Brigitte’s modus operandi is to write what she wants to read: enemies-to-lovers romances that put the unresolved back in UST. Her work is enjoyed by fans of slow burns, tongue-in-cheek romcoms, and suffering. The spirits of Wodehouse and Jerome K. Jerome pervade her writing, but Austen is at its soul.
She is represented by Thao Le of the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.
Author illustration by @gingerhuneybee.
A #1 Indie Next pick and instant New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller.
Loyalties are tested in this slow burn, enemies-to-lovers romantasy following an assassin and a healer forced to work together to cure a fatal disease, all while resisting the urge to kill each other – or worse, fall in love.
When Osric Mordaunt, member of the Fyren Order of assassins, falls ill, he realises he needs the expertise of a very specific healer. As fate would have it, that healer belongs to an enemy faction, the Haelan Order.
Aurienne Fairhrim and her fellow Haelan are inundated by sick children suffering from an outbreak of a long-forgotten Pox. Unable to get the funding needed to launch an immunisation programme, the Haelan Order is desperate for money – so desperate that when Osric breaks into their headquarters to bribe Aurienne to heal him, she is forced to accept.
As Osric and Aurienne work together to solve not only his illness but the mysterious reoccurrence of the Pox, they find themselves ardently denying their attraction, which only fuels the tension between them.
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The stakes are high, the love is forbidden, and the slow burn turns steamy in this swoony, witty, and heart-stoppingly romantic sequel to instant New York Times bestseller The Irresistible Urge to Fall For Your Enemy.
Osric is a member of the Fyren Order, a guild of assassins who gleefully murder for money. Aurienne is a Haelan, a scholar-healer whose Order’s motto is Harm to none. Clear-cut absolutes separate them: good and bad, right and wrong, light and dark . . .
Until they don’t.
When Osric first bribed Aurienne to heal him, he never imagined those lines would begin to blur. But every healing session draws them closer together. He finds himself developing unwanted feelings for Aurienne as her capable hands heal his body – and his heart.
Aurienne’s perfect life has been flung into chaos in the form of a devastatingly handsome assassin. She should be in her research lab, not illicitly healing a Fyren every full moon – nor wrestling an attraction to him that threatens to slip into something else.
Things go superbly sideways when Osric and Aurienne discover more about the deadly Pox deliberately unleashed through the Tīendoms. The plague may be the work of another Order – an Order far nastier than either of them can handle.
As the lines between Osric and Aurienne continue to blur, the balance between peace and war, and love and hate, trembles, shifts, and hinges on a heartbeat.
Out 7 July 2026. Preorder now (US) / Preorder now (UK)
“Knightley’s debut is an absolute joy. Readers will be captivated by an exceptionally clever magical system, several concurrent mysteries, and the slowest of slow burn romances between two people who absolutely hate each other…This is a superlative read deserving of very real praise.”—Booklist, starred review
“The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy sets a very high bar for fantasy romance debuts. It’s pure fun, punctuated by wry humour and scorching chemistry—a truly lethal combination.”—BookPage, starred review
This deluxe, first-edition trade paperback of The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy will feature:
Beautifully stencilled edges Interior end paper art Foil on the cover FLOPPINESSOut 2nd June 2026. Preorder now.
brigitte@brigitteknightley.com
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