A Spark in the Shadows: An Enemies to Lovers Fantasy Romance (The Sun-Kissed Shadows Series Book 1)

A thief who shouldn't have magic. A commander who serves a king he plans to kill. A bargain that will change everything. Aethelgard is a continent split by an ancient curse. The North-the Kingdom of Solaria-is locked in eternal daylight, its warmth and magic hoarded by the tyrannical Sun King. The South-the Kingdom of Umbra-is trapped in perpetual night, its people slowly dying in the freezing dark. The border between them is a wall of stolen light. And twenty-two-year-old Elara is the only person alive who can open it. Elara has spent her life in the slums of Umbra, surviving as a thief and hiding the impossible, forbidden light magic that burns in her chest. But when her sister falls desperately ill, Elara is forced to cross the border into the blazing heat of Solaria to steal a cure. She doesn't make it far. She is caught by Kaelen, the Sun King's most feared Commander and the man known as the Eclipse Blade. Cold, ruthless, and devastatingly dangerous, Kaelen should execute her on the spot. Instead, he offers her a deal. He needs her magic to bypass the royal vault's wards and steal a weapon capable of killing the Sun King. If she helps him, he will save her sister. If she refuses, she dies. Forced to pose as Solarian nobility, Elara and Kaelen must navigate the treacherous, glittering courts of the daylight kingdom. But as the heist draws closer, the lines between enemy and ally begin to blur. Kaelen's cold exterior hides a man who has spent eight years waiting for a reason to burn his own kingdom to the ground. And Elara's magic is hiding a secret about her bloodline that will shatter everything they both believe. In a world divided by light and dark, they are about to discover that the most dangerous place to be is in the shadows together. A Spark in the Shadows is the first book in the Sun-Kissed Shadows series. Perfect for fans of slow-burn romance, morally gray male leads, forced proximity, and epic fantasy worlds.