Aeternum by Jamie Applegate Hunter

MAJOR SPOILERS below if you have not read book one (The Umbra King).

This is NOT a standalone. It is the second and final book in the Vincula Realm duology and must be read after The Umbra King. The Vincula Realm duology is a series within the Realms of the Aether multiverse.

The Phantom Noctis by Dahlia Jade

“What’s the price of a life worth living? To be honest, I wouldn’t know. I chose to settle most of my debts in blood.”

What happens when a cryptic letter from the Vampires she’d avoided for years lands on her doorstep, requesting her “elimination” services?

Lyssara Rowen spent most of her life bound to a tyrannical government, used as a pawn in their cruel games. After narrowly escaping their clutches, she spent years rebuilding her life in the refugee city of Amata. By day, she’s the beloved local bakery owner. By night, she moonlights as a vigilante assassin, poisoning the enemies of her high-paying clients.

Her steady, quiet life is thrown into chaos when she receives a cryptic letter from the Drevarian Vampire Prince. Her rocky history with the Vampires is yet another secret she’d worked hard to bury. Terrified by the consequence of ignoring the summons, Lyssara embarks on a journey to settle the score with the ghosts of her past.

The Phantom Noctis is an immersive dark fantasy romance following two unlikely partners and their battle against an oppressive government. Their quest takes them on a harrowing adventure through complicated politics and overcoming trauma, all while navigating the steamy tension growing between them. Their journey is dark, romantic, and full of suspense and feminine rage.

The Beast Compendium of Stretland by Chelsea Starling

Seren Cottingley comes from a family of great wealth in the capital, but her love for entomology and magic alienates her from society. She must cut away parts of herself to fit in. To stop their daughter from being ostracised, the Cottingleys arrange for her to be married off to a duke. With two dead wives already, Seren’s betrothal may as well be a noose.

With the fear of her scientific research being taken from her, as well as her life, Seren flees to the south. She enlists a grumpy mercenary to escort her through the infamous Waldeck Forest while she compiles a beast compendium before marriage locks her into a cage. Leander, who struggles with his foreign heritage, indulges all of her interests and teaches her how to survive in the forest that seems to have claws and teeth. Despite familial expectations laying heavy on her shoulders, Leander offers Seren a reason to never return to the capital.

This cozy, low-stakes book is perfect for romantasy lovers.

Tenderly I Am Devoured by Lyndall Clipstone

Perfect for fans of Saltburn, For the Wolf, and House of Hollow, Tenderly, I Am Devoured is a moody, monstrously Gothic romantasy in which a young woman must bind herself to a dangerous chthonic demon with the help of the son of a rival family to save her family’s legacy―and herself―from ruin.

Expelled from her prestigious boarding school following a violent incident, eighteen-year-old Lacrimosa Arriscane returns home in disgrace to discover her family on the point of financial ruin. Desperate to save them, she accepts a marriage of convenience… to Therion, the chthonic god worshipped by Lark’s isolated coastal hometown.

But when her betrothal goes horribly wrong, Lark begins to vanish from the mortal realm. Her only hope is to seek help from Alastair Felimath: the brilliant, arrogant boy who was her first heartbreak, and his alluring older sister, Camille. As the trio delve into the folklore of gods, Lark falls under the spell of the Felimath siblings.

Ensnared by a fervent romance, they perform a bacchanalia with hopes the hedonistic ritual will repair the connection between Lark and her bridegroom. Instead, they draw the ire of something much darker, which seeks to destroy Therion―and Lark as well.

The Umbra King by Jamie Applegate Hunter

The Umbra King by Jamie Applegate Hunter - Audiobook Review

The morally grey don’t want redemption. They want retribution.

After the brutal murder of her twin sister, Aurora ‘Rory’ Raven spends years forging herself into a ruthless vigilante killer.

She never gave up her search for the man who killed her sister, but when she is convicted of thirteen murders and sentenced to five-hundred years in Vincula, the prison realm, she knows her sister’s death will never be avenged.

After arriving in Vincula, Aurora discovers her opportunity for retribution is closer than she thought.

Caius is the notorious Umbra King, ruler of Vincula, King of the Monsters, and the thing nightmares are made of. After being locked in his own realm for a crime he didn’t commit, his only focus has been revenge.

When Aurora drops into his throne room, representing everything he despises, they begin a game of cat and mouse, and before long, their hatred turns into something else.

Circumstances draw them together, but revenge might tear them apart.

The Umbra King is book one in the Vincula Realm Duology, which is set in the Realms of the Aether multiverse. It ends on a cliffhanger.

Contains mature content.