"He'd burn the world down for you" is the most romantic line in fantasy. Until someone actually does it.

Anna Iverson has spent her life proving she doesn't need anyone — a useful skill when your mother abandoned you to chase a mythical fated mate bond that never materialized. Now twenty-four and clawing her way toward pediatric cancer research on no sleep and no money, Anna's careful independence shatters the moment she shakes Jacob Tatum's hand.

The bond snaps into place. Permanent. Intoxicating. Undeniable.

Jacob is brilliant, protective, and utterly devoted. He's also a billionaire assassin who kills people for a living.

At first, Anna rationalizes. He only eliminates people causing active harm — traffickers, murderers, monsters the legal system won't touch. The bond pulls her closer. His money solves problems she's been drowning under for years. She tells herself she can separate the man she loves from what he does.

But Jacob's devotion doesn't have a ceiling. His protection doesn't have a line. And the fated mate bond that promised her a fairy tale? It doesn't come with an exit.

What happens when "he'd do anything for you" stops being romantic — and you're the one who has to survive it?

WHAT HE'D BURN is a dark fantasy romance and the first in a duology. For readers who love Sarah J. Maas and Rebecca Ross but want their morally grey characters examined rather than excused.

Content warnings: violence, reproductive coercion, captivity, morally complex themes. This book goes there.