Forged By Flames And Fury: Book One in the Between Shadows And Light Series

by Rachel Hetrick

“You stole everything from me. My family. My identity. You destroyed it all.”

When the king’s men slaughter Emmalee Estrada’s family, her heartbreak awakens a power the king fears. One he’s desperate to destroy. Now a target in the crown’s brutal war on magic and with death trailing her every step, Emmalee vows to bring her family justice.

Evangeline Shry, Emmalee’s childhood best friend, has survived by staying invisible, hiding the light magic that could get her killed. But a single act of mercy exposes her to the king’s most feared marshal. Now she’s running not just for her life, but for the soul of the friend she thought she knew.

As both women flee a kingdom determined to crush them, they must rely on each other more than ever before. But grief sharpens into fury, loyalty turns to doubt, and the lines between justice and vengeance begin to blur. With magic outlawed and trust in short supply, they’ll have to decide what they’re willing to sacrifice. For justice, for family, and for each other.



*Fans of Shadow and Bone, Ash Princess, and Blood Heir will be swept into a world where magic is treason, loyalty is lethal, and two women must choose who they’ll become when everything they love is on the line.

457 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 21, 2025

About the author

When the world went nuts at the beginning of 2020, the pandemic led to the closing of the school I was employed at overseas. It was then I decided the time had come for me to fulfill my childhood dream of becoming a published author. I have been writing for almost all of my life (some of my first memories are of creating stories).

With the inspiration of many incredible authors on Youtube, I have grown as a writer, editor, and now publisher. When I moved back to Colorado with my Siamese cat, Syra, I started down the exciting road of publishing. In fact, I'm publishing my debut novel, CURSE OF INFINITI, at the end of 2020!
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When I'm not writing, rewriting, or working on something bookish, I enjoy photography, watching copious amounts of Youtube videos, or of course reading.

Reviews

[Amy Fenton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Rachel Hetrick for my ARC 🫶🏼 this was a fantastic introduction to the series. Emmalee & Evangeline have a wonderful bond of sisterhood that is certainly put to the test throughout the course of the book. My one gripe with the book was the “little fox” nickname for Evangeline by her step father which seemed to be lifted directly from another book series that I’ve read… still thoroughly enjoyed this story though and eagerly awaiting book two!

[Brianna Dumas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Firstly, thank you to the author for a copy of the book! I really enjoyed it! If you're looking for a true enemies-to-lovers, I think this book is the beginning of a true, well-thought-out, slow-burning enemies-to-lovers (if this series continues in the way I expect). I loved that I was able to bond with each character, as they all had their own lore and motivations that felt very well thought out. I felt attached to the characters, yet I didn't find that their actions were always predictable, which I appreciated. The series is based on a war between people with magic and those without, so of course, it does have a lot of politics. I know some people can find that intimidating, but I didn't find it to be the 'bang your head against the wall' type of politics that some books have; I thoroughly enjoyed it. I binged this book in two days because I was dying to know what came next, and after finishing it, I'm still yearning for more! I eagerly await the next book's release so I can continue the story and once again immerse myself in this world! I will be (im)patiently waiting for the next book and to get a physical copy of this one to display on my bookshelf!

Also, I loved the inclusion of a map and the art between chapters; It added a lot to the book for me. I liked the sort of foreshadowing the art gave that made me wonder what was yet to come.

All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you Rachel for this ARC of your incredible book! I saw it being advertised on TikTok and just knew I was going to love it!
We’re dealing with light and dark magic here, grief, loss, friendships, arranged marriage, secrets, and possibly forbidden love! This book is an introduction to a new world where magic is illegal, we follow two best friends that are practically sisters and will do anything for each other despite their different outlooks on life. While this first book is extensively plot driven we do have some romance and tension for all who love that, thinking there will be more in the next book. This was written so well and I’m so excited for what’s to come!

[Jen L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book in a new series and as the introductory book I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was between 4 and 5 stars, but after letting it settle for a while and having started the second book, I realized how well this book has setup the series. The biggest highlight of the book I would say is how character driven the plot feels and how well all of the pieces fall together. The one critique I have is that the world building is lacking and I would have liked to see more explanation for certain things. Also, toward the end the plot dragged a bit, but I also went on a large trip while reading this book so I had a solid few weeks where I wasn’t reading regularly and I wonder if it was more due to that.

Characters

There are multiple perspectives in this book, and while I usually do not enjoy multiple perspectives, I thought they were done very well in this book. The only one I found somewhat questionable was Silas Thorne, but this book is mainly introducing him and his motivations for the second book and probably the rest of the series.

I found Emmalee Estrada’s obsession with her image as a wife and mother very fascinating to read and how it’s slowly morphing her into someone else after she loses her family. Meanwhile it feels like Evie is just trying to live a normal life and make good decisions with the situation she’s found herself in.

The there’s Butch and Lenora and I’m very interested in seeing the character development that happens with them over time. In the original trilogy I was not a fan of Butch even though it felt like the books wanted me to like him as a character. In this book it feels like I’m allowed to not like him. However, I am finding myself starting to become invested in his character growth as he does show some signs of wanting to be a better person than his father. Lenora didn’t play a big part in this book, but the setup of her inner conflict of not fitting in with court life was done well and I’ll have a lot more to say about her in my review of the second book.

Plot

Like I said at the start; the plot is mainly character driven. The motivations of the characters felt believable, I don’t think there was a single point in this book where I was asking why a character made a certain decision. The world building is very light and the main thing from the world that contributes to the plot is magic use. Even with the lack of world building I find the moral conflicts of the characters as they try to navigate their situations to be interesting enough as a story. This was my favorite book I read in 2025.

[Arden Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you, Rachel Hetrick, for the copy of the book! Forged by Flames and Fury is starting off to be an interesting series. You got to hear from most of the characters within the book, which created tricky emotions within the reader. I enjoyed seeing the different perspectives of Emmalee and Evangeline in how they handled their magic and what drove each of the characters at the height of their power. The enemy-to-lover story is one I hope will be developed in the next book, but I am eager to see where the story goes! One critique was the timeline between the different perspectives felt a bit large and like I was catching up on the last couple of weeks/months on a few characters instead of a few check-ins as time passed, but still an interesting development among the characters. Excited to see where it goes next!

[Reina LC · Rating 2 out of 5]

*ARC REVIEW*

This was a miss. I DNF'd. It just was not engaging at all and dragged. Nothing exciting, no explanations, no world building at all. I got to chapter 28 before I gave up.
I see the potential, I wanted it to be good. It just was slow and never caught up to itself.

I might try picking it up again in future but for now its a no.

[Abby Hamilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I enjoyed this story. It was well written and provided quite a bit of info on each character.
But for the length of the book, there was still a lot left to be said. And at times it was a little redundant when describing a characters mental/emotional state.