Spark of the Everflame: The Kindred's Curse Saga, Book 1

Jerrie's opinion

A strong series opener with rich world building and big promise

"This is the first installment in a planned four book fantasy series, with the final book currently scheduled for release in the latter half of 2026. Set in the lands of Emarion, this steady paced adventure fantasy launches “The Kindred’s Curse Saga” with confidence and ambition. The world building and character development are standouts from the start and signal that this series has real staying power. The societies, politics, and class divisions are thoughtfully layered, creating a setting that feels lived in. The one weakness is the magic system, which remains vague throughout much of the book. While the rigid class structure is clear, a deeper understanding of how magic functions within it would have helped fully engage dedicated fantasy readers. The story is told in first person from the perspective of Diem, the female main character. She is a healer, but she is far from weak. Trained to fight by her father, a Commander in the Blood Army, Diem is resilient and capable. She is also the older sibling to Teller, her shy and intellectual younger brother, and their relationship adds emotional grounding to the story. Early on, Diem’s mother goes missing, and Diem suspects Prince Luther may be involved, or at the very least knows more than he admits. With the king on his deathbed and rebellion stirring, tensions rise quickly. It does take a significant portion of the book for Diem to fully understand who and what she is, which may feel frustrating at times, but it ultimately fits the larger arc being set up. In hindsight, the foreshadowing is cleverly done, and it’s clear this is a series that will reward readers who pay attention as it unfolds. This debut installment comes out swinging and ends on a true cliffhanger. Fans of epic and adventure fantasy are likely to go wild for what comes next, and this series is clearly one to watch. ["

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April 17, 2026 Verified Purchase

Noor

Phenomenonal first book to a series that feel will become one of my all-time faves!

"What a phenomenonal start to a series with epic world-building, strong characters, and great political intrigue! It has everything you look for in a romantasy series! It deserves all the hype it gets, and I can see it easily becoming an all-time fave! And I can't wait to start the next book. This was the first book I read by the author, and I fell in love with the writing style and prose. It was detailed enough to get you feeling all the emotions and feeling like you were right there with the characters but at the same time was easy to follow. It was perfectly paced and never felt like it dragged, and neither did the story move too fast. The story follows Diem Bellator in a mortal world that has been taken over by gods in the past and is now ruled by their magical and powerful offsprings called Descendeds. The world is divided into 9 realms, one for each god, and the Drscendeds from each realm have certain magic that the respective gods had. The realm Diem is from is named after Lumnos, and the Descendeds from there have light and shadow magic. Mortals are basically treated like second class citizens as they hold no positions of power, receive minimum education, and have poor living conditions in most realms. Diem's family is a bit better off with her father being a retired army commander and her mother being a talented healer who also was working with Lumnos palace as a healer when needed. Diem is also a talented healer, having trained with her mother since she was young. The story starts with her mother suddenly coming after Diem saw her talking to a descended man in the shady side of town. In trying to find clues for her mother's disappearance, she uncovers many more secrets and truths of not just her mother but also herself and the current status of the world around her. She finds herself in the middle of two opposing sides of a brewing rebellion. Tropes include: enemies to lovers, slow burn, demi-gods vs. humans, dark and broody MMC, feisty healer FMC, touch her and die vibes, secrets, and mysteries. I can't wait to jump into the next book and would highly recommend this book to romantasy lovers! ["

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April 19, 2025 Verified Purchase

LouOnBooks

Gripping Start, Solid Worldbuilding and a Heroine Who Tests Patience

"What a ride. This is book one in a completed four-book series—which honestly feels like a Christmas gift. Set in a mortal world colonized by gods and ruled by their offspring, the Descended, this story had me hooked from the start. Our main character, Diem Bellator, is a healer by her mother’s design. But when her mom disappears, she stumbles into a dangerous secret that pulls her deeper into the world of the Descended—especially one in particular: the future king. Plot? Gripping. Slow burn romance? A resounding YES. Worldbuilding? Surprisingly solid—plus there's a map, and we love a map. Now for the drawbacks: Diem. I still can't decide if she's brilliantly lucky or just straight-up a naïve idiot. Sometimes she made me want to scream. But despite that, the ending has me hankering to read book 2 and see where the story goes. Final verdict: A solid start to the series, and I’m 100% continuing. ["

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October 31, 2025 Verified Purchase

Taylor Lea Pratt | The Bashful Bibliophile

A new favorite! YOU SHOULD READ IT!

"I started this book at lunch one day and got to chapter 2. I then came home from work around four pm and started reading it again, and finished it at eight pm. Spark of the Everflame is probably one of my favorite books that I have ever read. This book is so well written. The inner monologue of the main character is really good, and I really love the Penn Cole’s writers voice. Everything just flows so naturally and it’s a super fun read. I didn’t want to stop reading it (obviously I didn’t) The flow of the story was good, and the way that the character makes decisions. Sometimes I was like “Oh my gosh, why?” and I could feel Diem’s anger and emotions. Some of her decisions -though I didn’t always agree with them- kept me on the edge of my seat and brought much more intrigue to the storyline. The characters are all very strong and standout. Diem’s snarky attitude is perfect, and so is her will to fight and be heard. In Henri you can see the fervent core beliefs that he lives by. He tries to protect her from his world at first, then he’s proud of her cause he thinks she believes the same things he does. I love the Prince Luther. He’s so broody and larger than life in Diem’s eyes. I love that you can see that he cares about Diem. Even Diem’s familial relationships are written so well and are so strong. You want her dad to be proud of her, you want her little brother to be in the gifted school, you want her teacher Maura to believe in her. The character conversations are excellent. The characters are what pull you into the story, and make you feel like you are right there with Diem. The world building is beautiful. The author describes the beauty of the Descended castle and town, the mortal slums and all its smells. It’s very easy to build a picture of what Diem is seeing in your minds eye. The storyline is really good. There’s no super clear antagonist (yet). There are some antagonistic characters throughout the story, but there’s not a specific antagonist. However the story builds up like it’s going to have one. If you look at it – the war that is brewing and the fighting between the mortals and the Descended is the antagonistic part of the story, which I really like. But the storyline is still clear – bad things are happening to her and she is trying to adjust and fight. It’s just so good. Like I said, this has got to be one of my favorite books that I’ve read, and definitely one of my top books of 2023. The spice is really good – it’s tastefully done and hasn’t gotten super spicy yet, but it’s so good. 2 or 3/5 on the spice scale. 5/5 stars. I recommend this for anyone who loves the MC finding power within themselves, enemies to not-quite-lovers, (but the feelings are there), and found power. It’s just a really great read with a great storyline, a beautiful world with strong characters that you get attached to so quickly. It comes out June 1st – and I recommend it! I received a free copy of this book from the author - all opinions and review is completely voluntary and 100% honest ["

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June 1, 2023 Verified Purchase

MelsABookworm

"I'm not afraid, Devourer of Crowns, Ravager of Realms, Herald of Vengeance."

"⚠️WARNING, MILD SPOILERS FOLLOW⚠️ I'm going to go with 3.5 stars on this one. I have thoughts.... Okay, this book started off pretty darn good. I found the story engaging and absorbing and the world building showed promise. Also, a mystery happens pretty much right from the get-go and the main characters were either likeable or interesting or both, for the most part. I definitely wanted to know more. All good. Later in the book though, things seemed to get a bit sloppy, or choppy, or rushed or, I don't know, poorly constructed. Convoluted? I can't quite put my finger on it. For example, things that the main character seemed to really excel at and was known for early on in the book like seeming to have a good head on her shoulders, being mature and decisive, intelligent, trustworthy and logical, just seemed to fizzle. She became unprincipled, credulous, foolish, dim and a total gullible ditz. (This isn't an exhaustive list of what went wonky, just an example of something that bothered me). It threw me out of the flow a bit for sure. She did things seemingly unbelievable of her prior character to the point that I was actually annoyed. For me, it detracted from the attachment I had to her personal character a bit, sadly. I want more Luther! His quiet, broody mysteriousness (that I cannot wait to get to the bottom of), his broad shoulders, steely gaze and mesmerizing magical abilities has my attention to put it mildly...*wiggles eyebrows* 💓🔥👍 I will say, I tore through this book. It had me thinking about it when I had to go do life things. I couldn't wait to get back to it. I really did like it and would've absolutely loved it had it not went a bit askew. Lots of promise/potential here though. The ending is certainly interesting and the set up for the next book is there for sure. I will definitely be continuing with this series with my fingers crossed as I've heard book two is really good. ["

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April 29, 2024 Verified Purchase