The River of Silver : Tales from the Daevabad Trilogy by S. A. Chakraborty - A Review

 

The River of Silver : Tales from the Daevabad Trilogy by S. A. Chakraborty is a compilation of stories from before, during, and after the events of The City of Brass, The Kingdom of Copper, and The Empire of Gold, all from the perspective of characters both beloved and hated, and even those without a voice in the novels. The River of Silver gathers material both seen and new.

I loved this collection of stories from the Daevabad trilogy. It was everything that I wanted from my favourite characters. It was really good to be back in this magical world..

It's a beautiful collection and it perfectly compliments the main trilogy. We got to see some events of the main trilogy through the eyes of other characters and I appreciated that. 

I listened this book on audio as te physical copy wasn't yet released. I loved the narrator (Soneela Nankani), who is the same one from the other books.

Rating: 5 Stars

Here is a little bit more about the stories:

A prospective new queen joins a court whose lethal history may overwhelm her own political savvy…

An imprisoned royal from a fallen dynasty and a young woman wrenched from her home cross paths in an enchanted garden…

A pair of scouts stumble upon a secret in a cursed winter wood that will turn over their world…

Now together in one place, these stories of Daevabad enrich a world already teeming with magic and wonder. From Manizheh’s first steps towards rebellion to adventures that take place after The Empire of Gold, this is a must-have collection for those who can’t get enough of Nahri, Ali, and Dara and all that unfolded around them.  

See you in the next post and don't forget to keep reading!!!

Athina

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The Soul Crier by Becky Gaines - Book Tour

 

"A banshee trapped in a curse. A noble soldier with a secret. A killer who controls their fate. Only two will survive the night."

The Soul Crier by Becky Gaines is a New Adult Fantasy book and it has already been released.

Purchase The Soul Crier here

Add The Soul Crier to your Goodreads TBR here

RELEASE DATE: Already Released

TITLE: The Soul Crier

SERIES TITLE: N/A

GENRE: NA Fantasy

STEAM/HEAT LEVEL: Mild

TRIGGER WARNINGS: On-screen violence, child death, and abuse. Mentions of past self-harm and attempts at suicide. Some moments of PTSD.

About the book:

Invisible to everyone except Red Death’s victims, Wraith has served as his banshee for ten years. His curse forces her to play his game of music and murder while winter slowly starves their world. After singing hundreds of victims to their deaths, any hope she had of breaking her curse is as dead as everyone’s hope of seeing spring reborn—until the impossible happens.

A soldier sees her before her curse activates.

Dovan welcomes her into his life, treating her with kindness instead of trying to kill her like the other victims of her song. Desperate to understand why he’s different, Wraith risks getting closer to him, drawn to a life she can never have. Banshee’s don’t fall in love, and Red Death won’t be denied his kill. But something’s weakening the curse, giving her a chance to change their fate.

Save Dovan’s life, break her curse, or end winter—Wraith can only choose one.

If you like Prince of the Doomed City by Sylvia Mercedes, A Dance with a Fae Prince by Elise Kova, The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni, you will like this one too.

There is a giveaway running until October 15th and you can learn more about it and also enter on my Instagram post @booknotes_athina .

See you in the next post and don't forget to keep reading!!!

Athina

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The Elf King's Sacrifice by Elisa Rae - Book Tour

 

The Elf King's Sacrifice by Elisa Rae is a fantasy romance and the third book in the Elves of Eldarlan series. This is a series of standalone books within a connected world, you may begin reading any of them to enjoy the world. The book has been already released.

Purchase The Elf King's Sacrifice here

Add The Elf King's Sacrifice to your Goodreads TBR here

AUTHOR: Elisa Rae

TITLE: The Elf King's Sacrifice

SERIES TITLE: Elves of Eldarlan, Book 3 (This is a series of standalone books within a connected world, you may begin reading any of them to enjoy the world.)

GENRE: Fantasy Romance

STEAM/HEAT LEVEL: Mild

TRIGGER WARNINGS: N/A

About the book:

The King of Eldarlan hates parties. Superficial conversations and social niceties never come easy for him. When cursed to host human princesses at a party every night, he considers it mild torture until an unusual princes sappears one night. Wrapped in a worn robe with bare feet and tousled hair, she intrigues him immediately Kate had been a princess only a matter of hours before being pulled from her bed by a magical spell. It drops her in an enchanted garden populated by silent elves and princesses of various ages. Attempting to avoid the unsolicited advice of her new peers, she retreats to the dark hedge maze where she encounters her host.

The Elf King’s Sacrifice is a light, fantasy romance novella with a romance between a powerful elf king and an unusual human princess. It features friends to lovers amid curses and chronic illness. Also included is a marriage of necessity, an adorable puppy, and a relaxed alpha hero.

If you like Kenley Davidson, K. M. Shea, Tara Grayce, you will like this one too.

There is a giveaway running until October 13th and you can learn more about it and also enter on my Instagram post @booknotes_athina .

See you in the next post and don't forget to keep reading!!!

Athina

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2022 New Releases Weekly - October 11th

 Hello everyone!!

Well, it's time for this week's new releases post. This time we look at books published in the week of October 11th. There are a lot of books that are in my most anticipated list, but as I said before this list is of course incomplete as it includes only books that I am interested in and the majority of them are in the Fantasy genre.

Let's start...

The Witch Hunt (The Witch Haven #2) by Sasha Peyton Smith

The lush and pulse-pounding sequel to the New York Times bestselling The Witch Haven follows Frances and her fellow witches to the streets of Paris where family secrets, lost loves, and dangerous magic await.

Months after the devastating battle between the Sons of St. Druon and the witches of Haxahaven, Frances has built a quiet, safe life for herself, teaching young witches and tending the garden within the walls of Haxahaven Academy. But one thing nags; her magic has begun to act strangely. When an opportunity to visit Paris arises, Frances jumps at the chance to go, longing for adventure and seeking answers about her own power.

Once she and her classmates Maxine and Lena reach the vibrant streets of France, Frances learns that the spell she used to speak to her dead brother has had terrible consequences—the veil between the living and the dead has been torn by her recklessness, and a group of magicians are using the rift for their own gain at a horrifying cost.

To right this wrong, and save lives and her own magical powers, Frances must hunt down answers in the parlors of Parisian secret societies, the halls of the Louvre, and the tunnels of the catacombs. Her only choice is to team up with the person she swore she’d never trust again, risking further betrayal and her own life in the process. 

Genre: YA Fantasy

Sequel to: The Witch Haven

Publisher: Simon Schuster Books for Young readers

If You Could See The Sun by Ann Liang

Alice Sun has always felt invisible at her elite Beijing international boarding school, where she’s the only scholarship student among China’s most rich and influential teens. But then she starts uncontrollably turning invisible—actually invisible.

 

When her parents drop the news that they can no longer afford her tuition, even with the scholarship, Alice hatches a plan to monetize her strange new power—she’ll discover the scandalous secrets her classmates want to know, for a price.

 

But as the tasks escalate from petty scandals to actual crimes, Alice must decide if it’s worth losing her conscience—or even her life.

In this genre-bending YA debut, a Chinese American girl monetizes her strange new invisibility powers by discovering and selling her wealthy classmates’ most scandalous secrets.

Genre: YA Fantasy

Publisher: Inkyard Press

Lore Olympus: Volume Three by Rachel Smythe

Witness what the gods do after dark in the third volume of a stylish and contemporary reimagining of one of the best-known stories in Greek mythology, featuring a brand-new, exclusive short story from creator Rachel Smythe.

"It is natural for a King to be curious about his future Queen. . . ."

All of Olympus--and the Underworld--are talking about the God of the Dead and the sprightly daughter of Demeter. But despite the rumors of their romance, Hades and Persephone have plenty to navigate on their own. 

Since coming to Olympus, Persephone has struggled to be the perfect maiden goddess. Her attraction to Hades has only complicated the intense burden of the gods' expectations. And after Apollo's assault, Persephone fears she can no longer bury the intense feelings of hurt and love that she's worked so hard to hide. 

As Persephone contemplates her future, Hades struggles with his past, falling back into toxic habits in Minthe's easy embrace. With all the mounting pressure and expectations--of their family, friends, and enemies--both Hades and Persephone tell themselves to deny their deepest desires, but the pull between them is too tempting, too magnetic. It's fate. 

This full-color edition of Smythe's original Eisner-nominated webcomic Lore Olympus brings Greek mythology into the modern age in a sharply perceptive and romantic graphic novel. 

This volume collects episodes 50-75 of the #1 WEBTOON comic Lore Olympus. 

Genre Graphic Novel / Fantasy

Publisher: Random House Worlds

And on October 13th in the UK (October 11th in the US)..

The River Of Silver: Tales from The Daevabad Trilogy by S.A. Chakraborty

Bestselling author S.A. Chakraborty’s acclaimed Daevabad Trilogy gets expanded with this new compilation of stories from before, during, and after the events of The City of Brass, The Kingdom of Copper, and The Empire of Gold, all from the perspective of characters both beloved and hated, and even those without a voice in the novels. The River of Silver gathers material both seen and new—including a special coda fans will need to read—making this the perfect complement to those incredible novels.

A prospective new queen joins a court whose lethal history may overwhelm her own political savvy…

An imprisoned royal from a fallen dynasty and a young woman wrenched from her home cross paths in an enchanted garden…

A pair of scouts stumble upon a secret in a cursed winter wood that will turn over their world…

Now together in one place, these stories of Daevabad enrich a world already teeming with magic and wonder. From Manizheh’s first steps towards rebellion to adventures that take place after The Empire of Gold, this is a must-have collection for those who can’t get enough of Nahri, Ali, and Dara and all that unfolded around them.

Genre: Fantasy

Sequel to: The City of Brass

                  The Kingdom of Copper

                  The Empire of Gold

Publisher: HarperVoyager

These are some of the new releases of this week.

Are you excited about them?

Do you have other ones on your radar that I should know of?

See you in the next post and don't forget to keep reading!!!

Athina

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Outside Nowhere by Adam Borba - Book Tour

 

Outside Nowhere by Adam Borba is a middle grade contemporary book and it will be released on October 18th.

Add Outside Nowhere to your Goodreads TBR here

Purchase Outside Nowhere: 

Amazon / Book Depository / Barnes & Noble / Indigo /  IndieBound

About the book:

From the author of The Midnight Brigade, this heartwarming and humorous middle grade novel follows one boy’s summer adventure at a peculiar farm in the middle of nowhere. 

Charming and funny, Parker Kelbrook can wriggle out of anything he doesn’t want to do. So when he’s forced to take a job at the local pool—a threat to his beach-filled summer plans—he comes up with the perfect prank to get himself fired.

Once Parker’s father catches wind of his latest scheme, he decides enough is enough, and Parker is sent halfway across the country to work on a farm alongside five other kids who aren’t his biggest fans. As Parker learns to roll up his sleeves and keep his head down, strange things start happening. And after he awakens one morning to find a seventeen-hundred-pound dairy cow on the roof of a barn, he suspects that something magical and mysterious is growing in the farm’s fields.

Adam Borba presents a whimsical new story about a boy’s discovery that mistakes and miracles can have serious consequences.

Content Warning: death of a parent

About the author:

ADAM BORBA is a writer and filmmaker from California who helps develop and produce movies for Walt Disney Studios. Outside Nowhere is his second novel.

Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | IMDb

Check out the link for the rest of the tour schedule here

See you in the next post and don't forget to keep reading!!!

Athina

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Married by Treachery by Barbara Kloss - Arranged Marriages of the Fae Event - Book tour

 

"Raquel never expected to marry a bear."

Married by Treachery by Barbara Kloss  is part of the Arranged Marriages of the Fae event and it is a brand new novella which features the tropes of enemies to lovers and arranged marriage of course. Technically is book 5 of the series but it is a standalone. The book is already out.

Purchase Married by Treachery here

Add Married by Treachery to your Goodreads TBR here

AUTHOR: Barbara Kloss

TITLE: Married By Treachery

SERIES TITLE: Arranged Marriages of the Fae, Book 5 (Standalone)

RELEASE DATE: 10.07.22

GENRE: Fantasy Romance,Enemies to lovers, Stabby heroine, Hidden Identities, Beauty and the Beast vibes

STEAM LEVEL: Mild

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Minor violence

About the book:

Raquel never expected to marry a bear.

To be fair, Prince Edom wasn’t actually a bear, but it was impossible to see his face through his mess of wild hair. Not that she needed to see his face. In fact, it was probably better that she didn’t.

Because she was going to kill him.

It had been seven years since Prince Edom had galloped off with her best friend through the magicked veil, and taken her into his magicked kingdom. Seven long years of resolve, of hard work and training, so that Raquel would be ready for this day: the day she would exact vengeance upon Prince Edom, for all the brides he’d stolen.

For all the brides he’d murdered.

Raquel vowed she would be the last, but she wasn’t prepared for what lay on the veil’s other side. It was not the lush and magnificent kingdom from the stories of her youth, and, as it turned out, its prince was not what she’d expected either.

No, Prince Edom was not what she’d expected at all.

If you like authors Naomi Novik, Danielle Jensen , you will like this one too.

There is a giveaway running until October 27th and you can learn more about it and also enter on my Instagram post @booknotes_athina .

See you in the next post and don't forget to keep reading!!!

Athina

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The Last Dragon King by Leia Stone - Book Tour

 

"The Dragon King is looking for a wife."

The Last Dragon King by Leia Stone is a fantasy romance book and the first book in the Kings of Avalier series.  The book is already out.

Purchase The Last Dragon King here

Add The Last Dragon King to your Goodreads TBR here

RELEASE DATE: 09.29.22

TITLE: The Last Dragon King

SERIES TITLE: Kings of Avalier, Book 1

GENRE: Fantasy Romance

STEAM/HEAT LEVEL: Mild

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Infant loss (off screen in past)

About the book:

The Dragon King is looking for a wife.

This news throws the women in my village into a tizzy. King Valdren will be sending out the royal guard to bring women of childbearing age to his castle in Jade City, but only those who carry enough magic to produce an heir for him.

I’m a watered-down human with a mere ten percent dragon magic lineage. I know I won’t be chosen, but for some reason the magic sniffers command me to present myself to the king as a possible wife.

I’m ready to go to Jade City until my mother tells me a terrifying secret. A secret that could get me killed… by the king himself.

If you like authors Elise Kova, Jennifer Lynn Armentrout, Sarah J Mass , you will like this one too.

There is a giveaway running until October 8th and you can learn more about it and also enter on my Instagram post @booknotes_athina .

See you in the next post and don't forget to keep reading!!!

Athina

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2022 New Releases Weekly - October 4th

 Hello everyone!!

Well, it's time for this week's new releases post. This time we look at books published in the week of October 4th. There are a lot of books that are in my most anticipated list, but as I said before this list is of course incomplete as it includes only books that I am interested in and the majority of them are in the Fantasy genre.

Let's start...

The Melody and the Master (The Book of All Things #4) by Sarah M. Cradit

Her song is death. His offer is life.

Disappear into this twisty tale of a ruthless heir and the sheltered, gifted orphan he chooses as both his wife and his greatest weapon against a growing list of enemies. 

Siofra has lived her entire life in isolation, terrified her unrestrained dark magic will be the undoing of herself and others. She disappears inside books that promise a life she can never have. 

Elsewhere in the kingdom, Desemir’s isolation is a matter of political expediency, as he holds court in the decadent estate that keeps a wall between himself and his enemies. 

Desemir’s lack of heir ignites his rivals, but to marry within his peerage would invite the very coup he needs to avoid. Siofra cannot run from herself forever. 

The unthinkable happens and Siofra is imprisoned, awaiting a predictable fate. Before the law can mete her punishment, she is rescued by Desemir and whisked away to his glamorous estate, like a princess in one of her stories. 

Siofra and Desemir’s needs conveniently intersect, seemingly fixing their unsolvable problems. 

If it all seems too good to be true, that’s because it is. 

Because everyone knows darkness can only be soothed, not contained.

The Melody and the Master is a marriage of convenience dark fantasy romance tale set in the Kingdom of the White Sea universe, with hints of Beauty and the Beast, Hades and Persephone, and Jane Eyre. It is the first story in the Darkwood Cycle of The Book of All Things.

Genre: Fantasy Romance

Sequel to: The Raven and the Rush

                 The Sylvan and the Sand

                  The Altruist and the Assassin

Publisher: self published

Daughter of Darkness (Child of Light #2) by Terry Brooks

It’s been two years since Auris escaped from the sinister Goblin prison and learned of her heritage as one of the Fae. She is now happily partnered with her Fae lover Harrow and deeply bonded with her new family. All seems to be going perfectly--until, somehow, the Goblin attacks begin again. Someone, it seems, has not forgotten that Auris exists and seems determined to retrieve her...but who? And why?

As Auris begins to dig deeper in the mystery, old friends and new enemies appear, and Auris begins to realize that her still-shrouded past must contain the answers she needs. But even she does not suspect how far down the rabbit hole she is about to go until Harrow is taken and an impossible ransom demand is issued. Then, with two new companions at her side, Auris must attempt to unlock the remaining secrets of her past. For if she cannot, she will never see Harrow alive again. 

Genre: Fantasy

Sequel to: Child of Light

Publisher: Del Rey

A Scatter of Light by Malinda Lo

Award-winning author Malinda Lo returns to the Bay Area with another masterful coming-of-queer-age story, this time set against the backdrop of the first major Supreme Court decisions legalizing gay marriage. And almost sixty years after the end of Last Night at the Telegraph Club, Lo's new novel also offers a glimpse into Lily and Kath's lives since 1955.

Aria Tang West was looking forward to a summer on Martha's Vineyard with her best friends--one last round of sand and sun before college. But after a graduation party goes wrong, Aria's parents exile her to California to stay with her grandmother, artist Joan West.Aria expects boredom, but what she finds is Steph Nichols, her grandmother's gardener. Soon, Aria is second-guessing who she is and what she wants to be, and a summer that once seemed lost becomes unforgettable--for Aria, her family, and the working-class queer community Steph introduces her to. It's the kind of summer that changes a life forever.

Genre: YA Historical Fiction / LGBTQ+

Publisher: Dutton Books for Young Readers

The First To Die At The End (Death - Cast #0) by Adam Silvera

In this prequel to #1 New York Times bestselling phenomenon They Both Die at the End, two new strangers spend a life-changing day together after Death-Cast first makes their fateful calls.

It’s the night before Death-Cast goes live, and there’s one question on everyone’s mind: Can Death-Cast actually predict when someone will die, or is it just an elaborate hoax? 

Orion Pagan has waited years for someone to tell him that he’s going to die. He has a serious heart condition, and he signed up for Death-Cast so he could know what’s coming. 

Valentino Prince is restarting his life in New York. He has a long and promising future ahead and he only registered for Death-Cast after his twin sister nearly died in a car accident. 

Orion and Valentino cross paths in Times Square and immediately feel a deep connection. But when the first round of End Day calls goes out, their lives are changed forever—one of them receives a call, and the other doesn’t. Though neither boy is certain how the day will end, they know they want to spend it together…even if that means their goodbye will be heartbreaking.

Told with acclaimed author Adam Silvera’s signature bittersweet touch, this story celebrates the lasting impact that people have on each other and proves that life is always worth living to the fullest.

Genre: YA Contemporary Romance / LGBTQ+

Prequel to: They Both Die At The End

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

The Empress of Time (The Keeper of Night #2) by Kylie Lee Baker

Half British Reaper, half Japanese Shinigami Ren Scarborough is no longer the girl who was chased out of England—she is the Goddess of Death ruling Japan’s underworld. But her problems have never been greater. Her Shinigami see her as a foreigner on the throne. Her brother, Neven, is gone, lost in the deep darkness. And her fiancé, Hiro, has been killed by her own hand. 

Then Ren receives the most troubling news yet—Reapers have been spotted in Japan, and it’s only a matter of time before Ivy, now Britain’s Death Goddess, comes to claim her revenge. 

Ren’s last hope is to appeal to the god of storms and seas, who can turn the tides to send Ivy’s ship away from Japan’s shores. But he’ll help Ren only if she finds a sword lost thousands of years ago—an impossible demand. 

Together with the moon god Tsukuyomi, who shares an uncanny resemblance to his brother Hiro, Ren ventures across the country in a race against time. As her journey thrusts her into the middle of scheming gods and dangerous Yokai demons, Ren will have to learn who she can truly trust—and the fate of Japan hangs in the balance. 

Genre: YA Fantasy

Sequel to: The keeper of Night

Publisher: Inkyard Press

These are some of the new releases of this week.

Are you excited about them?

Do you have other ones on your radar that I should know of?

See you in the next post and don't forget to keep reading!!!

Athina

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The Melody and the Master by Sarah M. Cradit - Release Book Tour

 

"Her song is death. His offer is life."

The Melody and the Master by Sarah M. Cradit is a fantasy romance book and it is the 4th book in The Book of All Things series. The Book of All Things is a series of standalone fantasy romance tales set in the vibrant, epic world first introduced by USA Today Bestselling Author Sarah M. Cradit in the Kingdom of the White Sea trilogy.

The book was released today October 3rd.

Add The Melody and the Master to your Goodreads TBR here

Purchase The Melody and the Master here

Release Date: October 4, 2022

Heat Level: 🔥🔥🔥.5/5

Violence: ⚔️⚔️⚔️/5

Tropes: marriage of convenience, dark magic, playboy/bad boy hero, emotional scars, atonement, redemption, found family. There are hints of Beauty and the Beast, Jane Eyre, and Hades & Persephone. It's also an age gap romance (FMC 18, MMC 26)

Content Warnings: Abduction/confinement, FMC was abused as a child, FMC has been used her whole life for her magic, deception, physical abuse/torture, self-loathing, death, murder. None of the abuse occurs between the MCs, but their romance is not traditional.

About the book: 

Disappear into this twisty tale of a ruthless heir and the sheltered, gifted orphan he chooses as both his wife and his greatest weapon against a growing list of enemies.

Siofra has lived her entire life in isolation, terrified her unrestrained dark magic will be the undoing of herself and others. She disappears inside books that promise a life she can never have.

Elsewhere in the kingdom, Desemir’s isolation is a matter of political expediency, as he holds court in the decadent estate that keeps a wall between himself and his enemies.

Desemir’s lack of heir ignites his rivals, but to marry within his peerage would invite the very coup he needs to avoid. Siofra cannot run from herself forever.

The unthinkable happens and Siofra is imprisoned, awaiting a predictable fate. Before the law can meet her punishment, she is rescued by Desemir and whisked away to his glamorous estate, like a princess in one of her stories.

Siofra and Desemir’s needs conveniently intersect, seemingly fixing their unsolvable problems.

If it all seems too good to be true, that’s because it is.

Because everyone knows darkness can only be soothed, not contained.

__

The Melody and the Master is a marriage of convenience dark fantasy romance tale set in the Kingdom of the White Sea universe, with hints of Beauty and the Beast, Hades and Persephone, and Jane Eyre. It is the first story in the Darkwood Cycle of The Book of All Things.

There is a giveaway running  and you can learn more about it and also enter on my Instagram post @booknotes_athina .

See you in the next post and don't forget to keep reading!!!

Athina

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The Accidental Kingslayer by Piper Knight - Release Day Tour

 

"Accidentally killing a faerie king on Halloween is the worst."

The Accidental Kingslayer by Piper Knight is a New Adult Paranormal Romance and the first book in The Vossen Sisters Saga. The book was released today.

Title of book: The Accidental Kingslayer

Series Name: The Vossen Sisters Saga

Book Number: 1 of 5

Author: Piper Knight

Genre: New Adult Paranormal Romance

Release Date: October 3rd, 2022

Content Warnings: 18+ Sexual content, violence (no gore; but fight & action sceneswith death of supernatural creatures)

About the book:

For years, Bell Vossen chalked that night up to a terrifying hallucination from tainted candy. But on her twenty-first birthday, a vengeful faerie tracks her down, and she's plunged into a dangerous world of witches, faeries, shifters, and vampires. Now, the consequences of spilling that golden blood are all too real.

Bell's one hope of survival is a fiery winged warrior named Brax. Sworn to guard mortals against the supernatural, this exasperating, alluring angel might give her a fighting chance to break the curse on her head. But acting on their forbidden attraction could cost Brax his heavenly powers... and leave Bell to face the wrath of an entire kingdom alone.

See you in the next post and don't forget to keep reading!!!

Athina

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