The Serpent & Dove Trilogy is a Young Adult fantasy series written by Shelby Mahurin about witches and witch hunters.
The main charcters are Lou le Blanc and Reid Diggory. Lou is a witch (a Dame Blanche to be specific) who fled from her coven. The series starts two years after that. Lou is now living in Cesarine with her best friend Coco (a Dame Rouge). She doesn't use her magic anymore to avoid getting caught and burned at the stake and relies on stealing to survive. Reid on the other hand is a Chasseur, a witch hunter who works for the Church.
When Lou tries to steal a powerful, magical ring, some unlikely events force Lou and Reid to marry. While they initially hate each other, they gradually start to develop feeling for each other. However Reid doesn't know that Lou is a witch and if he ever finds out there is no telling what he would do.
The trilogy consist of the following books:
- Serpent & Dove (September 2019)
- Blood & Honey (September 2020)
- Gods & Monsters (July 2021)
This trilogy provides examples of:
- Burn the Witch!: All witches who get found by the Chasseurs get burned on the stake. They believe that it is the only way to really kill a witch.
- Consummation Counterfeit: If Lou and Reid don't consumate their marriage, it won't be official. However Lou does not want to sleep with him, so she cuts open her arm and lets her blood drip on the bed to fake a consumation.
- Evil Matriarch: Lou's mother, who tried to use her daughter as a human sacrifice.
- Heroic Bastard: Reid is very noble and heroic and it turns out that he is one of king Auguste's bastards.
- Human Sacrifice: Lou's mother tried to use a spell that would end her enemies bloodline. The price? Ending her own bloodline by sacrificing her daughter Lou.
- Monster/Slayer Romance: Lou is a witch and Reid is a witch-hunter. They end up in an Arranged Marriage and eventually fall in love. Lou knows that Reid is a witch-hunter, but Reid doesn't know that Lou is a witch. When Reid finds out about, he initially turns his back on her, but he changes his mind later and realizes that not all witches are evil.
- The Reveal: There are several examples:
- Lou's father is the Archbishop.
- Madame Labelle is a witch.
- Reid's mother is madame Labelle and his father is king Auguste.
- Royal Bastard: King Auguste has more than 20 bastard children. Reid turns out to be one of them.
