# Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin

### Serpent & Dove

**Shelby Mahurin** · Serpent & Dove, book 1 of 3 (complete) · [https://houseofareader.com/books/serpent-and-dove](https://houseofareader.com/books/serpent-and-dove)

A witch and a witch-hunter are forced into marriage by a public misunderstanding neither can undo. The premise is the whole engine, and the book knows it — every scene is two people who should kill each other being obliged to share a room.

- Spice: 2/5 — Warm. One explicit scene late on. The rest is antagonism at close quarters.
- Romance prominence: 4/5
- Plot: 3/5
- Worldbuilding: 3/5
- Darkness: 3/5
- Writing craft: 3/5
- Burn: slow
- Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, forced-proximity, fake-dating, forbidden-romance, slow-burn
- Creatures: witches, humans
- Setting: Belterra, a French-inflected kingdom burning witches
- POV: first person, dual
- Ending: happy ever after
- Audience: adult
- Content warnings: burning, violence, religious persecution, death
- Best for: Readers who want enemies to lovers with a completed trilogy behind it.
- Last verified: 2026-08-28

## Sources

- https://openlibrary.org/search?q=Serpent+and+Dove+Shelby+Mahurin

## What to read next

- [Kingdom of the Wicked](https://houseofareader.com/books/kingdom-of-the-wicked) by Kerri Maniscalco — spice 3/5. Readers who want a devil love interest and a completed series to go with him.
- [The Cruel Prince](https://houseofareader.com/books/the-cruel-prince) by Holly Black — spice 1/5. ACOTAR readers who want the fae court politics without the explicit content.
- [These Hollow Vows](https://houseofareader.com/books/these-hollow-vows) by Lexi Ryan — spice 2/5. ACOTAR readers who want the fae courts at a much lower spice level.
- [For the Wolf](https://houseofareader.com/books/for-the-wolf) by Hannah Whitten — spice 2/5. Readers who loved Uprooted and want something darker in the same forest.

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Ratings are editorial judgements applied against a published scale at
https://houseofareader.com/lessons/spice, not aggregated reader scores. Editorial policy:
https://houseofareader.com/lessons/how-we-choose. No affiliate links, no sponsored placements.