a bit better; all of Kathrine's friends (including the head of the Libertad coven, my favorite character) were very cool and very diverse (queer rep, and more BIPOC rep, yay!), but they weren't enough to override my disdain for Silas. I do appreciate that there were multiple POV's however, and that kept me trucking along.
The romance was a bit on the rushed side for me as well. This isn't really an enemies-to-lovers book, more like 'distrustful colleagues to lovers' which is fine. It's the speed at which they fell for each other that I can't get over. The entire novel takes place over a very short period of time (a week or two in October) and so everything was way too fast. Kathrine and Silas were instantly attracted to each other (which I'm fine with; sometimes that happens) but then almost immediately fell for each other and started having sex, despite their fraught positions. It was unbelievable and took me out of the novel. However, the sex scenes were well written, if abrupt, and there was definite heat coming off the page that had nothing to do with L.A. They were plentiful and explicit, so be aware of that.
I may seem harsh on this book, but I still want to read a sequel. I hope that Silas can truly improve, and that the romance can be fleshed out a bit more in the future. If not, I'll still be here for the fantastic world-building and Libertad in specific.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC!
Final rating: 3.5 (rounded up to 4) stars
Drink paring: Light smoke lapsang to think of fire
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