The Burned Sorcery

by Dani Hall

Shai Fairthorne has magic and mortality, which isn't the best mix. Of the three magics, she possesses Burned abilities, which are the least powerful. Her entire domain is being hunted, magicked, or killed by the Cursed. The Lord of the Cursed is the deadliest sorcerer on Testament, being the only individual to possess two magics at once. However, as Shai tries to secure a marriage in order to sustain her mortal family, Lord Killiam Darling interrupts her plans, revealing that Shai also wields two magics. To her horror, Fate has determined that the two of them are meant to be together.

With gravitational magic at his command, Killiam can touch her from across the room—or implode his enemies with a single glance. And he does—when they threaten his Fated. Shai wants to protect her family, but she discovers that the Born, who have feigned heroism for centuries, are planning on eradicating her domain entirely. The lethal and gorgeous Killiam Darling, along with his unity of friends, should certainly be feared—but not for the reasons she was led to believe.

410 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 21, 2025

About the author

Dani Hall is a mother, wife, teacher, and author. She lives in North Carolina with her husband and two sons. She has received multiple awards for her writing, including the Best Indie Book Award, the National Indie Excellence Award, and the Indie Discovery Award for her novel, A Cage for Angels. Recently she received Finalist in the Romantasy category for the Next Generation Indie Book Awards for her novel The Pirate Queen's Revenge.

Reviews

[Andreea Ratiu · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a tale of a tormented sorceress, a family in peril, and a brooding, impossibly attractive man who's older than indoor plumbing but somehow still hot enough to make you forget your own name.

Our heroine is ready to sacrifice everything for her family. Her soul, her magic, her future - everything. But wait! There’s a twist: she’s got a fated mate. Because of course she does. And he’s not just any guy lurking in the shadows wearing leather - he’s the leader of the very people who kill her peoplewant her. Adorable, right?

Naturally, he’s tall, mysterious, and radiates power like a Pinterest board made entirely of smoldering jawlines and tragic pasts. He’s over 300 years old, which makes him ancient in human years, but in hot fantasy dude years? Peak dating age. He’s got secrets. He’s got scars. He’s got a galaxy jailed in his eyes. And more importantly, he’s got absolutely no chill when it comes to “protecting” her - even if that means stoping everything, and I mean everything when she is arouund and growling every time another man makes accidental eye contact with her.

But our sorceress? Oh, she’s so conflicted. She's terrified of him, sure, but also strangely comforted by his broody possessiveness and his habit of dramatically poping out next to her everytime she needs him. Truly, who isn’t drawn to a guy whose idea of flirting is threatening to burn the world down for you?

The plot is a magical rollercoaster filled with vials, near-deaths and enough tension to power a small city. Will she save her people? Will she accept him? Will he save his people, or send them all to Hades to let him sort them out?

You’ll laugh. You’ll cringe. You’ll question your taste in fictional men.
And in the end, you’ll be left wondering: When is the second book out? How can you let us like this??

Highly recommend. For the chaos.
And the broad sholders.

[Dani Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Romantasy trilogy in the making!

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was SO MUCH FUN. Any time a new book comes out, you always see claims about a “unique magic system” and its always the same rewashed and rehashed fantasy template. The magic system in this book wasnt revolutionary, but thats what I loved most about it; it felt like a warm hug.

Being born, cursed or burned with magic mimics the dungeons and dragons magic system and characters from sorcerers and wizards to lizard folk and tabaxis. I have yet to find a book that reminds me of a DnD campaign without marketing itself as such and I instantly felt at home reading this. Reading it made me want to throw a shanty on in the background and roll for initiative during every conflict.

The tongue in cheek humor blended with the struggles of discovering oneself was frosted with a nice pining, fated mates plot line and I would have that cake and eat it any day.

Thank you very much to author Dani Hall and Book Sirens for an ARC copy of The Burned Sorcery and giving me the opportunity to read and review honestly

[Danielle Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Booksirens and Dani Hall for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This read as a classic romantasy with an immortal dark haired MMC and mortal young adult FMC. I ended up really enjoying this. I am equal parts excited and scared to read the rest of this trilogy. I fear this is going to have a devastating end.

The division of magic in this world was full of unique details and provides a source for political intrigue in the story beyond the romance. The perspective follows Shai (pronounced shy) for most of the narrative as she's thrown from her set path through college and marriage into a bigger plot between the different magicks. This turns her world around as she tries to unlearn all the propaganda she's been raised on and how that will effect those closest to her. You do get a few glimpses from Killiam's perspective as well at the beginning and end.

Favorite quotes:
-"I want you so deep in my veins that when I'm cut open, there's nothing but you to bleed out."

-"There is a liveliness to the Burned. A mix of Magic and horns and tails and fur that made it diverse. Here...It was just Born. There was no spark of Uniqueness"

-"'Fate, I'm coming around to it! I need time -' 'You do not have time. You have precious little time due to your fragile mortality, and you are wasting it.'"

*Hidden Powers
*Fated Mates
*Forced Proximity
*Loathe to Love
*Found Family

[Jessica Hoffmaster · Rating 5 out of 5]

The burned sorcery
Dani Hall

Release: July 21st

Thank you for my gifted copy, this review is of my OWN OPINION 🖤 Proceed with caution book baddie 😈


✨choosen one
✨fated mates
✨magic
✨would burn the world for her
✨jealous MMC


“i will damn it all,”

Very imaginative, amazing work.
I love this indie author. I am so excited to follow her journey as an author.

The plot- awesome! Very unique, written great and just all around a fun time.
I love the FMC, she is so fun and witty. She’s smart and useful.
I love how powerful he is in their world. He would burn it all just for her. I love it. He gives her space until he can’t any more. He says such romantic things at times and I’m just *swoon*


The ending ? AHHHH WHAT excuse me WHAT

[MaRissa Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my gosh! This has been added to my top favorites!

I love how in depth this book is. The details are amazing. I love being able to imagine things exactly how they are from the author’s writing than to guess. I haven’t read an amazing fantasy book in such a long time. I highly recommend, and am very excited to see what comes next from this Author!

I got this as an ARC to review.

[Hannah Reynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ah, where to begin. This book has all of the things I love about fantasy books, and it has all of the slow burn angst that promises to give me more in the next installment! Such a well done romantasy. I cannot wait for book 2!


Anecdotal chapter entries ✔️
Sprinkled with literary allusions ✔️
A unique magic system and potions ✔️
Tall, dark, handsome, and powerful MMC ✔️
A bigger plot brewing beneath the surface ✔️

Dani Hall is one of my “automatic purchases” when she releases a new book. No matter the genre, it’s always going to have an excellent plot and be a well written story.

[smalljeannie · Rating 4 out of 5]

“You will be unable to steer clear of her. No one possesses the type of self-restraint necessary to keep away. Fate creates these bonds for a reason, not just for your pleasure, but for the universe.”

TL;DR: this is for you if you loved A Court of Mist and Fury and you need more. There, made it easy for you, you’re welcome!

(Of course, I can’t leave it at that!)
The thing that caught my attention straightaway (and convinced me to download) was the play on the closed sign at the apothecary:

“Your sign says were closed, not we’re closed,” I said flatly. The creature blinked its milky eyes, not understanding. I sucked my teeth. “Therefore, it implies that at some point you were closed, but not right now.”

Oh, I think we’ll get along fine.

On the continent of Testament, there are three magics: Magic you are Born with, magic you are Burned with, or magic you are Cursed with.

Hall has set up world ripe for an explosive class war. Now, it’s a complex world and there is a lot of explanations of how it all works that makes the early chapters a little tough to wade through. While she hangs with her premise and world well, I honestly felt like it deserved more of the spotlight. Instead, the world’s plot clearly serves the romance’s plot, and doesn’t get explored as much as I think it deserves. This is of course, a preference on my part, but I think the romance plot would feel more organic if it grew out of more focus on the world.

We constantly owed the Born for our lives here.

Still, it left me with plenty to consider as we watch Shai begin to learn the truth about her society, and this first installment sets up a big overthrow-the-oppressive-world-order and do-I-save-the-world-or-my-love story I’m here for.

Romantasy tropes:
* Fated Mates (more on that)
* Enemies to Lovers (more on that, too)
* Secretly Soft MMC
* One Bed (um, yeah, read that scene)
* Age Gap
* Secret Identity
* Chosen One
* Broody Protector/Shadow Daddy

The thing about this romance that stands out to me is that Hall is upfront from the beginning about the Fated Mates and Shai’s secret identity (though it looks like there may be more coming on that front?) It feels weird to mention these elements because usually it’s supposed to come out later and be a surprise (that we all see coming.) And…I usually hate it. So I was intrigued that we started there, with Killiam just walking up to Shai and telling her “I’m here because we’re going to have babies.” (Well, that’s not the exact words, but actually kinda close.) So…now what? How is this forced romance supposed to work?

Hall is able to go deep into how Fated Mates work in her world. For one thing, Fate is their god and seemingly very active in their world, and that’s a cool take. MMC is hundreds of years old and has time to process what’s happening, while FMC gets it dumped on her, alongside revelations that her world doesn’t work the way she was told. Most of the plot is her trying to wrap her head around it all and decide what to do; she really doesn’t have a lot of agency at this point (a lot of the information is simply artificially withheld from her, so she doesn’t have much to work with,) but I get the feeling that’s going to change. I wish Hall would go harder on this theme: Shai chooses none of this, so what is left of her own agency? That said, and without spoiling, I really really really liked where Shai ended up mentally about things at the end given the…exciting? situation she’s left in.

“At the end of the day, all I am to you is what Fate says I am. Apart from that, I know nothing about you. And you know nothing about me.”

So, Killiam. He’s incredibly Rhysand-coded, and that may be all you need to know. *wink* I mean, I guess it’s enemy-to-lover (I made that singular on purpose) but Killiam never sees Shai as an enemy, not really, even if he’s a little pissy about it for a minute. He falls fast and hard—because he’s forced to—and it’s Shai who needs convincing—totally understandable. The tension there never really worked for me because it so quickly became obvious that the story will show us he’s actually not who she thinks he is…if you’ve read ACOMAF, you know how it goes. This revelation follows a lot of the same beats but thankfully succeeds in not feeling like a ripoff.

Last, Killiam is definitely the overprotective type, which I also normally hate, but Hall has fun with it. Look for the scene in the restaurant with the exploding plates…it’s pretty funny.

So yeah, I picked this up for the grammar nerd intro and the fact that Burned is doing some interesting things with tropes I really like seeing refreshed.

I look forward to the rest of the series, and even more, what Hall creates in the future as she further hones her craft, and maybe has the benefit of a more rigorous editing process. This is an author to watch.
[I received a free copy and I’m leaving this honest review voluntarily.]

[grace barron · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I did enjoy the overall premise of this novel, I do not think this book was for me. I felt as a reader that much was being told to me and not shown. There were many times a subtle line that made me feel like I understood a character was then explained in detail, making me immediately feel disconnected from the moment. As if I was reminded that I was reading a book and not allowed to immerse myself into the world. I also struggled with the exposition of side characters. While their roles became more fleshed out throughout the book in a great way, the initial introduction of many characters felt forced and was difficult for me to buy into. This also applies to the rules of magic in the world. By the end of the book I had a basic understanding and was starting to see where it was going, but felt the initial explanations were choppy and difficult to follow. I think for this book to be closer to 5 stars I would need to remain immersed in the story, rather than be pulled out for explanation and then put back in. I also struggled with our narrator consistently being told she couldn't handle the truth or full truth, because as we are following her thoughts it felt as if I was also being told I couldn't handle the truth. This made it difficult for me to rally behind the cause of the Unity. I could see myself enjoying a series like this, but unfortunately it fell a bit short for me here.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Sydney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am not paid for this review.

My initial thoughts after finishing this book was just: Wow!
My second thought was I sure hope Dani Hall has started book 2 already, because I need it now. If it was out already, it would be my next read without a doubt.

In fantasy series, I sometimes have issues with the pacing throughout the book. For the first few chapters of The Burned Sorcery, I thought that I was going to experience this, but then the plot picked up after a few chapters, and I was invested in the story.

I loved the characters and the connection between the FMC and MMC. I need more from Lord Darling ASAP. I'm not one to be obsessed over book boyfriends, but man do I love a brooding and possessive MMC.

I wish I had a physical copy I put on my shelves!

The only part of the book I wasn't thrilled with was that some names of locations were taken from Christianity, and it took me out of the story a bit.

[The Enchanted Booklover · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Burned Sorcery By Dani Hall
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This book gets Five stars!!!! This is truly an amazing first book in an incredible New ROMANTASY series! I highly recommend this book it completely hooked me from the beginning and then expanded into something incredible! I can’t wait for book two to come out! I am absolutely in love with Killiam the MMC in this book, he’s definitely a top book boyfriend for me now! And the FMC in this book Shai was an amazing girl boss throughout this book I absolutely loved her character!
P.S. If you loved Xaden from Forth Wing and Rhys from Acotar, then you’ll absolutely fall in love with Killiam in this brand New ROMANTASY Series “Fated Trinity”!
(This book is Currently FREE as an EBOOK on Amazon, don’t miss this incredible deal while it last!) I received this book as an ARC so thank you so much Dani Hall and BookSirens for this opportunity!

[Marissa Wattles · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
0.5/5🌶

" “To Fate,” he toasted with a smile. “To weddings of convenience,” I retorted, clinking his raised glass."

This book was a lot of fun to read! Dani made such a unique magic system where you are either Born, Burned, or Cursed with magic, and a class war is on the horizon.

I really enjoyed the characters and how the story unfolded!

The MMC, Killiam Darling, is everything you could ask for in a tall, dark, & handsome morally unhinged lead that is down BAD for his woman! He literally will burn the world down for her and I loved the multidimensional layers to his character!

I am so hooked on how things ended and have some ideas I hope are NOT true 😩 Can't wait to see what happens next.

Thank you so much for the ARC, Dani & Book Sirens!

[Am · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an ARC for this book.

Wow! This was in my top three books of the year so far. The anticipation of thinking you know the ending- just to be left on a cliffhanger- keeps you on the edge of your seat!

Shai has grown up thinking she knows who she is: her place in life, her role, and her family. After an accidental run in with The Lord of the Cursed, she is forced to reevaluate everything. For someone who has tried to stay out of the spotlight, she has to learn to play by a set of rules to a game she wasn't aware existed.

The characters are great, and the surprises and secrets revealed along the way make this book 5 stars!

[Lærke · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was interesting, I liked the thing with "feelings" also just the whole magic system and n general. and I for one actually liked this type of relationship between the FMC and MMC, I usually find it a bit annoying with the he is really power full but only looks at her type of story but this works out for the most part.
And I just really like hall's writing so it's was very exited when I saw she had written a new book.

4 stars

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.