About the Book
Lady Gemma Ashbourne seemingly has it all. She’s young, gorgeous, and rich. Her family was Anointed by the gods, blessed with incredible abilities. But underneath her glittering façade, Gemma is deeply sad. Years ago, her sister Mara was taken to the Middlemist to guard against treacherous magic. Her mother abandoned the family. Her father and eldest sister, Farrin—embroiled in a deadly blood feud with the mysterious Bask family—often forget Gemma exists.
Worst of all, Gemma is the only Ashbourne to possess no magic. Instead, her body fights it like poison. Constantly ill, aching with loneliness, Gemma craves love and yearns to belong.
Then she meets the devastatingly handsome Talan d’Astier. His family destroyed themselves, seduced by a demon, and Talan, the only survivor, is determined to redeem their honor. Intrigued and enchanted, Gemma proposes a bargain: She’ll help Talan navigate high society if he helps her destroy the Basks. According to popular legend, a demon called The Man With the Three-Eyed Crown is behind the families’ blood feud—slay the demon, end the feud.
But attacks on the Middlemist are increasing. The plot against the Basks quickly spirals out of control. And something immense and terrifying is awakening in Gemma, drawing her inexorably toward Talan and an all-consuming passion that could destroy her—or show her the true strength of her power at last.
Book Links
Releases June 13th
My Thoughts
Okay, wow… If this is how Legend writes adult novels, then you can bet her YA novels will be a blast. And it wasn’t until writing this review that I realized I bought Sawkill Girls in the past and then promptly lost it in my TBR.
I’m baffled that people don’t love this one. It can be difficult to transition to writing adult novels after writing many successful YA books. I just finished one that was less than stellar. But I haven’t read this author before, and maybe that’s why I love it, where fans of her work don’t.
But I do agree with others that the pacing is off. It took me a while to get into this story, and when I saw it was over 500 pages, I groaned. But how glad am I that I stuck with it? Because this turned into a blast. I didn’t totally love the ending and am not sure why things had to happen the way they did, but I’m hoping that the next book will correct some things.
I figured out some things regarding Talon early on. I agree with people that Gemma is self-centered, where she doesn’t give as much as she takes from her sisters. But that means there’s room for character growth down the road. (Now, if she’s the same in the next book, I will definitely be salty.)
Once we got to see what magic people could practice, I loved learning the various skills people had. There are a lot of aspects to this book, veins of storyline, and a mashup of genres, and I feel it comes together nicely. I really dug this one.
Thank you, Sourcebooks Casablanca, for sending this over.
Rae's Reading Lounge 
Sometimes authors that go from YA to adult audiences right characters that are too immature but that doesn’t sound like a problem with this this story. And with over 500 pages I’d definitely want a pace that moves right along. Yet, this book sounds intriguing and I do love a good magic system. Excellent review!
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Thank you! I had that exact problem with a previous YA to adult author. This one was so much fun, I’m going to hate waiting a year for book 2.
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