An immortal bound in darkness. A shattered empire at war. And a blacksmith whose heart could tip the scales of fate.

When young blacksmith Cahra is commissioned to forge a sword, she uses her imagination to design its crest. But this symbol unwittingly invokes an age-old prophecy and awakens Hael – an immortal with the power to shape or shatter worlds – sealed away for hundreds of years in a chamber deep in Hael’stromia, the lost capital at the heart of a civil war between three kingdoms.

Now hunted for the sword, Cahra must flee with the very stranger who commissioned it. But can she trust the handsome and charming noble, Terryl?

On the run through the darkly magical Wilds, she is drawn ever closer to Hael, who visits and beguiles her in dreams. With tyrant kings vying to capture and wield him as a weapon, she alone stands between Hael and their deadly ambitions.

A sizzling, action-packed romantasy, perfect for fans of Throne of Glass, The North Wind and The Book of Azrael.

© 2024 Amy de la Force (P) 2025 DK Audio

Alexandra Boulton can give you multiple accents from around the world and speak fluent French and Mandarin. Her narrating ranges in genres from YA to romance to crime working on the famous crime author, David Baldacci's Strangers in Time. Alongside her narrating she works as an interpreter, journalist and occasionally a cow milker.

Amy de la Force is a queer writer of romantasy, and shortlisted for the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize. Drawing on her expertise as an ex-Apple copywriter and medieval sword fighter, A Kiss of Hammer and Flame is her debut novel in the Fated for Hael trilogy. Amy is an Aussie expat who lives in London.