Silver & Smoke

Megan Bajorek

A Grand Finale I Enjoyed So Very Very Much

"I’ve been along for the ride with the characters and realm of Thezmarr for a while now. Initially I was drawn to the character of Thea, from The Legends of Thezmarr because she was strong, motivated, persistent and a truly good FMC. I laughed and cried with her. I swooned and raged with her. Her series wrapped up so very well but naturally I wanted more. Which was why I was ecstatic when news released about the Ashes of Thezmarr series which would follow Wren, Thea’s sister, in the aftermath of the Shadow War documented in the previous series. Wren was always a strong motivator for Thea and through her eyes I fell in love with Wren’s wit, cleverness, fierceness and determination. Wren, a “normal” person by most fantasy standards, has magic but prefers to funnel her energy into alchemy, specifically poisons which I found both engaging and educational. Without knowing it, I learned a good deal about plants and horticulture by reading alongside Wren as she attended classes at the renowned Drevenor Academy. Enter Torj, The Bear Slayer, a warsword, as from the previous series, who was always a bit more playful than the seasoned veterans around him, but now the war has changed him and he is serious, passionate and unyielding. Wren and Torj are forced together in a bodyguard + protectee relationship and I love it! It’s a subtle trope that is becoming one of my favorites. But it isn’t just their working relationship tying them together; no they are bonded together by ancient magic no one can explain as a result of their final actions against the shadow magic and villainy in the previous series. In a final, heart pounding moment, Wren funnels her storm magic (that she has only just discovered) into Torj to give him the power and strength to defeat their biggest foe. In doing so, they have become magically linked and it is unclear as to what that means. This third and final installment is the BIG finale where all the ties come together. Torj and Wren must work together with unlikely allies and friends thought lost to defeat the villain known as the Kingsbane, an alchemist who has been mixing alchemy with residual shadow magic from the past. In doing so he hopes to rid the realms of it’s royalty and dominate over everyone from the seat of a land thought barren and destroyed; a land that belongs specifically to Wren. This book is amazing. It is incredibly well written, well developed and enjoyable to read. The love and friendship that grows between all the characters is mature and deep; giving new meaning to the “found family” trope. Torj and Wren have a love story and journey that is as beautiful as it is heart wrenching to behold. The characters that surround them, Cal, Kip, Dessa, Xavian, Thea, Wilder and Darien make for truly some of the best developed supporting characters I’ve ever read. The story concludes in a truly satisfying way and makes me even more eager to see what Helen is cooking for her next series. ["

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December 9, 2025 Verified Purchase

E. Maddaleni

high-stakes action

"5 stars for some parts, but certain aspects fall short for me. At times the story doesn't seem as focused as the previous book, and a bit of the spicy imagery pulls me out of the story--a little awkward, or maybe just "over-seasoned," so to speak. Sometimes the grammar/style choices seem a bit off, but the writing flows, one of many things I love about this author's writing. Otherwise, this book offers some truly captivating action. The author impresses me with her battlefield tactics and her alchemy world. I love the characters, and the evil villain majorly stresses me out! Props to the author:) ["

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April 7, 2026 Verified Purchase

Jill Hannemann

Excellent series

"Excellent series and continuation to the Legends of Thezmarr. Well written and keeps you guessing. On to the next epic romantsy ["

May 19, 2026 Verified Purchase

beefaith_reads

An epic fantasy adventure and love story so perfectly entwined.

"⚔️ “𝕴 𝖇𝖊𝖑𝖎𝖊𝖛𝖊 𝖘𝖔𝖒𝖊 𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖓𝖌𝖘 𝖈𝖆𝖓’𝖙 𝖇𝖊 𝖚𝖓𝖒𝖆𝖉𝖊, 𝕰𝖒𝖇𝖊𝖗𝖘. 𝕹𝖔𝖙 𝖇𝖞 𝖜𝖆𝖗 𝖔𝖗 𝖙𝖎𝖒𝖊, 𝖔𝖗 𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖓 𝖉𝖊𝖆𝖙𝖍.” ⚔️ I don't know how to say goodbye to Torj, Wren, and everything I hold dear about this series, this world that I love. 🥺 Helen Scheuerer, your writing, the way you weave stories, is magical, addicting, and powerful. Action. Adventure. Yearning. Banter. Heartache. More. So. Much More. The Ashes of Thezmarr series has it all in spades. 𝑻𝒐𝒓𝒋: “𝑴𝒚 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒉, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆. 𝑴𝒚 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅. 𝑴𝒚 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓. 𝑴𝒚 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒍-𝒃𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅… 𝑴𝒚 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒆𝒏. 𝑴𝒚 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒅𝒂𝒚, 𝒊𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝑰𝒇 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝑬𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕.” 𝑾𝒓𝒆𝒏: “𝑰 𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒅𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆, 𝒃𝒖𝒕… 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆—𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒕. 𝑰 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆, 𝑩𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝑺𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓. 𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅.” Silver & Smoke is one of the best books I've ever read, and having read over 1,000, I don't say that lightly. It's brilliant, filled with moments that made me laugh, melt, sob, and hope, always hope. My heart feels both heavy and light upon finishing. This whole series, as well as its predecessor, Legends of Thezmarr, will live on in my heart for eternity. Also, kudos where kudos are due, the audio is just as memorable as the story itself. From here on out, Matt Haynes and Emilia Bauer will forever be Torj and Wren to me. ⁠♡ 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬/𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 ⁠♡ “𝐷𝑜𝑛’𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢’𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑦 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑒𝑟. 𝑁𝑜𝑡 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓.” 𝐻𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑑𝑛’𝑡 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝐸𝑙𝑤𝑟𝑒𝑛 𝐸𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑓*𝑐𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑙 𝑏𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑. 𝑃𝑒𝑟ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑠, 𝑎𝑡 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡, 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑡, 𝑓𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑖𝑚𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑑. “𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑐𝑡,” 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑙𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑚. “𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛.” “𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝑎𝑠 𝑚𝑦 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑙-𝑏𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑, 𝑚𝑦 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑚 𝑤𝑖𝑒𝑙𝑑𝑒𝑟, 𝑚𝑦 ****… 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑚𝑦 𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑒𝑛.” “𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒, 𝑇𝑜𝑟𝑗. 𝐴𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠.” “𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑠𝑛’𝑡 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑛. 𝐼𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛.” “𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑦 𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑤𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝐸𝑙𝑤𝑟𝑒𝑛 𝐸𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑒.” ["

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April 26, 2026 Verified Purchase