But nothing comes for free, especially magic.
When Elspeth meets a mysterious highwayman on the forest road, her life takes a drastic turn. Thrust into a world of shadow and deception, she joins a dangerous quest to cure the kingdom of the dark magic infecting it. Except the highwayman just so happens to be the King’s own nephew, Captain of the Destriers…and guilty of high treason.
He and Elspeth have until Solstice to gather twelve Providence Cards—the keys to the cure. But as the stakes heighten and their undeniable attraction intensifies, Elspeth is forced to face her darkest secret yet: the Nightmare is slowly, darkly, taking over her mind. And she might not be able to stop him.
I’ve done a halfway decent job of reading some spooky books this October, but of course I can’t just abandon fantasy for an entire month!
So what’s extra cool is getting to read a dark, moody, gothic fantasy at the height of Spooky Season™️!
ONE DARK WINDOW is the debut novel by Rachel Gillig, and the first book in her series, THE SHEPHERD KING.
This book is just dripping with atmosphere, right from the beginning. Imagine a kingdom shrouded in a magical mist, a dark & dangerous forest, cobblestone streets, and you’re on the right track.
Elspeth Spindle is the main character of the book, and she has a Nightmare trapped in her head. A cantankerous voice that only she hears, and one that can periodically inhabit her body and give her bursts of ferocious power. There’s an incredibly interesting relationship between Elspeth & the Nightmare that evolves throughout the story.
In the kingdom of Blunder, magic is largely outlawed. The magic system in this book gets a little complicated to follow, but we learn that Elspeth was infected over ten years ago…it’s only her relative position of privilege that’s allowed her to escape the King’s notice, and keep her magic hidden. The only form of magic that’s permissible in Blunder is one based on a series of providence cards, which are greatly coveted.
Another aspect of Elspeth’s magic, unique to only her, is an ability to detect when providence cards are near. Which of course would make her a valuable asset to anyone looking to gather these powerful magical cards.
Ravyn Yew is Captain of the Destriers, and the King’s nephew. Ostensibly, he should be hunting Elspeth for her magical ability. But there’s a lot more to Ravyn and his family than meets the eye. Soon Elspeth finds herself absorbed into Ravyn’s family as they attempt to cure Blunder of its magical blight, by any means necessary.
I had a lot of fun reading this! ONE DARK WINDOW reads really fast, and Gillig has a great talent for ending chapters in a way that makes reading the next chapter feel like an absolute necessity.
I’m a curious but inexperienced romance reader, so it took me a little while to be like OH! FAKE DATING! THAT’S THE THING, YES!! So it was really fun to see the fake dating/kinda-enemies to lovers tropes embedded in this dark fantasy novel. I thought the chemistry & banter between Elspeth and Ravyn was fucking fantastic. Ravyn is EXTREMELY broody & also kind of sweet, and I just loved watching the relationship between him & Elspeth develop.
I dug this one a whole lot & I’m really looking forward to the next book! Big thanks to Orbit for sending a copy my way!!
Grimdark Dad 