- Title: Destinies Ablaze
- Author: A.M. Pennyfeather
- Genre: Romantasy
- Form: Novel
- Series: Fires of Faldon (Book 2)
- Reading Age: Young Adult
Summary
Why is it that every time you think things can't get any worse, they do?
Kara would say things were going pretty well. Not perfect, but good. Good enough, anyway, before the graks attacked her home and she found a gem that burdened her with magic and “expectations.” Ever since then, she's had a grumpy old pirate named Winlow constantly on her case, dragging her from one life-threatening situation to another. Kara feels obligated to help people, but then she just wants things to go back to normal. Especially with her best friend, Riptha.
Riptha has a duty, and although he's far from home and the comfort he grew up with, he still believes in doing what he can to help the greater cause of peace. And he's withstood quite a lot to get there – flying monsters, murderous pirates, and even Winlow's constant bad mood. The only thing giving him real trouble is the tension between him and Kara. His feelings are getting harder to ignore – no thanks to Clemens' incessant prodding – and Riptha's finding it increasingly difficult to pretend that he's okay with the way things were.
But all of that is secondary.
Image Description: The front cover of Destinies Ablaze: A blue gem takes up the center of the design with the title in gold script. The backdrop is purple fire. Gold filigree takes up the edges of the cover.
Credit: c/o A.M. Pennyfeather
The biggest concern is getting to Punitachu alive. Then they can hopefully end the war that has been tormenting the people of Faldon for so long.
Their friendship can surely survive long enough to do that. Can't it?
For that matter, can they?
About the Author
A.M. Pennyfeather is an author, mom, wife, and Montessori teacher living in the United States. Her life revolves around her family, especially her young daughter, but stories about the truest of loves energize her heart. When she’s not making up her own worlds – or enjoying someone else’s – she’s probably spending time with her family, often in the beauty of nature.
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Comments
Dear A.M. Pennyfeather,
I hope you're doing well.
My name is Frank, and I lead the Marketing Strategy team at Readers Route. I recently came across Destinies Ablaze while exploring recent young adult romantasy novels, and I wanted to reach out—not with a sales pitch, but simply to introduce myself and share what stood out to me about your work.
Some stories begin with an adventure. The most memorable ones begin with a question that young readers can quietly recognize in themselves. How do you navigate responsibility, friendship, growing feelings, and expectations when the life you once knew suddenly changes? That is the question at the heart of Destinies Ablaze, and it is what immediately distinguishes the novel from many contemporary fantasy romances for young adults. Kara and Riptha's journey creates characters who feel both caught in extraordinary circumstances and immediately relatable.
That concept gives your story emotional weight beyond its fantasy setting. Readers may initially arrive for the magic, graks, pirates, flying monsters, war, and the journey toward Punitachu, but they stay because the story is fundamentally about friendship, duty, courage, and feelings that become increasingly difficult to ignore. The tension between Kara's desire for a return to normal life and Riptha's commitment to a greater cause creates an engaging exploration of responsibility, loyalty, and the complicated space between friendship and love.
One of the aspects I particularly appreciated is the way the story combines a larger fantasy conflict with deeply personal relationships. The magical gem, the expectations placed upon Kara, Winlow's constant pressure, Riptha's sense of duty, and the growing tension between the two characters create multiple layers of conflict without losing sight of the emotional journey. That balance between adventure and character development gives the story a strong foundation for readers who want both an immersive fantasy world and relationships they can become invested in.
Your book also reaches several distinct audiences simultaneously. Young adult fantasy readers can connect with the magic, adventure, and world-building. Romantasy readers can connect with Kara and Riptha's growing emotional tension. Readers who enjoy friendship-centered stories can connect with their relationship, while fans of quest narratives and war-driven fantasy can become invested in the larger struggle facing Faldon. These audiences overlap, but they are not identical, and each discovers books differently.
Ironically, that broad appeal can create one of the greatest discoverability challenges for romantasy novels that cross multiple themes. When a book speaks simultaneously to fantasy readers, romance readers, young adult audiences, and readers looking for character-driven adventure, online marketplaces do not always understand which audience should encounter it first. A book can possess compelling storytelling while remaining underexposed simply because its strongest qualities are not being presented through the most effective entry points. From an outside perspective, I believe Destinies Ablaze has significantly more long-term potential than its current visibility reflects.
At Readers Route, this is precisely the kind of opportunity we enjoy working with. Our work is not built around temporary promotional bursts or chasing short-lived attention. We help authors strengthen the long-term discoverability of their books by identifying the audiences most likely to value their work and developing strategies that allow those books to continue reaching readers long after release. We believe meaningful books deserve the opportunity to build lasting readership rather than experiencing only brief moments of visibility.
There is something else that has shaped the way I approach authors over the years. A book is rarely just another publication added to a marketplace. It represents years of imagination, writing, world-building, revision, and persistence. It becomes part of an author's creative legacy. Long after publication, it continues introducing new readers to an author's voice, opening doors to future works, and preserving stories that may continue shaping how young readers understand friendship, courage, love, and themselves. Some of the most respected young adult books are remembered not because they created immediate attention, but because generations of readers continued discovering them. Their stories became enduring contributions rather than temporary releases.
That is why I look at books like yours differently. I do not simply ask whether Destinies Ablaze can attract readers today. I ask whether it possesses the qualities necessary to continue attracting young adult fantasy and romantasy readers years from now. In your case, I believe the answer is yes. The combination of an immersive fantasy conflict, a memorable magical premise, a strong friendship at its center, growing romantic tension.