A Forbidden Alchemy by Stacey McEwan

Here is a summary with spoilers for A Forbidden Alchemy by Stacey McEwan

Nina Harrow, despite being young, has had an incredibly difficult life. All she has left is an abusive father who doesn’t care for her. So when Nina turns twelve and she gets the letter she has been hoping for, she jumps on a train taking her to Belavere City. There, she has the chance of having her life changed, and she can enter a test for magical abilities and become an Artisan (a powerful elemental mage who helps the city).

Patrick Colson was born into a family of Craftsmen, working in a city that is filled with mines. Patrick also gets the letter to go be tested in Belavere City, but he has no desire to go, nor does he have any desire to stay in the city.

Nina and Patrick are brought together when they arrive. Although at first it was a tentative start of a friendship, it changed into something more. Patrick convinces Nina to leave the introduction and go steal some food. While hiding so they don’t get caught, they overhear a piece of information they were never meant to hear: Artisans aren’t born, but rather they are chosen. The whole event they are there for is a sham. Not only that, everyone in charge is willingly letting children who need help go. The two are still forced to go through the trials, but Patrick steals a few vials before he leaves, and Nina ends up drinking one of them. When Nina is tested, to everyone’s shock she is revealed to be an Earth Charmer, a very rare position and one they have not had in years.

Nina is taken away by a woman named Francis Leisel, who tells her they need to pretend to be related, and Nina is to have a new last name, Nina Clarke. No one is to believe she was just chosen—she needed to be part of a good bloodline.

From there, Nina starts her schooling. For years she enjoys learning, and doesn’t make too many friends. One friend she does make is Theodore, another powerful Artisan who has every class with Nina. As the years go on, Nina and Theo grow closer together and their relationship even blossoms into something else. During her years of schooling, there are rumors of war, especially of uprisings in the mines. Nina puts things together and realizes that the information that she and Patrick learned all those years ago has started a war. Patrick took that information back to the mines and now there is a rebellion.

Years later, it’s time for Nina to graduate. During the graduation, rebels come to the building and blow up the school. She is stuck in the rubble, but Theo finds her and helps her out. He refuses to go with her though, but Nina sees this as an opportunity to get out of war and just start fresh. This leads to years of Nina living in the slums and just trying to get by. Nina turns 25 when she is caught by some rebels. They take her straight to a man who claims he has been looking for her for years: Patrick.

Patrick makes a deal with Nina—if she helps him with giving as much information as possible, he will get her on a boat and get her out of the country. Nina wants to think about it and Patrick says that’s fine, but locks her in a room anyway. He gives Nina something to drink, and with a start she realizes that the rumors were right: Patrick and the rebels have the alchemist. Nina passes out before she can talk more.

When Nina wakes up she tries to run, but Patrick quickly finds her, and ends up showing her the city. Nina quickly finds out how much Patrick runs the city. She meets people, many who don’t like him and many that do. They find their way to a town hall meeting, but it ends when police come for Nina. They have been informed that she is somewhere in the city, and they want her. Patrick takes Nina back to her room to hide, which is when she finds out her room neighbor is Theo.

The next morning, there is not much room to talk, as Patrick holds a meeting saying now that they have an Earth Charmer, they will make new tunnels that will get some of their prisoners out of the neighboring tunnels (and one of those prisoners is Patrick’s father). Nina is forced to go underground, reminding her of the time she was almost buried during the bomb. But she manages to get 5 miles of tunnels done in one day—thrilling Patrick, and now making it so they can move their timeline up.

That night, there is a festival, and Theo convinces Nina to go out and have fun. He asks her to dance and she does so—only to be tapped on by Patrick wanting to do the same. While Nina once loved Theo, she can feel more of a connection with Patrick. The two spend the rest of the night together, dancing and walking. She learns that Patrick is the one that detonated the bomb that put her underground. Even with that news, the two part ways by kissing. As soon as Nina walks into her room, she is surrounded by Theo. He explains that he has a cover; he was disowned from his family—and that is why he is now with the rebels. But it turns out that was fake; it was a mission from Tanner, a very good cover story that would let the rebels bring him in. In reality, Theo is only doing it because Tanner promised to help look for Nina. After the explosion, and Nina left, Theo looked for her for months, and while everyone thought her dead, he didn’t give up. But Theo also says he knows Nina is supposed to be doing something as well, and that plan does not involve seducing the man she was sent to bury.

A flashback to one month before: Nina wakes up having just been attacked. Tanner is there to greet her, along with her mother who she has not seen since she was 8. Tanner forces her to a mission—bury Patrick and help ruin the rebellion, including finding the alchemist. If she does not, Tanner will kill her and her mother.

Despite the mission that Nina has, she falls for Patrick more and more each day. But she does decide to insert herself more and more into his life in hopes to glean information. She accompanies him on some missions to see how the rebellion movement is going, but always Patrick keeps the alchemist hidden. The days go by, and no info on that, but Nina and Patrick fall more and more for each other.

As Patrick is getting ready to spend more time with Nina, sirens are heard—there has been a collapse in the mine. Despite Patrick not wanting her there, Nina insists on helping. At one point, the two need to be separated to save those stuck; Patrick leaves telling Nina she is not allowed to die because he thinks he might love her. Nina then proceeds to save as many people as she can with her earth channeling, to the point of exhaustion. Nina is close to passing out when she gets back to Patrick, but she managed to save almost everyone in the mine. Nina then goes to her room to sleep, where Patrick later joins her. The next morning Nina wakes, and she and Patrick spend the day together in bed, telling each other that they both care for each other. That night, there is a celebration for Nina in town.

Nina, still smitten with Patrick, keeps getting reminded by Theo that she has a job to do. Not only does he keep reminding her, he also is getting more and more bitter that she is falling for Patrick and not him. To the point that when Theo gets drunk one night, he and Patrick have a game of darts to show off. Theo loses, and Patrick continues to be the bigger man. This leads to Theo wanting to leave, but Nina tells him to stay, because she may know how to get more info on the alchemist now.

Nina executes a plan—only to run right into Patrick. He was told that Nina is just using him. So when he finds her, a bit of trust is broken. He reveals that the alchemist is dead, and he is the last remaining one. This ruins her plans a little, but she still tells Patrick she loves him, which in return, Patrick says he plans on marrying her.

Patrick goes out on a mission, and it leaves Nina in town. Thomas and his group come in and take over, find Nina and knock her out. When she wakes up, she realizes what has been done, and feels terrible that she didn’t get a chance to tell Patrick. Meanwhile, Patrick is running back to the city to help, but runs into Theo, who tells him that it was Nina who betrayed him. Patrick, fueled by anger that he was betrayed and played by someone he thought he loved. When the two are reunited, Thomas takes them both, and Nina is already seen as a traitor by everyone in the city. The two are taken below into the tunnels, where Patrick has the final word and tells Nina that if she ever loved him, to drop the tunnels on them.