Gold and Starlight (Starlight and Shadow Series, #1)

In a realm beyond mortal reach, an angel dares to question paradise.
Kida has always been an outsider—restless and questioning where others find contentment in divine purpose. When she discovers a hidden crystal grove with a mysterious pool that shows reflections across realms, she glimpses Azreil, a fallen angel whose dark wings and haunting eyes call to something forbidden within her.
Their connection deepens through dreamscape meetings where realms momentarily touch, awakening desires angels aren't meant to possess. As Kida secretly visits the Shadow Gate at Heaven's edges, she uncovers buried truths about celestial hierarchies and the true nature of angels' supposed perfection. Meanwhile, Archangel Mikhael grows suspicious of her increasingly rebellious behavior.
When Kida's forbidden communication with Azreil is discovered, she faces Heaven's judgment. In a moment that shatters celestial order, she chooses love over divinity—her wings violently torn away as she falls to Earth. But separation from Azreil during her expulsion leaves her alone in a strange mortal world, experiencing physical pain and human emotions for the first time.
As Kida searches for Azreil, she discovers disturbing truths about his past that make her question everything between them. Caught between warring factions: Heaven's merciless enforcers, human hunters of the supernatural, and Azreil's growing army of the fallen. Kida faces her most impossible choice.
Catastrophic forces collide and the boundaries between realms begin to crumble, Kida must decide if her fall was a tragic mistake or if there exists a path forward that transcends Heaven's rigid perfection and the darkness that consumes the fallen. The fate of all realms hangs in the balance of her decision, and she must confront the ultimate question—was her fall a tragic mistake, or the first step toward a new order of existence where neither light nor darkness reigns supreme?