A Kiss of Daggers

Curse of the Fay Duelist #1

by Christopher D. Schmitz

Blood. Elves. And Duels. This is Arcadeax: a mystic land of honor, intrigue, and spellpunk arcana.

A childhood tragedy trapped Remy Keaton in the fey world with nothing but a blade forged by his need for vengeance. He doesn’t remember his human life before that day, but long ago he learned the harsh ways of the seelie and unseelie courts.

When Remy rescues the daughter of a wealthy elven merchant from bandits, he falls madly in love with her. But a kiss from the elf girl would bring him a curse. Not only is love between the fey and the sons of Adam forbidden, but Jaira was promised to another: a capricious elf noble with a murderous reputation, and a spell from King Oberon himself ensures the girl's virtue.

The only option for Remy is to win a dueling contest which will earn him the kiss he desires, and possibly purchase the respect of the fey kingdom. But when his enemy offers to restore Remy’s lost life, he learns the high cost of either option: abandon the woman he loves to the wickedness of her betrothed, or enter the fight of his life and lose his past forever. And regardless of his decision, Remy must still face the horrors of Cathair Dé’s fighting arena.

Can Remy and his friends escape Cathair Dé alive?

Genres: Fantasy

385 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 31, 2023

About the author

Christopher D Schmitz is the author of fiction and nonfiction as well as a regular blogger.

Following completion of his first fantasy novel in the early 2000s he began working on lots of short fiction in order to refine his craft and went on to publish many pieces from 1,000-15,000 words in a variety of genres and outlets as writing exercises. Putting fiction away for a while, he pursued post-graduate work where he received a new appreciation for nonfiction, wrote Why Your Pastor Left, and then returned to his love for fiction, writing several new books.

Schmitz attained a Biblical Studies degree and a Youth Ministry minor from Trinity Bible College in 2003 and went on to gain a Masters of Arts in Religion from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary in 2014.

Other: he is generally known as a decent guitarist and played/sang in a rock band for several years. Schmitz is also an ungraded bagpipe player and has been known to pop up in random places and play them--sometimes while dressed as a pirate... because normal is boring.

Reviews

[Krystal Valster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating this 4.5 stars. It was a very interesting read. Great characters and world. It had a lot of information but flowed well. The little breaks in each part of the chapter was nice too. Helped me keep the story straight. I had to do 4.5 due to quite a few errors throughout the book. They would stop me and pull me out of the story but I was able to hop
Back in once I figured out what was supposed to be written. Usually just an extra word although Jaira was called Anya once. I chuckled.

I will def want to read the other books for this story line. Very interested in Remus past and future!

[Megan Trimble · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had a hard time figuring out who and what the characters were. The names of places/people -so hard to decipher. It took forever to even get the main plot established and that is even questionable -it’s a lot of small quests it seems and the main plot leaves many unanswered questions. I understand it’s a series and one or two things should be left to explore in later books. However, the few things that were resolved were quite predictable (for me) and the things I really wanted answered are (even hinted to be) not even close to resolved at the end. Not sure that I will go any farther in the series right now.

Also I was told this had some smut within the fantasy - literally only just a kiss, this is definitely not smutty.

[Kaitlyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my first DNF. Tried to listen to the Audiobook, as it came up as popular on Libby. I'm having an incredibly hard time following the story, who is who, and I'm just not getting into it.
Maybe I will have a better time comprehending with a physical book, may revisit in the future if I come across the physical book later on. As of right now, I'm super bummed that I've met my first DNF, but I just keep getting lost and losing interest.

[Tris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was given urban/steampunk fantasy vibes and I’m here for it. I loved how the differing stories and perspectives tied in at the end, it’s rare I find a book that leaves a little mystery right up to the last page.

Also it gave me A Knights Tale vibes with forbidden love and the contestant aspect with the dueling. I very much look forward to the other books in this series.

[Garett · Rating 3 out of 5]

As mentioned in other reviews, there are some editing errors, but this wasn’t a big enough distraction to reduce my enjoyment of reading. Not the most original of fantasy stories, but I did like the characters and there is a bit of steampunk feel in the world, which I found to be pretty cool.

[Angela R. Watts · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series, y'all!

I am one of the editors, and I adore these books. Don't miss out on these if you enjoy fantasy!

[Corbin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic world building!
Tbh it took awhile to care about the charbecause I was so invested in the world building.
Bloodlust satisfaction
The ending...
*long suffering sigh, frustration, impatience*

[Shelby ✝️ · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 25%

The names were difficult for no reason, the chapters were too long, and the main plot wasn't established after 100 pages. It just seemed like a bunch of side quests and cryptic shit.

[Remy Wells · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun high fantasy with some gladiator fighting and a side plot that I’m very interesting in seeing what happens next.

[Chaely Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the world building! I cannot wait to get my hands on the next book!