A review by anjreading
This Vicious Grace by Emily Thiede

4.0

Promising new fantasy debut with a slow-burn romance and unique, interesting world-building. Alessa has been chosen by the gods to save her island from demons that attack every five years, but to succeed she has to pair with a magic user and amplify their gift in order to defeat the enemy. Unfortunately, the book starts with Alessa attending the third funeral of a spouse; the strength of her gift keeps killing her partners. When she's targeted from all angles, she hires a grumpy loner with excellent fighting skills as her personal guard. Interesting characters all around, great plot, and a solid finale that makes me look forward to book two but not feel insanely frustrated by a cliffhanger ending.