#catherine doyle

“Stop getting in the way of my plans!”

“Then start making better ones. I’m trying to save your life!”

“I can save my own damn life!”

Book 6 of 2026: The Dagger and The Flame by Catherine Doyle 🔥

⚠️ Warning: This post may contain SOME SPOILERS for the book as I will be sharing the plot, my thoughts, and what happens in the chapters. This will be your only warning before continuing the post. Additionally, there are themes of sexual and suggestive content within this book. If this makes you uncomfortable, please feel free to not continue. ⚠️

The front cover of the book:

The bookmark I'll be using:

The sprayed edge along the side:

Starting date: 18th February 2026

Finish date: 21st February 2026

Plot introduction: In a deadly game of revenge, the most dangerous mistake of all is falling in love...

In the city of Fantome, Shade-magic is a dark commodity controlled by two enemy guilds: the Cloaks and the Daggers - the thieves and the assassins. On the night of her mother's murder, 18-year-old Seraphine seeks sanctuary with the Cloaks, her heart set on revenge.

But nothing can prepare Sera for the moment she comes face-to-face with Ransom, heir to the Order of Daggers. And Ransom is shocked to discover that this unassuming farmgirl weilds a strange and blazing magic he has never seen before...

Let's enter this gothic world and experience this fiery enemies-to-lovers romantasy, shall we?

Prologue-Chapter 10: Alrighty! It's time for another romantasy enemies-to-lovers book! So, I'll introduce you to the characters first before I discuss anything else about the book. First, we have the female main character, Seraphine Marchant, a farmgirl and the daughter of a former smuggler, Slyvie Marchant, who has a pet dog with three legs who was previously a tracker dog, due to a desperate act after what happened to her mother, she found sanctuary in the House Armand, the home of The Order of the Cloaks, a group of thieves. Next, we have Ransom Hale, the male main character, who is hunting Sera down. He's part of The Order of the Daggers, a group of assassins, and was also the youngest ever recruit of the order at only 10 years old. He's also the heir apparent of the Order of the Dagger as the current head of the Daggers, Gaspard Dufort, raised Ransom from the age of 10 and pretty much treats him like a son. There are also other characters, such as Valerie and Sabine Fraser, who are both Cloaks, Theodore Branch (the Cloaks Shadowsmith, a person who's in charge of the Shade supply for the Cloaks), Lark Delano and Nadia Raine, who are both members of the Daggers.

From my understanding, Shade is a powder substance that is very deadly and tempting. For the Cloaks, Shade is used in their clothes and can help them disappear into the shadows. For the Daggers, Shade is consumed physically into their body, leading them to control the shadows and the darkness, and they can kill a person in ten heartbeats. It also makes the Daggers' eyes gain silver when they've consumed some Shade.

So, Madame Mercure (the current head of the Order of the Cloaks) found out who Sera really is pretty quickly, but not to worry because Sera has her Cloak outfit for blending in with shadows like the other Cloak members, she paid a visit with the Shadowsmith to get her fitted for the equipment. However, rumours and strange occurrences are happening around Fantome that are causing tensions and rifts between the Cloaks and the Daggers, which causes the Cloaks to put a momentary pause on their occupations. This leads Sera to practice walking in shadows and self-defence. But soon, Bibi (Sabine), Val, and she all get a job to steal a tiara from a villa, but unfortunately for them, they're not alone as a certain Dagger is also on the prowl for Sera... 🤭

Chapters 11-20: AAAAAHHHHHHHH OKAY, SO! Sera and Ransom had their first official meeting, and oh my god, it was so good! Sera discovers her necklace has some fire magic inside the teardrop, and she manages to bruise Ransom's ego and piss him off. Like no joke, he wants her DEAD. We also get the reveal of the nickname Ransom has given to Sera, "spitfire." Also, there are these messed-up looking monsters made of Shade roaming around the city that both Ransom and Sera had encountered separately, Sera got back to the house successfully, but I can't say the same for Ransom as he was suffering from a stab wound from a letter opener, curtesy from Sera lol. Both Sera and Ransom leave out the part about their fight with their leaders and speaking about their leaders, we have a meeting between Cordelia and Gaspard with some rules but of course, these two enemy guilds aren't going to actually listen to the rules lol. I love, love, love, love, love how feral and pissed off Ransome is towards Sera like even the mere MENTION of her name ticks him off and makes him want to murder. Also, after chapter 14, we enter part 2 of the book.

SO MUCH IS HAPPENING LOL AND I'M LOVING IT! Sera and Ransom are enemies, and the tensions are HIGH, Ransom casually makes me feel all kinds of things while reading his POV chapters, Ransom saving Sera's dog Pippin was so wholesome! My heart actually melted when reading that scene! Also, I'm lowkey shipping Lark and Nadia as well as Theo and Bibi purely for vibes. Overall, I fear this book may be another 5-star read. We shall wait and see, lol. 🤭

Chapters 21-30: Alrighty folks! We got so much backstory and lore about the new magic Sera discovered, as well as how there are so many monsters in the city. I won't give too much away because it's a twist of events in a way, but the key is the wine. Sylvie mixed some substances together, and then they were put into the wine mixture, which leads people to become monsters when they drink the wine. We also got the name of Sera's new magic, which is called Lightfire, and by the sounds of its abilities, it can heal people who have consumed Shade, for example, someone like Ransom, as well as dispelling poison from a person like one of those monsters.

These chapters were so much fun in terms of Sera and Ransom because they were flirting, playing cat and mouse, and they were being so good! In my opinions I believe in terms of enemies to lovers, we are in phase 7, which I would count as voluntary physical contact. The things that Ransom says to Sera get me laughing, blushing, simping, all the works, lol! Also, after chapter 27, we enter the third, and I'm assuming the final part of the book. There was also a very funny moment of Ransom being an absolute MENACE in chapter 22 with Sera's ex-boyfriend, Lorenzo, and I loved it all cause that man was enjoying that moment far too much about scaring Lorenzo 😂.

Chapters 31-40: Where do I even begin!?!?! So much has happened within these chapters! First of all, Sera and Ransom become lovers in chapter 34. They have their first kiss in that chapter! And a very fucking hot moment in chapter 40, like at least as hot as some of the spice I've read in Fourth Wing/Iron Flame as well as the spice from Heavenly Bodies! But also at the same time, a HUGE fucking plot twist happens in chapter 38 and oh my god the whole relationship between Ransom and Sera is just so... AHHHH I HAVE NO WORDS I LOVE THEM SO MUCH! I wish I could say more but I want you all to experience this book as blind as possible without me giving too much away about the book but yeah! This book is a rollercoaster, and I'M LOVING IT RANSOM THE MAN THAT YOU ARE 😩🤌

Chapters 41-50: THAT. FUCKING. ENDING. HOLY FUCK! The last 100 pages of a romantasy curse is real with this book! The plot twists! The betrayals! The magic! The odds! The heartbreak! Oh! Ransom and Sera 😩🤌. The parallels between Kai Azer and Ransom Hale at the end of this book and at the end of Powerless were painful, to say the least! Also, that fucking twist with Theo in chapter 50! AAAAAHHHHHHH I NEED BOOK 2 IN MY HANDS NOW! I WANT TO SEE RANSOM AND SERA BACK IN THEIR ENEMIES TO LOVERS STAGE! WE'RE BACK AT PHASE 1 LOL. I loved this book, I really did. I'm so glad my friend recommended this book to me!

Final thoughts:

THIS. BOOK. I... Listen, take it from me. You all need to read this book. You can see the tropes in the books listed in the hashtags. The tension between the Daggers and the Cloaks is so thick that you could just tell these two factions are at war with each other! Don't even get me started on that handsome fucker, Ransom, DO NOT LOL. I have never simped this hard over a shadow daddy since Xaden Riorson and Azriel the Shadowsinger. He's just so... The way he lived for the chase, the hunt, and the way he was feral for Sera was everything.

The pacing of the enemies-to-lovers in this book was perfect! We almost had 9 phases, but unfortunately or perhaps fortunately, we're back at phase 1, lol! There were a lot of characters that I mentally threw into the core of the sun because of how they were in the book. That's something my friend and I enjoyed doing, lol 😆. Oh yeah, we get introduced to a new character from the sneak peek of the second book, The Rebel and The Rose! Now, speaking about the second book, thankfully, it is coming out this year in July. However, I have The Works (another shop in the UK that sells books) exclusive version of this book, which means I would have to do the same with the second book since I would like the series to match lol. If you loved reading the Powerless series as well as the Empyrean series, I definitely think this book is for you! I am now out here spreading the word of this book, lol!

Star rating: 5/5 ⭐️ (Second book of the year to receive a 5-star rating!)

Spice rating: 1/5 🌶

Thank you all once again for coming, I didn't expect to finish this book in just under 5 days, but here I am, posting a review about this fun book, lol. I just got so invested in everything about this book, and I was home alone a couple of days, so I was able to read undisturbed, and I just flew through it, haha. The next book is another enemies-to-lovers romantasy book called Cruel is the Light by Sophie Clark. See you all soon, bye-bye!

Happy birthday to my first book boyfriend,

Luca Falcone .

A whole decade later and you’re still the reason I fell in love with reading.

𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕯𝖆𝖌𝖌𝖊𝖗 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝕱𝖑𝖆𝖒𝖊

ᴡʜᴇɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴏʀʟᴅ ɪꜱ ᴀᴛ ɪᴛꜱ ᴅᴀʀᴋᴇꜱᴛ, ᴡᴇ ᴍᴜꜱᴛ ʀᴇᴀᴄʜ ʙʀᴀᴠᴇʟʏ ᴛʜʀᴏᴜɢʜ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱʜᴀᴅᴏᴡꜱ ᴛᴏ ꜰɪɴᴅ ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ʟɪɢʜᴛ ʙʟᴏᴏᴍꜱ.

🔥Meet Seraphine and Ransom, two unforgettable characters from 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑫𝒂𝒈𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝒍𝒂𝒎𝒆 by Catherine Doyle!

Are you ready to step into their world?

I promise, you’re not! With only one month left until September 26th, get ready for the first book of 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞 to blow your mind.

If you crave dark aesthetics, family secrets, high-stakes cat-and-mouse games, intricate world-building, and unique magic systems, this book is for you!

And don’t even get me started on the charming side characters—especially one I cannot wait for you to meet and obsess over. Oh, and did I mention an animal sidekick? 🐾

~🔥~

• art by the amazing @minshugart

• commissioned by me, @bookish_rival

• Characters: Seraphine Marchant and Ransom Hale belong to Catherine Doyle

》》PLEASE DO NOT REPOST!!《《

~🔥~

Huge thanks to the amazing @minshugart for bringing this scene to life!

The details are stunning—Ransom’s shadow marks, Seraphine’s brown spot in her blue eyes, and the tension between them… it’s EPIC!

I can’t do it justice; you’ll just have to dive into the story yourself. ⚔️🔥