The Flames of the Fallen: The Tristiania Chronicles Book 1

by Joanne Roach

Princess Celosia Val’Ey was born to power, magic, and a destiny that was never meant to be questioned. When she is sentenced to Fall and stripped of her wings, her magic, and her crown, she is cast into the human realm with nothing but the memory of everything she has lost and a fury that refuses to fade.

The human realm is harsh and unfamiliar, and survival demands sacrifices she never thought she would make, especially when her path becomes entangled with a human male who challenges and infuriates her at every turn. Their connection is volatile, unwanted, and impossible to ignore. Every step closer to him threatens the future she is desperate to reclaim and the heart she refuses to risk.

Stripped of everything that once defined her, Celosia must complete a series of trials that will test her mind, her loyalty, and the limits of what she is willing to sacrifice in order to return home. She must decide whether reclaiming her throne is worth the price it will demand and whether the life she is fighting to regain is truly the one she still wants.

The Flames of the Fallen is the first book in an epic emotionally driven romantasy series, filled with tension, longing, and fierce devotion. It is a sweeping story of loss, identity, and the dangerous hope that love might be worth the cost of everything.

714 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 10, 2026

About the author

Fantasy & Dystopian Author 📚
Creating immersive worlds & emotional reads ✨
2,100+ books sold | 2.3M pages read on KU

Hi! I'm Joanne, or at least professionally I am. In my day-to-day life, everyone calls me Jo, unless, of course, I am in trouble! I have loved to write for as long as I can remember and spent many hours as a child writing short stories and even songs.

I live in the south of England with my four cats and more books than I can possibly count. Aside from writing, I love to read, sing, dance and spend time with my loved ones, especially my eight nieces and nephews.

As I got older and life got in the way, writing was put on the back burner until I suffered some health issues and found myself looking for hobbies that didn't require too much physical activity, and that is when I rediscovered my love for the written word and telling stories.

Shortly before lockdown, I began to write my first 'real' book series with the hope to publish and so The Cull, Book one, was born. Books two and three, The Escape and The Assault are now available with book four coming soon.

My latest adventure, The Flames of the Fallen, the first book in my new fantasy series comes out 10th March

Reviews

[Aleksandra]

Thank you Joanne Roach for sending me this ARC!

The Flames of the Fallen is the first book in a Romantic Fantasy series and after reading the blurb I was excited to read it because it sounded so interesting and I really liked the idea for this story.

After her parents are killed and a usurper takes their throne, Celosia is stripped of her Fae magic and forced to take a Fall into the human realm. She finds employment in the duke’s manor as a maid and vows to find a way back home, but when the duke’s son finds her practicing her fighting skills, he makes a deal with her and she is forced to spend more time with the aggravating but handsome Bastian.

I honestly have no idea how to rate this book. I wanted to love it so badly and on one hand, after some time, I started to enjoy this story and wanted to know what happens next, but on the other hand there were a few things I didn’t like and which made me unable to fully get into this book. I enjoyed the world building and the idea of two realms and the Fall was interesting. I liked our FMC, Celosia, she went through so much and lost everyone and everything she cared about and I liked how strong she was, she never gave up and was willing to do anything to return home. I also liked reading about her adapting to her new circumstances, she was a fish out of water and it even made me laugh a few times. Bastian was an interesting MMC, he was a son of a duke and really behaved like that at times, especially toward Celosia who was his servant at the time, which made me angry at him, but he was also really sweet and fell first and definitely redeemed himself later on. Their relationship was a slow burn and a true dislike to love, I enjoyed reading about their arguments and I could feel the tension between them from the very beginning and I always enjoy the forbidden romance trope which was written very well here and the longing was palpable at times. And the spicy scenes were really hot which was a bonus, they were fire together.

Now about the things I didn’t enjoy… I think the thing I had most trouble with was the writing style. I really dislike info dump and there was so much of it here I was close to DNFing a few times. We didn’t learn anything organically, everything was told by the FMC through pages and pages of her just describing and explaining everything, especially in the beginning but really through the whole book. There were also so many inner monologues, I would have preferred to see the characters interact more instead of pages and pages of them just thinking about each other and not only each other but also other things that could have easily been woven into conversations between them but unfortunately weren’t. Because of that, if we learned those things organically I think the book could be much shorter, I actually love long books and it’s the longer the better for me, but I think cutting those long descriptions would make it much more enjoyable and easier to hold my interest. And can I say the ending was just abrupt? I can appreciate a cliffhanger well done that leaves me with my jaw hanging and impatiently waiting for the next book, but here it just… I don’t know, I feel like it came out of nowhere and the book just ended and I don’t know if I care enough to read the next book.

In conclusion, the premise of this book was really interesting but I just feel the writing style wasn’t for me. But despite that, I think many people are going to enjoy this book, especially everyone who is looking for a well thought out world with fascinating magic system, interesting characters and great love story.

[Ayo Fantasy Podcast · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up The Flames of the Fallen thinking I’d read a chapter before bed. Just one. A sensible, responsible amount of reading.
That plan lasted about five minutes.
This book grabbed me by the ankles, threw me into the ocean and basically said, “good luck, try not to drown.” And honestly? I didn’t even try to resist.
I fell in love with Celosia Val’Ey, she’s fiery, stubborn, traumatised, a little feral, and is still hilarious even while her entire life is collapsing around her. Her internal monologue is gold, her temper is impressive, and I would absolutely follow her into battle or at least into several questionable life decisions.
Then Bastian arrives, tall, brooding, emotionally damaged, and clearly carrying enough issues to fill several therapy sessions (clearly a bit of me).
The chemistry between them is immediate and incredibly tense. Every interaction had me sitting there thirdwheeling wondering if they were about to fight or kiss.
I really enjoyed the world building in this book, the glimpses of the Fae realm are lush and magical, which makes it even more painful when Celosia is thrown into the very grey, very ordinary human world. Watching a powerful Fae princess attempt to deal with chores, uncomfortable human clothing, and the general inconvenience of being human was both heartbreaking and hilarious.
The pacing occasionally lingers a little longer than necessary, which is why this sits closer to a 4.5 star read for me, but honestly I still devoured it.

[Romance Reads Reviewed by K · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of this book, and I truly can’t say enough good things about it. It’s an extraordinary story and an absolute must-read.

Celosia and Bastian took me on a thrilling, unforgettable adventure. The story has everything—excitement, humor, love, heartbreak, and plenty of angst woven beautifully throughout. Every emotion felt earned and authentic.

I completely fell in love with the characters and the journey they undertook. Watching their growth and the progress they made along the way was both compelling and deeply satisfying.

From the very first page, the writing pulled me in and refused to let go. This is a beautifully crafted story that will stay with me for a long time and I can't wait to discover how the story continues.