The irresistible urge to fall for your enemy / Brigitte Knightley.

By:

Knightley, Brigitte [author.]

Material type: Text

TextSeries: Knightley, Brigitte. Dearly beloathed ; bk. 1.Publisher: New York : Ace, [2025]Description: viii, 370 pages : illustrations ; 24 cmContent type:

text

Media type:

unmediated

Carrier type:

volume

ISBN:

9780593819456
0593819454

Subject(s):

Genre/Form:

Summary: "Loyalties are tested in this enemies-to-lovers romantasy following a healer and assassin from enemy sides who are forced to work together and find the source of two deadly diseases, all while resisting the urge to kill each other-and, just maybe, fall in love. When Osric Mordaunt, member of the Fyren Order, a society of assassins, finds himself sick with a degenerative disease, he needs the expertise of a very specific healer. As fate would have it, that healer is a member of his enemy Order, the Haelan. Aurienne Fairhrim's Haelan Order is besieged by the need to care for thousands of sick and dying children suffering from Platt's Pox, an almost forgotten disease that has suddenly reemerged with extreme virulence. Unable to get the funding needed to immunize the sick children, her Order is desperate. So desperate that when Osric Mordaunt breaks into her office to offer her a bribe that would completely fund their Order's immunization efforts, in exchange for her healing services, the Head of the Haelan commands Aurienne to accept. Despite being enemies, as Osric and Aurienne work together to solve not only his illness but the mysterious reoccurrence of the Pox, they find themselves ardently denying an attraction that seems only to fuel the tension between them"-- Provided by publisher.

List(s) this item appears in: New Adult Fiction Fiction notes: Click to open in new window

Average rating: 0.0 (0 votes)

Holdings
Item type	Current library	Collection	Shelving location	Call number	Status	Date due	Barcode	Item holds
Adult Book	Phillipsburg Free Public Library	Adult Fiction	New Books	FIC KNIGHTLEY	Checked out	07/31/2025	36748002622316

Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Loyalties are tested in this slow burn, enemies-to-lovers romantasy following an assassin and a healer forced to work together to cure a fatal disease, all while resisting the urge to kill each other--or, worse, fall in love.

This stunning hardcover features a cover with foil, beautifully designed endpapers, and a black-and-white interior map!

When Osric Mordaunt, member of the Fyren Order of assassins, falls ill, he realizes he needs the expertise of a very specific healer. As fate would have it, that healer belongs to an enemy faction, the Haelan Order.

Aurienne Fairhrim and her fellow Haelan are inundated by sick children suffering from an outbreak of a long-forgotten Pox. Unable to get the funding needed to launch an immunization program, the Haelan Order is desperate for money - so desperate that when Osric breaks into their headquarters to bribe Aurienne to heal him, she is forced to accept.

As Osric and Aurienne work together to solve not only his illness but the mysterious reoccurrence of the Pox, they find themselves ardently denying their attraction which only fuels the tension between them.

"Loyalties are tested in this enemies-to-lovers romantasy following a healer and assassin from enemy sides who are forced to work together and find the source of two deadly diseases, all while resisting the urge to kill each other-and, just maybe, fall in love. When Osric Mordaunt, member of the Fyren Order, a society of assassins, finds himself sick with a degenerative disease, he needs the expertise of a very specific healer. As fate would have it, that healer is a member of his enemy Order, the Haelan. Aurienne Fairhrim's Haelan Order is besieged by the need to care for thousands of sick and dying children suffering from Platt's Pox, an almost forgotten disease that has suddenly reemerged with extreme virulence. Unable to get the funding needed to immunize the sick children, her Order is desperate. So desperate that when Osric Mordaunt breaks into her office to offer her a bribe that would completely fund their Order's immunization efforts, in exchange for her healing services, the Head of the Haelan commands Aurienne to accept. Despite being enemies, as Osric and Aurienne work together to solve not only his illness but the mysterious reoccurrence of the Pox, they find themselves ardently denying an attraction that seems only to fuel the tension between them"-- Provided by publisher.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

DEBUT Osric Mordaunt needs healing, and not just from any Haelen. Only Aurienne Fairhrim has the knowledge and ability to keep him from losing his magic and his life. The complication is that Haelens are a righteous bunch who only heal the innocent and worthy, while Osric is an assassin from the Fyren Order and falls decidedly in the "not worthy" category. However, Aurienne is instructed by her mentor to heal Osric in exchange for his money, which will fund a much-needed immunization program against the Pox, which is killing children in droves. Aurienne makes her distaste of Fyren known and informs Osric that his condition is incurable, although she reluctantly agrees to try an experimental method that will probably fail. The two meet secretly over several months, and although they are both vocal about their strong mutual dislike, Aurienne and Osric go to extraordinary measures to protect one another. VERDICT The first in the "Dearly Beloathed" duology is a wickedly humorous, slow-burn love story between two protagonists who epitomize the opposites-attract trope. It's sure to delight readers of debut novelist Knightley's popular fanfic and garner her a new audience.--Eve Stano

Publishers Weekly Review

Knightley's frustrating debut romantasy and Dearly Beloathed duology launch unsuccessfully mixes the tone and humor of 1960s British sex farces with a convoluted biological warfare plot. In an alternate England where the Norman invasion failed, magicians join one of eight orders, including the Haelens (healer-scholars) and the Fyren (shadow-walking assassins). Fyren Osric Mordaunt has a disease known as seith rot, which could end in complete magic loss, and turns to Haelen Aurienne Fairhrim, the world specialist on seith channels, or mystical energy streams that allow the use of magic. Aurienne despises all Fyren on principal, but Osric makes an offer she can't refuse: a hefty donation to support otherwise unfunded research into a pox outbreak. Aurienne and Osric initially clash, but grow unwillingly (and unconvincingly) to care about each other, as they explore old magic and the new spread of the pox. Knightley overrelies on gross-out humor ("He rubbed his hands like a fly that has found particularly succulent poo") and naughty jokes, and the light tone never gels with the more serious subject matter. Only the most diehard enemies-to-lovers fans need apply. Agent: Thao Le, Sandra Dijkstra Literary. (July)

Booklist Review

Knightly's debut is an absolute joy, full of well-written banter and entertaining vignettes. Readers will be captivated by an exceptionally clever magical system, several concurrent mysteries, and the slowest of slow burn romances between two people who absolutely hate each other. Osric Mordaunt and Aurienne Fairhrim are sworn enemies, each belonging to opposing magical orders. Aurienne is a Haelan, vowing to use her magic to protect and heal mankind; Osric is a Fyren, trained to walk the Dusken Paths, killing and dealing in secrets for money. When Osric's magic begins to falter, he does the only thing he can think of--bribe a Haelan to help him discover a cure. What follows is the most delightful of enemies-to-lovers plots as Osric and Aurienne research fairy stories and forgotten lore and attempt magical treatments in far-flung places, all while trading delightfully barbed quips in a series of increasingly ridiculous attempts to save Osric's magic and ultimately his life. While it might cause captivated readers real anguish when this book ends on an abrupt cliffhanger, the possibility of more to come in an entertaining series will definitely make up for it. This is a superlative read deserving of very real praise.