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A Lady of Scales and Smoke: a Lady Susan inspired epic fantasy adventure
🔥 Her Fire does more than burn. 🔥
When seventeen-year-old Fenya Verena’s Fire Legacy awakens too soon, it steals everything she loves—including her home. To contain the blaze within, she agrees to a hasty betrothal and exile to Wigmore Boarding School, a remote island institution that promises to “cure” dangerous Legacies.
But Wigmore is no sanctuary. The students are subjects. The masters experiment. And every lesson scorches away another piece of her humanity. Worse, the headmaster’s fascination with her growing power may prove deadlier than the flames themselves.
Trapped on an island that breeds secrets as quickly as it devours them, Fenya must choose between obedience and rebellion, safety and fire. Escape may cost her life—but staying could consume her soul.
A dark, gaslamp fantasy of science and sorcery inspired by the characters and tension of Jane Austen—set in a world of dragons,relics, and perilous magic.
When seventeen-year-old Fenya Verena’s Fire Legacy awakens too soon, it steals everything she loves—including her home. To contain the blaze within, she agrees to a hasty betrothal and exile to Wigmore Boarding School, a remote island institution that promises to “cure” dangerous Legacies.
But Wigmore is no sanctuary. The students are subjects. The masters experiment. And every lesson scorches away another piece of her humanity. Worse, the headmaster’s fascination with her growing power may prove deadlier than the flames themselves.
Trapped on an island that breeds secrets as quickly as it devours them, Fenya must choose between obedience and rebellion, safety and fire. Escape may cost her life—but staying could consume her soul.
A dark, gaslamp fantasy of science and sorcery inspired by the characters and tension of Jane Austen—set in a world of dragons,relics, and perilous magic.
456 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 24, 2025
About the author
Kelsie Engen
22 books89 followersKelsie Engen spent her youth in North Pole, Alaska, a short way away from Santa Claus' house. It was a unique youth, suffering negative fifty degrees every winter only to be rewarded with ninety above and constant daylight in the summers.
Kelsie is constantly at work on new things spanning a variety of topics. Among them: fairy tales, England, Alaska, running, family life, heartbreak, and hope. Follow along with her writing journey at KelsieEngenAuthor.com and sign up for her mailing list.
Currently, she is finishing up her fantasy series loosely based on Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty. She's also dabbling in a Jane Austen fantasy variation with dragons.
Kelsie is constantly at work on new things spanning a variety of topics. Among them: fairy tales, England, Alaska, running, family life, heartbreak, and hope. Follow along with her writing journey at KelsieEngenAuthor.com and sign up for her mailing list.
Currently, she is finishing up her fantasy series loosely based on Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty. She's also dabbling in a Jane Austen fantasy variation with dragons.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
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December 14, 2025I won’t be giving my own book a rating, but I’m incredibly excited to finally share A Lady of Scales and Smoke.
This is a Regency-inspired fantasy, influenced by Jane Austen’s characters and tensions, but told in a darker key. It took years of work, revision, and persistence to bring this story to life. Fenya’s journey explores power, control, and the cost of obedience in a world where magic is anything but safe.
If that sounds like your kind of read, I hope this story finds you well.
This is a Regency-inspired fantasy, influenced by Jane Austen’s characters and tensions, but told in a darker key. It took years of work, revision, and persistence to bring this story to life. Fenya’s journey explores power, control, and the cost of obedience in a world where magic is anything but safe.
If that sounds like your kind of read, I hope this story finds you well.
December 27, 2025
Lady of Scales and Smoke is a gripping fantasy that blends dragons, danger, and heart. Kelsie Engen delivers a brave, compelling heroine forced to embrace deadly powers she never wanted in order to protect others from a relentless villain determined to claim her strength for himself. Richly imagined and emotionally grounded, this story balances fierce magic with moral courage—and I couldn’t put it down.
January 15, 2026
Couldn’t put it down from start to finish! Kelsie is brilliant👏🏼
January 18, 2026
Mixed Feelings about this one.
This is a mixed review. It’s a Jane Austen Lady Susan-like story, I’d classify it as YA. It started fantastic, and then in the middle there are 4 chapters that make no sense and missing info, which is probably an issue with the ebook being uploaded. The writing in the beginning is great and flows and lovely, and then towards the end, the quality drops off dramatically and it’s like it’s written by someone else. Overall, the story is 4 stars ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️ but the pacing, flow and writing is 3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ and the errors in the publishing (which I did try to redownload and fix with no success) is annoying. I believe this is to be the start of the series and I would read the next one with hopes of improve my, especially because the end leaves so much unresolved.
This is a mixed review. It’s a Jane Austen Lady Susan-like story, I’d classify it as YA. It started fantastic, and then in the middle there are 4 chapters that make no sense and missing info, which is probably an issue with the ebook being uploaded. The writing in the beginning is great and flows and lovely, and then towards the end, the quality drops off dramatically and it’s like it’s written by someone else. Overall, the story is 4 stars ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️ but the pacing, flow and writing is 3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ and the errors in the publishing (which I did try to redownload and fix with no success) is annoying. I believe this is to be the start of the series and I would read the next one with hopes of improve my, especially because the end leaves so much unresolved.
April 8, 2026
For some reason I went into this think it was steampunk despite it clearly stating it was a gaslamp and I was decidedly befuddled for the first few chapters until I realized my error which coloured my first impression.
Once I got beyond that - this had some great world building and did a great job of conveying Fenya's inner state not just explicitly but also implicitly through the story telling style.
I can't speak to the Lady Susan elements (and I've been devouring JAFF for the past few years) because as I came across this I realized that it was the only Austen novel I haven't read - now I'll put it on my TBR pile.
Once I got beyond that - this had some great world building and did a great job of conveying Fenya's inner state not just explicitly but also implicitly through the story telling style.
I can't speak to the Lady Susan elements (and I've been devouring JAFF for the past few years) because as I came across this I realized that it was the only Austen novel I haven't read - now I'll put it on my TBR pile.
March 30, 2026
Magical, mysterious, and intriguing story! I would have given it 5 stars, but there were quite a few minor grammatical errors and typos that kept distracting me from the story. The story itself is 5 stars, hands down! I enjoyed this very much and I’m looking forward to the next book in the series!
April 18, 2026
Not a standalone
I liked this book. I found it engaging and I thought the world building was very good. But although Amazon has it listed as 1 of 1, it does have a fairly cliffhanger ending. I wish I had waited until the next book(s) were available to read it.
I liked this book. I found it engaging and I thought the world building was very good. But although Amazon has it listed as 1 of 1, it does have a fairly cliffhanger ending. I wish I had waited until the next book(s) were available to read it.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews