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Ash and Embers: A Slow Burn Urban Fantasy Romance
Paperback
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Feb 20 2026
Pages: 554
Weight: 1.61
Height: 1.12 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
She collects soul-debts for the empire. Now, she's inherited one she can't pay-to an imprisoned god who could burn the world to ash.
Nava Ashouri is the most meticulous debt collector in the Gilded Fist. Armed with the rare ability to walk the Veil between worlds, she routinely extracts years of luck and vitality from those who fail to pay their dues. She is pragmatic, cold, and never asks questions.
Until a three-hundred-year-old contract lands on her desk. It has no debtor's name-only an ancient seal that leaves a creeping, burning stain of ink across her skin.
Following the contract's heavy signature through the Veil leads Nava to a hidden, preserved district that the empire claimed was destroyed centuries ago. Inside sits Razael, the Djinn Lord of the Eternal Flame. He has been imprisoned in mortal flesh for over three centuries, his sacred fire siphoned to fuel the empire's glittering Alabaster Throne.
And he has been waiting for her.
Nava learns a devastating truth: her bloodline is bound to the flame through the nafsband, an ancient soul-bond. Locking the bond makes her his keeper, sharing his senses and creating an agonizing physical need to remain by his side. But if she walks away, the fragile membrane keeping exiled, monstrous Djinn lords out of the mortal world will completely collapse.
Forced into hiding with the captive god, Nava realizes her entire guild is a lie. To free him and save her city, they must dismantle a three-century-old machine of stolen magic. But Razael is not the monster the empire's histories claim. He is patient, lethal, and relentlessly protective-willing to unleash his restricted power to brutally destroy anyone who dares to touch her.
As they navigate a deadly conspiracy involving a radical rebel faction and the Sultan's ruthless enforcers, the bond between them deepens into an all-consuming fire. Nava must break the chains of a god... while facing the terrifying realization that he is looking at her like she is the only thing in three hundred years worth burning for.
Perfect for fans of:
Extreme Slow Burn Romance
Who Did This To You? and Touch Her and You Die tropes
Ancient, Powerful MMC & Hyper-Competent FMC
Soul Bonds & Forced Proximity
Intricate Magic Systems & Rebellion
Ash and Embers is Book One of The Nafsband Chronicles. It is a dark, slow-burn urban fantasy romance featuring intense action, deep world-building, and a love story that builds from cold necessity to absolute devotion.
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