The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy: Book 1 of the Dearly Beloathed Duology

This deluxe, first-edition trade paperback of The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy will feature beautifully stenciled edges and captivating interior end paper art!

Loyalties are tested in this slow burn, enemies-to-lovers romantasy following an assassin and a healer forced to work together to cure a fatal disease, all while resisting the urge to kill each other--or, worse, fall in love.

When Osric Mordaunt, member of the Fyren Order of assassins, falls ill, he realizes he needs the expertise of a very specific healer. As fate would have it, that healer belongs to an enemy faction, the Haelan Order.

Aurienne Fairhrim and her fellow Haelan are inundated by sick children suffering from an outbreak of a long-forgotten Pox. Unable to get the funding needed to launch an immunization program, the Haelan Order is desperate for money--so desperate that when Osric breaks into their headquarters to bribe Aurienne to heal him, she is forced to accept.

As Osric and Aurienne work together to solve not only his illness but the mysterious reoccurrence of the Pox, they find themselves ardently denying their attraction, which only fuels the tension between them.

Author: Brigitte Knightley
Publisher: Ace Books
Published: 06/02/2026
Pages: 400
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.81lbs
ISBN13: 9780593819463
ISBN10: 0593819462
BISAC Categories:
- Fiction | Fantasy | Romance
- Fiction | Alternative History

About the Author
Brigitte Knightley's modus operandi is to write what she wants to read: enemies-to-lovers romances that put the unresolved back in "unresolved sexual tension." Her work is enjoyed by fans of slow burns, tongue-in-cheek rom-coms, and suffering. The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy is her debut novel.