【 THE IRRESISTIBLE URGE TO FALL FOR YOUR ENEMY 】

book #1 in the Dearly Beloathed series

Genre: Fantasy (romantasy)
Audience: Young Adult
Author: Brigitte Knightley
Published: July 2025
Publisher: Orbit
Pages: 416 (paperback)

I am thrilled to report that this lived up to my expectations and beyond. This is very much so a tongue-in-cheek romantasy (light on the romance) that is thoroughly enjoyable. It’s full of sass, simmering with enemies-to-lovers expectations, and has some seriously fun magic/world-building.

What I liked about this, was the healthy balance of plot vs romance. I think we’ve all read our fair share of romantasy novels recently that are 100% smut and 0% plot – so thank god, this isn’t that. There’s actually a decent amount of time spent on fleshing out the world and the characters’ motives (romance aside) to prop this up whether or not the romance was present. And THAT, is what we’re after.

I thought the premise of the plot, with the urgency to find a vaccine to resurgent plague from years gone by, was an excellent backdrop to the story. Aurienne’s motivation to do her job damn well was excellent. I love how borderline unlikeable she is. She’s a prickly pear and 1000% relatable in her no-time-for-silly-people attitude. And it obviously pairs so well with Osric’s off-the-shelf personality of cutely irksome pretty boy.

The banter between them was hilarious, and I always laughed at chapter endings that ended on venomous partings and hurled insults. This book has all the right levels of angst and you are so ready to smush them together and yell: just kiss already!

I think the author played this so well. Nothing is rushed and, as I said before, there is some genuinely good plot backing this up. We have a great motivation for Aurienne’s work life, excluding Osric, and it doubles down in goodness with Osric’s own (more self-centred) issues that he brings to the plot, with his dire need for being healed. It’s just so much fun – and the way that the nature of Osric’s problems lures Aurienne to experiment more with creative resolutions to medical problems offered such a good avenue for character development.

I was definitely in the right mood for this book and ready to lap up the humour and sass from Osric. Some of my favourite bits of comedy were his self-deprecating humour while in denial about caring about Aurienne’s opinion; the adventures he has in mis-dressing himself to prepare for a medical examination with (inevitably) the wrong robe on multiple occasions; and other ridiculous moments like the onions at the start.

I really enjoyed the England-adjacent setting (it’s basically England, but in the yesteryear, if there had been magic), and the political tensions of all the guilds. I loved the fact that each guild had its own symbol, and that if you were a part of it, their symbol is emblazoned onto your palm and that’s where you channel magic through. There was just something about this that was very believable – or it was at least something I was very happy to believe in.

I could gush about this all day. So the short of it is that if you’re looking for a light-hearted, slow-burn fantasy novel with that classic mix of angst, frenemyship and action, this is 100% the book you need to pick up. I’m so ready for book two to come out already!

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Title: The Irresistible Urge to Fall For Your Enemy 
Series: Dearly Beloathed, #1
Author: Brigitte Knightley
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Osric Mordaunt, member of the Fyren Order of assassins, is in dire need of healing. Naturally – such is the grim comedy of fate – the only healer who can help is Aurienne Fairhrim, preeminent scientist, bastion of moral good, and member of an enemy Order.

Aurienne is desperate for funding to heal the sick – so desperate that, when Osric bribes her to help him, she accepts, even if she detests him and everything he stands for.

A forced collaboration ensues: the brilliant Woman in STEM is coerced into working with the PhD in Murders, much to Aurienne’s disgust. As Osric and Aurienne work together to heal his illness and investigate the mysterious reoccurrence of a deadly pox, they find themselves ardently denying their attraction, which only fuels the heat between them.