I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy (Dearly Beloathed, #1) by Brigitte Knightley Series: Dearly Beloathed #1
Published by Ace on July 8, 2025
Genres: Romantasy
Format: 383 •Source: NetGalley
Goodreads
Loyalties are tested in this enemies-to-lovers romantasy set in an alternate England following an assassin and a healer forced to work together to cure a fatal disease, all while resisting the urge to kill each other—or worse, fall in love.
When Osric Mordaunt, member of the Fyren Order of assassins, falls ill, he realises he needs the expertise of a very specific healer. As fate would have it, that healer belongs to an enemy faction, the Haelan Order.
Aurienne Fairhrim and her fellow Haelan are inundated by sick children suffering from an outbreak of a long-forgotten Pox. Unable to get the funding needed to launch an immunisation programme, the Haelan Order is desperate for money – so desperate that, when Osric breaks into their headquarters to bribe Aurienne to heal him, she is forced to accept.As Osric and Aurienne work together to solve not only his illness but the mysterious reoccurrence of the Pox, they find themselves ardently denying an attraction which only fuels the tension between them.
*Huge thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC!*
It’s no secret that I am a huge fan of the enemies to lovers trope. Therefore, this recent boom in Dramione-inspired fiction is right up my alley. I was thrilled to be approved to review an ARC of The Irresistible Urge to Fall In Love With Your Enemy and was prepared for all of the witty banter, will-they-won’t-they and a touch of angst. I had high expectations, as I’m familiar with the source material, and though this is not a “rewrite” per say it’s very clearly inspired by DMATMOOBIL. While I overall enjoyed the author’s trademark posh yet irreverent tone and writing style, I did ultimately find myself a bit underwhelmed.
The story follows a healer (Aurienne) and an assassin (Osric) who are from two opposing magical factions, who team up together to try and find a cure to a condition normally thought to be fatal that is afflicting Osric. Saying they have a hate-to-love journey is probably an understatement, especially on Aurienne’s side, as she absolutely detests him and everything he stands for, as it goes against her ethical and moral code and values. Reading their scenes is a real treat because the banter is hilariously full of vitriol, and tone wise it definitely echoes the bright spots of the dialogue from DMATMOOBIL.
However, this is the slowest of slow burns. Normally I can get down with a slow burn if the relationship building is good and the world building is intricate but honestly both felt jumbled. Aurienne and Osric’s interactions (meet up once a month, try ancient healing ritual, it doesn’t work, rinse and repeat) started to feel stale after a while and I didn’t feel like much emotional growth was happening between them. The world building felt overly complicated yet too simple at the same time. I left the book with a vague understanding that there’s two magical paths with orders within each and you have a brand on the palm of your hand that marks which one you’re aligned with, but I’m still scratching my head as to how one determines if they even have magical powers, how they manifest, etc…and there’s alluding to political tensions, a war brewing, etc but not enough details for me to feel invested.
I must have missed the memo that this was a duology because I thought my arc had missing pages- it ends very abruptly. I think pacing wise this would have read better as a longer stand alone novel, as I felt like right when the couple was finally gaining some momentum it ended.
Overall: I don’t mean to be overly critical, because there were a lot of things to enjoy: the hilarious chapter titles, the sassy patronous-like entities with a personality of their own, some badass side characters. However, given my experience with the author’s previous work, I was hoping this would be a five star read for me.
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