I really liked the concept of this world, too. In the fantasy realm that Moore has created, there are Sources and Shields. Sources are people with incredible reservoirs of magic powers that can avert disasters. Historically, they would burn out like candles and then die, but then people realized that there were people with the opposite sort of power: they acted as channels, deflecting some of the energy into run-off, so the Sources could do their thing and, you know, not die. Everyone wins!
Sources and Shields "choose" each other at these sort of "fated mate" ceremonies, where all the Shields line up and lock eyes with a Source one by one and if they feel something, that's their pair. It sounds silly but whatever, I'm into it. And Dunleavy, our heroine, ends up paired with a playboy duke named Shintaro who she basically hates on sight. Do we detect a hint of enemies to lovers? Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.
I'd give the first half of this book a four and the last half a two, which rounds out to about a three. I liked the heroine and her banter with the hero, but when their separation happens right as things between them begin to develop, I got frustrated. Which is why I think I'd say this is more of a fantasy with romantic elements than the romantic fantasy I was hoping for. By the end of the book there's only a hint of more between them, which I found disappointing. I also felt like the ending dragged. This is not a long book but it felt long and I ended up tabling it until I felt like coming back to it again.
I'd recommend this author to fans of T. Kingfisher's fantasy stories, as I feel that they have very similar styles. This is one of those books where it's not quite cozy, but it is cozy-adjacent. Anyone who's tired of grimdark and is looking for something more accessible and less scary, this is your jam.
2.5 out of 5 stars
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