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Cover of We Were Meant to Burn

We Were Meant to Burn

by Nicolette Elzie

🌶️🌶️🌶️moderate·spoiler·Ashes and Ruin Saga #1
Available on Kindle Unlimited

Why Read This?

A hard-won happy ending after intense emotional turmoil, character growth, and the formation of found family bonds.

Synopsis

A mercenary with secrets. An assassin raised to be a weapon. A love that was never meant to survive. Nix Zaldanna was never meant to fall in love. As the infamous Nightshade of Rojas, she was trained to kill, to obey, to serve. But when she is captured and left to rot in the dungeons of the enemy king, she waits for the Empress to come for her. Except the rescue never comes. Instead, she’s freed by Malakai—a fae warrior whose loyalty is as questionable as his past. He claims he needs her, that she’s part of something bigger than the war she was raised to fight. But Nix doesn’t trust mercenaries. And she especially doesn’t trust a man who makes her question everything she’s ever known. But the more she fights him, the more she fights herself. Because the war isn’t as simple as she once believed. And neither is Malakai. Betrayed by the empire that made her, bound to a man she doesn’t trust, Nix must decide whether to burn for the future she was promised—or forge a new one in the ashes of the lies she’s been told. Perfect for fans of The Bridge Kingdom, The Shadows Between Us, and An Ember in the Ashes, We Were Meant to Burn delivers slow-burn romance, enemies-to-lovers tension, and a world where love is as dangerous as war.

At a Glance

4.28 ★ Goodreads
Spice Level🌶️🌶️🌶️moderate
Endingspoiler
PairingM/F
Romance Pacingslow burn

Top Tropes

captive romanceforced proximityrevenge romance

Mood

darkintenseangstyromanticbrooding

Book Details

Goodreads Rating

4.28 ★

Page Count

663 pages

Published

2025

Primary Genre

Romantasy

Pairing

M/F

POV

First Person

Romance Pacing

Slow Burn

Audiobook

Available

Yes

Format

Standard

Narrator

Ava Flynn

Narrator Count

Single

Tropes

RomanceMagicActionAngstWorld
Theme Constellation

sign in to see all 5 tropes

Mood & Vibe

Mood

sign in to see writing style, pacing & more

Characters

FMC: assassin sign in to unlock

Spice Details 🌶️

dark / taboo style sign in to unlock

deathgraphic violencemurdertorturetraumaviolencebetrayalcaptivitydubious consentimprisonment

World & Setting

grimdark / dark fantasy sign in to unlock

Reading Context

the angst delivered sign in to unlock

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