Title: Brimstone
Author: Callie Hart
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: November 18, 2025
ISBN: 9781538774229
Synopsis:
Saeris Fane doesn’t want power. The very last thing she needs is her name whispered on an entire court’s lips, but now that she’s been crowned queen of the Blood Court, she’s discovering that a queen’s life is not her own. A heavy weight rests upon her shoulders. Her ward—and her brother—need her back in her homeland…but the changes that have strengthened Saeris have also made her weak. Born under blazing suns, Saeris will surely die if she makes her way home through the Quicksilver. Which means that, once again, she must send someone else in her stead…
Kingfisher of the Ajun Gate has defeated armies and survived all manner of horrors, but traveling back to Zilvaren with Carrion Swift might just be the death of him. The male just will not shut up. Hidden dangers await them down the narrow alleyways of the Silver City. Unfolding secrets pose impossible threats. Fisher must wrangle the smuggler and accomplish his goals quickly if he wants to see his mate again.
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Although it took me far too long to get through this sequel to one of the best romantasy novels on the market right now, I’ve finally made it through. What a ride Brimstone is as it finds Saeris reborn as something unlike their world has ever seen. Moving from Calish to Zilvaren to the underworld, and newly revealed towns and settlements, this book is packed full of action and movement from start to finish as the characters are wrapped up in a very quickly escalating war against the darkness and rot. There is only so much time and it seems like no matter what our protagonist does, she’s always a few steps behind. Still, she is coming into her power and learning more about what it means to be an alchemist in a world where so much has been forgotten about her kind.
Where Saeris is finding strength and rebirth of who she is, we also dive further into who Kingfisher is, learning that while he is forged of incredible strength, he is not the infallible and unshakeable male who is presented in the first book. He is dark, mysterious, territorial, and often vulnerable as he opens himself up to his mate. The reader is privy to how much he needs Saeris, as much as she needs him. They find each other in waking hours and in dreams, connected through the growing strength of their bond.
The characterization and world-building remains Hart’s strong suit and she displays her writing prowess in this book as her world expands, though there are a few elements that would have taken this book over the top for me. I would have loved to have seen more relationship-building between Saeris and Kingfisher in this book as they spend most of the chapters apart. Some banter and some more deep conversations would have gone a long way to strengthen the romance between them. There is also A LOT of travel from place to place, often so much so that it becomes difficult to follow the plot or even the purpose of the movement. I don’t mind a fast-paced book moving from place to place, but there does need to be more support as to why the characters are where they are, and this element is often lost throughout Brimstone. It becomes hard to connect the dots and I began to lose track after a while.
Walking away from Brimstone I still feel as though we haven’t progressed all that far from where the book started. While I enjoyed it, this book is a bit over-hyped for what it is. Still, Hart is a great writer and has created a beautiful and expansive world. She’s thrown in a number of plot twists that keep the story engaging. As we move into book three, hopefully she’ll keep that momentum going and give us the heart-stopping conclusion that we all crave.
Happy reading!
Worn Pages and Ink 