Quicksilver by Callie Hart is live!
The first book in the Fae & Alchemy series, Callie Hart has entered the world of romantasy, and I am here for it, with fantastic world building, amazing characters, and a chemistry-filled enemies-to-lovers romance, I loved everything about this one. Within a few pages, I was hooked, and within a few chapters, I knew that I was reading something really special. It’s fun, exciting, romantic and unpredictable, and it’s a fave for 2024.
Amazon | Paperback
Blurb
Do not touch the sword.
Do not turn the key.
Do not open the gate.
In the land of the unforgiving desert, there isn’t much a girl wouldn’t do for a glass of water.
Twenty-four-year-old Saeris Fane is good at keeping secrets. No one knows about the strange powers she possesses, or the fact that she has been picking pockets and stealing from the Undying Queen’s reservoirs for as long as she can remember.
But a secret is like a knot.
Sooner or later, it is bound to come undone.
When Saeris comes face-to-face with Death himself, she inadvertently reopens a gateway between realms and is transported to a land of ice and snow. The Fae have always been the stuff of myth, of legend, of nightmares…but it turns out they’re real, and Saeris has landed herself right in the middle of a centuries-long conflict that might just get her killed.
The first of her kind to tread the frozen mountains of Yvelia in over a thousand years, Saeris mistakenly binds herself to Kingfisher, a handsome Fae warrior, who has secrets and nefarious agendas of his own. He will use her Alchemist’s magic to protect his people, no matter what it costs him… or her.
Death has a name.
It is Kingfisher of the Ajun Gate.
His past is murky.
His attitude stinks.
And he’s the only way Saeris is going to make it home.
Be careful of the deals you make, dear child.
The devil is in the details…
N.B. Quicksilver contains depictions of graphic violence/adult situations and is therefore recommended for readers 17+. For a full list of tropes and TWs, please visit the author’s website at www.calliehart.com.
Review
6 stars!
OMG, this book! Get ready for my newest obsession, because I freaking loved this book! Callie Hart has entered the world of romantasy, and I am here for it, with fantastic world building, amazing characters, and a chemistry-filled enemies-to-lovers romance, I loved everything about this one. Within a few pages, I was hooked, and within a few chapters, I knew that I was reading something really special. It’s fun, exciting, romantic and unpredictable, and it’s a fave for 2024.
Saeris is a human girl living in a desert land and stealing to survive. She’s smart, sassy and brave, and I loved her instantly. When Saeris’ thievery catches up to her, she is sentenced to death, but instead is rescued by a mysterious man and taken to another realm. Now, a guest at the Winter Palace in Yvelia, she is welcomed into a small group of fae who are determined to help her unlock her hidden powers of alchemy, and recruit her to their cause to reopen the pathways between worlds once again, helping them to win a centuries-long war.
This intro barely scrapes the surface of this story. There is so much going on in in this book, and I was completely sucked into it all. But what I enjoyed most was the characters. Saeris is a wonderfully entertaining heroine, and the whole story is from her POV, which I loved, as we get to discover the world, its inhabitants, and her newly arising power right along with her. And then there is Kingfisher, the fae who rescued Saeris from certain death. He seems to hate her on sight, but he is sexy, mysterious, irresistibly tormented and brilliantly sarcastic and of course I fell wildly in love with him.
“Urgh! Do you have to be so difficult?”
His eyes danced. “It isn’t mandatory, but I do enjoy it.”
Their banter is epic, and I could feel the chemistry sizzling between them, and every interaction had my heart pounding with anticipation. Fisher constantly teases and taunts Saeris, but there’s a sense of something more between them, and the fantastic ‘I hate you but I want you’ vibes that I love about an enemies to lovers romance.
Fisher dipped his head so that his mouth was unreasonably close to mine. “I’ve fucked plenty of humans,” he whispered. “Does that surprise you?”
“Yes. Seeing as how you… seem to hate us… so much.” His mouth. Gods, his fucking mouth. I needed to look away. I had to.
“I don’t hate your kind. I’m just disappointed by how breakable you are. If I held you down and fucked you the way I’m imagining fucking you right now, I doubt that you’d survive it.”
The love story is a slow burn, and I get the feeling that we only just get a taste of the epicness to come for these two, but I loved watching them come together. They are honest with each other, they share so much of themselves, and their slow shift into friendship and then more is sexy, intense, and beautifully emotional.
“I’ll be grateful for every second that I can say I belong to you, Saeris Fane.”
There are a fantastic circle of friends who join them along the way, each of them bringing something unique to the story. It’s a wonderful ‘found family’ feel, with minor storylines for them shaped really well, and I loved their interactions, their teasing, and their heartfelt care for each other.
Callie Hart has done a phenomenal job building this world. The complexity of the story unfolds organically throughout the book, so I never felt overwhelmed with a massive info-dump, and I never knew what was going to happen next, which I loved! There were scenes that I went back and re-read because I loved it so much and wanted to soak it all in. She’s created a fantastic world full of magic and fantasy creatures, and after the heart-poundingly exciting end to this one, I cannot wait to see where the story goes from here.
This book ends in a good place, and while it’s not exactly a cliffhanger, there are some pretty huge twists to end the story and I’m so excited for more.
Such a fantastic read, and a fave for 2024.
6 massive stars.
An Advanced Review Copy was generously provided by the author for an honest review.
About the Author
Callie Hart is a USA TODAY bestselling author of contemporary and dark romance. Her Blood & Roses Series is currently being translated into multiple languages all over the world. Having spent the last seven years living in Australia, Callie now calls Los Angeles home, where she enjoys hiking, spending time at the beach, daily hot yoga classes, and generally pretending to be a hipster.
Callie is often asked, ‘What is dark romance?’ Her reply is always the same: Dark romance is a story that makes you fall for the anti-hero. It is a story that will make you walk a tightrope, question your sanity, and have you checking your moral compass at the door. If you love a good story about a very bad boy, then dark romance is for you.’ Under her legal name, Frankie Rose, Callie writes young adult fiction that has been globally recognized, and has received numerous awards for her ‘Halo’ series.
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