Fourth Wing meets Iron Widow in this enemies-to-lovers romantic fantasy by debut author Mikayla Bridge. The hottest must-read of the summer!
On an island built from ash and shrouded in fire, phoenix racing is a sport just as profitable as it is deadly.
Seventeen-year-old Kel Varra and her team of underdogs, the Crimson Howlers, are desperate to win the annual races and the fortune that comes with it. But the Howlers need a new rider, which leads Kel to join forces with Warren “Coup” Coupers – an arrogant rival she can’t get out of her head.
As tensions rise on and off the track, Kel's home is mistakenly burned down, and she’s forced to take a job from a mysterious tech mogul with an unsettling interest in her phoenix, Savita. This sets in motion a conspiracy that threatens everyone Kel cares for, especially Coup, for whom her embers of resentment are quickly igniting into something dangerously new.
Heart-pounding pages full of steamy romance, fiery confessions, political scheming, and volatile magic culminate in a final twist readers will never see coming.
On an island built from ash and shrouded in fire, phoenix racing is a sport just as profitable as it is deadly.
Seventeen-year-old Kel Varra and her team of underdogs, the Crimson Howlers, are desperate to win the annual races and the fortune that comes with it. But the Howlers need a new rider, which leads Kel to join forces with Warren “Coup” Coupers – an arrogant rival she can’t get out of her head.
As tensions rise on and off the track, Kel's home is mistakenly burned down, and she’s forced to take a job from a mysterious tech mogul with an unsettling interest in her phoenix, Savita. This sets in motion a conspiracy that threatens everyone Kel cares for, especially Coup, for whom her embers of resentment are quickly igniting into something dangerously new.
Heart-pounding pages full of steamy romance, fiery confessions, political scheming, and volatile magic culminate in a final twist readers will never see coming.
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First line:
Flames raced past Kel's stinging eyes.
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Source:
Source:
eARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
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Publication Date:
July 15, 2025
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Rating:
5 Phoenixes out of 5
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This is the must-read fantasy novel of the summer. I am obsessed with this world that Bridge has created. I made the very dumb (smart?) decision to read a chapter in a gas station parking lot before I started my 3 hour drive. I ended reading the whole last 20% of the novel and crying in that parking lot. I cannot scream enough how much I love this book and I think more people should be talking about this upcoming release. It has all the elements BookTok loves in a fantasy novel: rivals to lovers, found family, magical creatures, he falls first, dangerous games, and so much more!
Bridge left me wanting to know so much more about this world. I want to know more about the magic, the Alchemists, Kel's mother and father, Coup's mother and more. But none of these questions left anything to be desired with the story. The novel is fast paced and carries the reader through this crazy world of magical creatures, phoenix racing, and fake dating.
The last four chapters are so beautifully written that I can't stop thinking about them. One of my favorite lines is "The song was made of windchimes and lightning and barren heat. It was Cendor, in all its sharp, wild, breathtaking beauty." And there are so many more passages but I don't want to give away too much!
Run, don't walk, to add this one to your TBR. Also, I'm gonna need to know more about this future standalone set in the same world. I really hope we're going to another island!
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