Descrip­tions

All's fair in love, war... and magic.

When Tycho, the King's Courier, arrives in the remote village of Briarlock, he wants only to escape the demands of his new life in the royal court, where magic reigns for the first time in ages. The last thing he expects is to fall for a handsome blacksmith with a bruised heart.

After years of toil under his father's cruel hand, Jax never dared to dream of a better life. When rumors of a rebellion reach their small forge, he begins to wonder if he'll even survive--until a magic-wielding young lord offers him an enticing escape.

Jax's best friend, Callyn, doesn't trust this mysterious new friend. Magic once killed her parents, and she would do anything to protect Jax. But when another powerful man arrives from the capital, seeking her help, Callyn will be forced to question everything she thought she knew about magic--and herself.

War is brewing. Love is blooming. And magic may doom--or save--them all...

New York Times bestselling author Brigid Kemmerer expands the Cursebreaker world in an electrifying new series.

When ancient magic tests a newfound love, a dark fate beckons . . .

Magic has been banished in the land of Syhl Shallow for as long as best friends Jax and Callyn can remember. They once loved the stories of the powerful magesmiths and mythical scravers who could conjure fire or control ice, but now they've learned that magic only leads to danger: magic is what killed Callyn's parents, leaving her alone to raise her younger sister. Magic never helped Jax, whose leg was crushed in an accident that his father has been punishing him for ever since. Magic won't save either of them when the tax collector comes calling, threatening to take their homes if they can't pay what they owe.

Meanwhile, Jax and Callyn are astonished to learn magic has already returned to Syhl Shallow--in the form of a magesmith who's now married to their queen. Now, the people of Syhl Shallow are expected to allow dangerous magic in their midst, and no one is happy about it.

When a stranger rides into town offering Jax and Callyn silver in exchange for holding secret messages for an anti-magic faction, the choice is obvious--even if it means they may be aiding in a plot to destroy their new king. It's a risk they're both willing to take. That is, until another visitor arrives: handsome Lord Tycho, the King's Courier, the man who's been tasked with discovering who's conspiring against the throne.

Suddenly, Jax and Callyn find themselves embroiled in a world of shifting alliances, dangerous flirtations, and ancient magic . . . where even the deepest loyalties will be tested.