Alchemist. Poisoner. Reluctant queen.

Wren Embervale knows her duty demands a crown, even if it means a strategic betrothal to the influential Lord Darian Devereux. Their arranged marriage promises the formidable army she needs to wrestle her kingdom from the clutches of the tyrannical usurper, Silas. Yet Wren's heart still belongs to Torj Elderbrock, her soul-bonded Warsword.

Torn between her pragmatic alliance and the visceral pull of her bond with Torj, Wren must navigate a treacherous landscape of courtly intrigue and looming war. As Silas's shadow alchemy tightens its grip on the midrealms and a creeping poison steals Torj's strength, Wren's carefully constructed facade begins to crack . . .

Can Wren play the dutiful fiancée to secure her throne while her body and soul yearns for the warrior who would lay down his life for her? Or will the tangled threads of political necessity leave her kingdom - and her heart - in ashes?

From the Sunday Times bestselling author of Iron & Embers, Silver & Smoke is the blistering finale to the Ashes of Thezmarr series.

Readers love The Ashes of Thezmarr . . .

'Helen is an auto-buy author for me. If she writes it - I'll read it!'

'So much yearning and angst!'

'If I had all three of these books in my possession, I would binge-read them and then stare at the wall wondering where I go from here'