A stolen magical gem transforms an orphan's destiny... A stunning and completely unputdownable romantasy novel set in an alternative historical Paris, The Kiss of the Nightingale weaves together the seduction of Bridgerton and the magic of Raven Kennedy's Gild.
1890, Lutèce: In this city, Talents are everything: precious gems that gift unrivalled skills to their owners. The most coveted, Elite Talents, are claimed by the aristocracy, passed through generations by blood magic.
Cleodora dreamed of inheriting her father's Tailoring Talent, but when he died, the magic died with him. Now she's left with empty promises, a dress shop she can't keep afloat, and her bed-ridden younger sister.
But everything changes when she meets the dark-eyed Lady Dahlia Sibille. Dahlia offers Cleodora a Singing Talent - a chance to save her beloved sister and rewrite her own fate. From the first instant, Cleodora is bewitched... There's just one catch: she needs to steal an Elite Talent from the prestigious Lenoir family.
As Lutèce's nightingale, Cleodora is the star of the opera's galas and balls, worlds away from the darkness and dust of home. But the handsome yet infuriating Vicomte Lenoir is nothing like she expected.
Soon, the Vicomte's teasing smiles win her over, even as Dahlia's seductive whispers linger in her ears. Torn between Dahlia, who gave her everything, and the Vicomte, who holds the price of her freedom, is Cleodora in danger of losing it all? Or can she prove that magic isn't the only gift that counts?
1890, Lutèce. Cleodora is orphaned, Talentless, and alone. Barely keeping her family's dress-shop afloat and desperate to help her ill sister, she's at rock bottom. In Lutèce, society is centred around the Talented - those who own previous mined gems that gift unrivalled skills to the owner, passed down through the generations by blood magic. There's no chance of Cleodora getting her hands on such a gem.
Until she meets Lady Dahlia. Cleodora is offered an incredible opportunity, an Elite Singing Talent and with it a life of luxury beyond her wildest dreams, as well as a promise that her sister will be well cared for. Cleodora cannot help but be seduced by Lady Dahlia's offer, as much as by Lady Dahlia herself. But not all that glitters is gold, and Lady Dahlia's proposal comes with a price. She tasks Cleodora with stealing a Talent from one of the city's most prestigious families, the Lenoirs, and Cleodora is swept away by her belief that the upper echelons do not deserve their inherited Talents, their wealth, their magic. She decides to take the deal, and help Lady Dahlia steal the talent.
But the Vicomte Lenoir is not what she was expecting. Handsome, sweet, kind. She is soon torn between them, Lady Dahlia, who gave her everything, and the Vicomte, who holds the price of her freedom. Now Cleodora has all she's ever wanted, fame, money, magic, can she ever let it go?
