GRACELESS HEART, by Isabel Ibañez, Saturday Books, Jan. 13, 2026, Hardcover, $31 (Young Adult, Ages 17 and up/ New Adult/ Adult Fiction)
Isabel Ibañez makes her adult debut with a tale full of enemies-to-lovers tension, magic, villain romance, and slow-burn desire, in Graceless Heart.
As a sculptress, Ravenna Maffei has always shaped beauty from stone but she has a terrible secret. Desperate to save her brother, she enters a competition hosted by Florence’s most feared immortal family, revealing a dark power in a city where magic is forbidden.
Now a captive in the cutthroat city of Florence, Ravenna is forced into a dangerous task where failure meets certain death at the hands of Saturnino dei Luni, the immortal family’s mesmerizing but merciless heir. But as he draws her closer, Ravenna realizes the true threat lies beyond Florence’s walls.
The Pope’s war against magic is closing in, and Ravenna is no longer just a prisoner but a prize to be claimed. As trusting the wrong person becomes lethal, Ravenna must survive the treacherous line between a pope’s obsession and the seductive immortal who might be the end of her ― or surrender her power to a city on the brink of war. —Synopsis provided by Saturday Books
Author Isabel Ibañez is known for YA historical fiction with atmospheric magic that transports readers to a different time and place (What the River Knows). That is also true of her latest novel, Graceless Heart, though the intended audience is older.
The story centers around Ravenna as she tries to save her family, herself and her soul. Ravenna is a likeable enough character who allows the fear of her “gift” to hold her back. It’s only as she’s forced to work through that fear and embrace who she is that she grows.
Ravenna is spirited and passionate and looks for the good in people. Saturnino de Luni is the opposite. Cold and ruthless, he is nothing like Ravenna has ever imagined. Their enemies-to-lovers transformation is easily telegraphed but engaging nonetheless.
Ibañez’s exploration of time and place is strong. You truly get a sense of 15th Century Florence. The clothes, architecture and art set the scene for a story seeped in magic and mysticism. It’s interesting and provides a strong framework. But it’s the slow-burn romance that (spoiler) becomes spicy and open-door toward the end of Graceless Heart that readers will be turning the pages for. It’s also what takes the book from YA into the ages 17 and up fiction sphere.
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