New York Times bestselling author of Furyborn, Claire Legrand, makes her stunning adult debut with A Crown of Ivy and Glass, a lush, sweeping fantasy-romance series starter that's perfect for fans of Bridgerton and A Court of Thorns and Roses.
Lady Gemma Ashbourne seemingly has it all. She's young, gorgeous, and rich. Her family was Anointed by the gods, blessed with incredible abilities. But underneath her glittering façade, Gemma is deeply sad. Years ago, her sister Mara was taken to the Middlemist to guard against treacherous magic. Her mother abandoned the family. Her father and eldest sister, Farrin―embroiled in a deadly blood feud with the mysterious Bask family―often forget Gemma exists.
Worst of all, Gemma is the only Ashbourne to possess no magic. Instead, her body fights it like poison. Constantly ill, aching with loneliness, Gemma craves love and yearns to belong.
Then she meets the devastatingly handsome Talan d'Astier. His family destroyed themselves, seduced by a demon, and Talan, the only survivor, is determined to redeem their honor. Intrigued and enchanted, Gemma proposes a bargain: She'll help Talan navigate high society if he helps her destroy the Basks. According to popular legend, a demon called The Man With the Three-Eyed Crown is behind the families' blood feud―slay the demon, end the feud.
But attacks on the Middlemist are increasing. The plot against the Basks quickly spirals out of control. And something immense and terrifying is awakening in Gemma, drawing her inexorably toward Talan and an all-consuming passion that could destroy her―or show her the true strength of her power at last.
The series
In a world gilded with magic and shadowed by secrets, The Middlemist Trilogy dares to unravel the illusion of power and the cost of legacy. Set in a society where divine blessings elevate the elite—and curse those born without them—the trilogy immerses readers in a gothic fantasy landscape where beauty masks rot, and every alliance carries a hidden blade.
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The story opens with Gemma Ashbourne, a sharp-tongued socialite who lacks the magic that defines her powerful family. Her world is one of chandeliers, corseted expectations, and silken lies. But beneath the surface of ballroom whispers and political facades lurks something older—something hungry. When Gemma strikes a pact with a disgraced nobleman to hunt a demon that may hold the key to her family’s ruin, the price she must pay for truth could unravel her mind, her body, and the fragile veneer of her status. Her pain—both physical and psychological—is not romanticized but rendered with stark intimacy, shaping a heroine who is as vulnerable as she is dangerous.
As the series unfolds, shifting focus to other Ashbourne sisters, the stakes climb higher. Each sister’s story expands the world, from the perfumed courts to the haunted borderlands of the Middlemist, a cursed place where lost things whisper back. The trilogy explores generational trauma, the politics of divine favor, and the seductive pull of forbidden magic—all with a lyrical edge that cuts as deeply as the blades its characters so often wield.
Lush with atmosphere and rich in emotional complexity, this fantasy series conjures a world where power is never simple, and survival means facing the darkness—both around and within. For readers drawn to immersive storytelling, morally gray characters, and hauntingly beautiful prose, this is a journey worth surrendering to.
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