Author: Brigitte Knightley
Release: July 8, 2025
Publisher: Ace
Series: Dearly Beloathed #1
Pages: 384
Review: 5 Stars
Synopsis:
Loyalties are tested in this slow burn, enemies-to-lovers romantasy following an assassin and a healer forced to work together to cure a fatal disease, all while resisting the urge to kill each other—or, worse, fall in love.
When Osric Mordaunt, member of the Fyren Order of assassins, falls ill, he realizes he needs the expertise of a very specific healer. As fate would have it, that healer belongs to an enemy faction, the Haelan Order.
Aurienne Fairhrim and her fellow Haelan are inundated by sick children suffering from an outbreak of a long-forgotten Pox. Unable to get the funding needed to launch an immunization program, the Haelan Order is desperate for money – so desperate that when Osric breaks into their headquarters to bribe Aurienne to heal him, she is forced to accept.
As Osric and Aurienne work together to solve not only his illness but the mysterious reoccurrence of the Pox, they find themselves ardently denying their attraction which only fuels the tension between them.
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Review:
I really enjoyed this debut fantasy! I discovered it here on Goodreads and immediately knew I needed to read it. Luckily, it popped up on NetGalley in February and my request was granted! It's a blast from the beginning and I think a lot of folks will enjoy it.
After downloading the ARC I was made aware that the book is built on Harry Potter fanfic, which is uh... not great. I am of the belief that it is up to us to make HP culturally irrelevant, and that includes developing fan works and books explicitly inspired by those dynamics. In this case, the book is built on Hermione/Draco fan fiction. The author has stated that this isn't an adaptation of her popular fanfic (and thus the original isn't being pulled down) but anyone vaguely familiar with HP can see where many of the characters and aspects of the world come from. The story itself is definitely original and there are a lot of characters that wouldn't map on to HP, but there's enough that it bothered me.
On its own merits, the book is delightful. I love the FMC Aurienne. She is regarded as icy by many, and some readers might struggle with her (because complicated female leads don't always go over well) but I personally related to her. She is incredibly dedicated to her work and doesn't easily shift from her principals. Much of what she does in the book (that is against her ethics) is at the behest of one of her superior's that she respects. Aurienne can fall into some black and white thinking, but in a way that rings authentic to my personal autistic experience. While I didn't relate to Osric the way I did Aurienne, he is a hilarious lead character. My eARC is full of highlights from all the funny lines. Aurienne also has a magical familiar that is very grumpy and loves to yell at Osric.
When the tags say slow burn, trust me, it means that. This is the first book in a series, and it isn't the romance novel format of one couple per book. I won't go into spoilers, but plot-wise, the book didn't end where I thought it would. The bickering-to-kissing ratio of the book is heavily skewed toward bickering. I assume this will change in later books as the slow starts burning.
I found the world really fun. It's a fantasy England that is still separated into smaller kingdoms. There are various magical organizations, some of which are loosely associated with a kingdom. The book does a good job of breaking down how the world is organized, both political and magical. As we go through the story, we see a pox that is going through the children of the kingdoms. Aurienne and her fellow healers are desperately trying to stem the tide of sick and dying children (the only ones affected by the disease). They can't get funding from anyone to research vaccines or treatments and are struggling to handle it all. While it largely exists in the background of the story, it becomes increasingly clear just how important it really is. At times the political world mirrors our own, and can actions can hit a little close to home. This does a good job of providing the building blocks for a series-long arc.
Overall, I will be recommending The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy and likely buying a copy myself. But I also encourage readers and authors to do some due diligence and work to pull HP influences out of your work and reading habits.
Author Bio:
She is represented by Thao Le of the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.
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