12 debut fiction authors of 2022, their portraits arranged in a checker pattern.

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Reading lists

The best debut fiction to read this spring

With Fire In Their Blood

A simmering supernatural romance set in the crumbling Italian city of Castello, where mafia clans make the rules, dark magic pulses the streets and the sins of the past threaten to consume the present. . . 
 
As seen on TikTok..... Perfect for lovers of Chloe Gong, Renée Ahdieh and V.E. Schwab 
 
When sixteen-year-old Lilly arrives in Castello, she isn't impressed. 
 
A secluded town in the Italian mountains is not where she saw her last years of high school playing out. 
 
Divided for generations by a brutal clan-family war, the two halves of Castello are kept from destroying each other by the mysterious General, a leader determined to maintain order and 'purity'. . . whatever the cost. 
 
Lilly falls in with the rebellious Liza, brooding Nico and sensitive Christian, and sparks begin to fly. But in a city where love can lead to ruin, Lilly isn't sure she can trust anyone -- not even herself. 
 
And then she accidentally breaks Castello's most important rule: when the General's men come to test your blood, you'd better not be anything more than human... 
 
"Startlingly original . . . Readers will be lured in to this tumultuous world of warring families, forbidden power, and heart-searing romance." 
 
- Lyndall Clipstone, author of Lakesedge and Forestfall

Kat Delacorte was eleven years old when her family moved from the United States to a small town in central Italy. She soon began writing stories about her new friends developing superpowers, and she hasn't looked back since. She graduated with a BA in History from Columbia University, and lives in Venice, Italy.

A simmering supernatural romance set in the crumbling Italian city of Castello, where mafia clans make the rules, dark magic pulses the streets and the sins of the past threaten to consume the present. . . 
 
As seen on TikTok..... Perfect for lovers of Chloe Gong, Renée Ahdieh and V.E. Schwab 
 
When sixteen-year-old Lilly arrives in Castello, she isn't impressed. 
 
A secluded town in the Italian mountains is not where she saw her last years of high school playing out. 
 
Divided for generations by a brutal clan-family war, the two halves of Castello are kept from destroying each other by the mysterious General, a leader determined to maintain order and 'purity'. . . whatever the cost. 
 
Lilly falls in with the rebellious Liza, brooding Nico and sensitive Christian, and sparks begin to fly. But in a city where love can lead to ruin, Lilly isn't sure she can trust anyone -- not even herself. 
 
And then she accidentally breaks Castello's most important rule: when the General's men come to test your blood, you'd better not be anything more than human... 
 
"Startlingly original . . . Readers will be lured in to this tumultuous world of warring families, forbidden power, and heart-searing romance." 
 
- Lyndall Clipstone, author of Lakesedge and Forestfall

Kat Delacorte

Exhilarating, inventive and fiercely romantic, We End In Ashes will sweep you off its feet with its deliciously dark worldbuilding and sizzling tension. A perfect finale.

A.B. Poranek, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Treachery of Swans

We End In Ashes is a searing tale of grit, forbidden love and vicious magic that will leave you as singed as the fires that ravage Castello, and as breathless for a revolution.

Megan Scott, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Temptation of Magic

The hotly-anticipated sequel to the compelling romantasy With Fire in Their Blood. 
Return to Castello, the crumbling Italian city torn between two warring mafia clans, where dark magic electrifies the streets and love leads to ruin . . . 
 
In one act of flame and fury, Lilly Deluca plunged the town of Castello into a brutal civil war and was stripped of her own Saintly power in the process. Wanted by opposing clans, Lilly fights to stay ahead of her pursuers while keeping herself and Christian, the boy she loves, alive. 
 
But she cannot escape the city. Castello was built on secrets, and it won’t let Lilly out of its deadly grip. Something is calling to her from the depths of the town, promising to be the key to her salvation – returning her power and ending the war for good. . . 
 
With the clans closing in, Lilly must team up with Nico, the beautiful boy from the rival mafia family, to uncover the truth about Castello’s dark heart. But as the conflict escalates and her connection to Nico intensifies, Lilly is forced to choose: break her own heart, or risk letting Castello fall forever. 
 
Equal parts thrilling and devastating, this YA romantasy is the epic conclusion to the With Fire In Their Blood duology, perfect for fans of Powerless and V.E. Schwab. 
 
Exhilarating, inventive and fiercely romantic, We End In Ashes will sweep you off its feet with its deliciously dark worldbuilding and sizzling tension. A perfect finale. 
- A.B. Poranek, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Treachery of Swans

Kat Delacorte

Praise for We End in Ashes

Exhilarating, inventive and fiercely romantic, We End In Ashes will sweep you off its feet with its deliciously dark worldbuilding and sizzling tension. A perfect finale.

We End In Ashes is a searing tale of grit, forbidden love and vicious magic that will leave you as singed as the fires that ravage Castello, and as breathless for a revolution.

Books by Kat Delacorte

Articles featuring Kat Delacorte

The best debut fiction to read this spring

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