Fans of the ACOTAR and Fourth Wing series should call their smutty buddies because there’s a new local author who just released her first book. “Obsidian and Silver” is the first of “The Gems and Glory” trilogy by Isabelle Guernica, which she describes as dark romantasy. It contains morally grey characters and everyone’s favorite romantic trope, enemies to lovers. If you’re new to the dark fantasy world, well, “it’s not vanilla,” says Isabelle.
With an English teacher for a mom, Isabelle grew up an avid reader. The Southern Pines native has deep equestrian roots and has always wanted to write a book. “I love to read and write fantasy,” she says, “It’s where I have the most fun. There are limitless options and you get to make the rules.”
She spent about six months writing “Obsidian and Silver” from start to finish, and books two and three are already with her editor. Her room is always filled with sticky notes and whiteboards covered with ideas. “First and foremost, I wrote this for myself,” says Isabelle, but she is excited have it self-published it for others to enjoy, too.
One of the author’s pet peeves in fantasy novels is horses not being written correctly. “Horse people will appreciate the writing for how things are actually done with horses,” she says. Oh, and the cover art — that’s intentionally local too. It was created by Barbara Kennerly of ArtWorks Vass, who perfectly matched Isabelle’s vision with nothing too cutesy.
Isabelle feels that she’s hitting the market at the right time for the genre. Find the book online or in The Country Bookshop. For updates on the next books, or to get a peek inside the pages, follow Isabelle on IG.
