Snowblooded, by Emma Sterner-Radley

Snowblooded is a gaslamp fantasy novel, which represents the traditional debut of Emma Sterner-Radley, published by Solaris. A thrilling story about assassins and conspirations in a Scandinavian setting, with an excellent cast of characters and featuring queer romancing as part of the plot.

Valour and Petrichor are top members of the Order of Axsten, an assassins' guild under the orders of Vinterstock leader that is tasked with keeping the order in this cold city; both were raised in competition with the other, creating a strong sense of rivalry between them. Two different ways of act: Valour solves her task with brawn, while Petrichor leans toward a more gentleman approach.
Things get especially difficult when both are tasked with their biggest job: killing Brandquist, the leader of Vinterstock's illegal magic trade. A job whose reward is enough to allow them to pay their debt with their order and start new lives; but their rivalry is just the first obstacle on that path. At the same time, Valour is practically forced to protect Ingrid Rytterdahl, an attractive aristocrat whose father owns the hotel where Valour stays, putting the mission in a more precarious position.

Sterner-Radley takes this premise and elevates it to create a really entertaining story, with space for banter while not losing the seriousness of the task our characters are trying to deal with. Particularly, I find relatable how Valour and Petrichor can be described as different faces of the same coin: both raised by the guild, similar pasts, and always competing for the approval; however, as a consequence, both have developed different ways to cope with that trauma. Valour and Petrichor are prone to confront each other and often end insulting each other, bringing us many fun moments; but it is proven that, with time, they can grow over their differences, as most of them were just created by the influence of others.
While Ingrid seemed to be just a secondary character, she ends having a more prominent role than I expected in the plot; and honestly, her chemistry with Valour ends evolving into a dangerous romance which gifts us some steamy moments that certainly help us to keep with the glacial setting of Vinterstock.

Talking about Vinterstock, it is refreshing to have a gaslamp fantasy which is inspired by Scandinavia; idioms and expressions imported from them, and even in the mythology you can guess the inspiration. Said that, Vinterstock is a brutal city, where the power is corrupt and difficult to stop; the order of Axsten is just a reflection of what we could expect from the city.
The pacing is a bit slow for what you might expect for this kind of story, but that allows for a better character developing, warming our hearts and making us care about them; tension is well managed, and we are gifted some great action scenes, which creates a really enjoyable reading experience.

Snowblooded is a really powerful debut novel; a delight of read if you like ambitious characters, conspirations and complex plots with a touch of mystery. A standalone, but a world that I wouldn't mind to return again!