Publisher: Forever Publishing, July 8 2025

Format: ebook

Pages: 464

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Summary (From Goodreads):

The war is over, the dark forces have won, and the hero who was supposed to save them is dead.

Captured as her castle is overrun by the enemy, Briony Rosewood knows that the world as she knows it is changed forever. The dark forces of Bomard have won and her people, the Eversuns, face imminent servitude, imprisonment or death. Her brother, fated to be heir twice over and unite the warring kingdoms, is dead.

Stripped of her Mind Magic and her freedom, Briony and the other survivors are quickly auctioned off to the highest bidders in an auction – and as the heir-apparent’s sister, she fetches the highest price.

After a fierce bidding war, she’s sold to none other than Toven a high ranking Bomardsun – and her long-time and ill-fated infatuation. Scion of a family known for their cruel control of Heart Magic, the Hearsts are ruthlessly ambitious, and Briony knows they will use her however they can to further their own interests.

Yet despite the horrors of her new world and the role she must learn to play within it, all is not lost. Help – and hope – may yet arise in the most unlikely of places…

My Review:

Thank you Forever Publishing for the copy of this book.
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Read if you like: dark fantasy romance, forbidden romance
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When Briony’s brother is killed on the battlefield, Briony is captured and auctioned off and she must figure out a way to survive. Briony is sold off to Toven, a boy she used to have a crush on at school, and she struggles to balance her feelings with him with the fact that he is the enemy.
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I am so intrigued by this story and I want to continue on with it to see what happens with Toven and Briony. Be warned that this romance is very dark with lots of content warning, so be aware of them before going into this book, but I am excited to see where this goes. My only thing is I wanted to see a little more development in the romance department before the abrupt ending, but I can tell that the author wants to leave us off with a slow burn and develop the romance more in the next book!