In the wake of the brutal Kejari, the fragile stability of the Kingdom of Night has collapsed, leaving Oraya caught between the ghost of her adoptive father and the man who shattered her trust. No longer the protected daughter of a king, she finds herself a captive in the very palace that was once her fortress. The victory she sought has turned into a prison of political intrigue, where survival depends not just on physical prowess, but on the ability to navigate a court that views her as both a symbolic threat and a convenient political tool.
The shifting landscape of power demands a reluctant alliance. As the rival House of Blood prepares to seize the throne from within, Oraya is forced to weigh her desire for vengeance against the necessity of cooperation with Raihn. Their relationship, built on the bloody foundations of the tournament, is now tested by the cold reality of ruling a fractured nation. This narrative exploration focuses on the heavy cost of ambition and the difficulty of mourning a lost past while desperately trying to secure a future in a world where every smile hides a blade.
The world-building in this installment expands beyond the arena of the Kejari to showcase the broader geopolitical tensions of Nyaxia. The atmosphere is thick with the scent of old blood and the weight of ancestral magic. The Kingdom of Night is no longer a monolith; it is a crumbling empire surrounded by the House of Blood, whose members utilize different, more visceral forms of power. The rules of the world are dictated by "The Turn," a period of transition where power is at its most vulnerable, and the ancient laws of vampire lineages create a rigid social hierarchy that Oraya, as a human-born survivor, must navigate with extreme caution.
The central character arc follows Oraya’s transition from a warrior seeking external validation to a woman forced to find internal resolve. Her development is defined by a complex grieving process—not only for her father but for the version of herself that existed before the tournament. The dynamic between Oraya and Raihn is not a simple romance; it is a tense, high-stakes negotiation where every moment of vulnerability is tempered by the knowledge that their goals may be fundamentally incompatible. The narrative focuses on whether trust can be rebuilt when it has been used as a weapon.
Carissa Broadbent utilizes common genre tropes such as "forced proximity" and "enemies-to-lovers," but anchors them in psychological realism rather than convenient plot devices. The "enemies" aspect of their relationship is rooted in genuine political conflict and a loss of personal autonomy, making their interactions feel earned and heavy with consequence. By placing a human at the center of a vampire civil war, the book subverts the typical "chosen one" narrative, instead highlighting a protagonist who must use her perceived weaknesses to manipulate a system designed to exclude her.
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15 books in catalog
Bloodshed, political maneuvering, and the brutal cost of survival define the landscapes of modern romantic fantasy, where high-stakes conflicts extend far beyond matters of the heart. Fantasy author Carissa Broadbent has built a wide readership in this competitive genre by subjecting her protagonists to the grim realities of power, legacy, and systemic violence. She is widely recognized for The Serpent and the Wings of Night, an epic vampire tournament novel that launched her best-selling Crowns of Nyaxia universe.
Her expansive catalog blends high-tension epic fantasy plots with intense romantic arcs, establishing her as a prominent voice in contemporary speculative fiction across both independent and traditional publishing spaces.
Based in Rhode Island, where she lives with her husband, her son, a perpetually skeptical cat, and a badly behaved rabbit, Carissa Broadbent began writing dark, mercilessly grim stories around the age of nine. This early preoccupation with dark fiction eventually matured into a disciplined approach to epic fantasy world-building. Before transitioning into writing as a full-time profession, she worked in the healthcare industry. That professional background provided her with a nuanced understanding of human vulnerability, physical trauma, and psychological resilience—elements that deeply inform her character development and thematic depth.
Broadbent initially published her work independently, entering the literary landscape with self-published releases such as her 2017 novel A Palace Fractured. She steadily cultivated a dedicated fanbase in the indie fantasy community as her self-publishing earnings grew from covering routine utility bills to generating consistent four-figure paychecks. Her breakthrough reached a broader digital audience through platforms like BookTok, where readers praised her intricate world-building, high-stakes political intrigue, and morally complex characters. This grassroots momentum culminated in major commercial success and substantial reader demand.
Her rapid commercial ascent caught the attention of legacy publishers, leading to major deals with traditional houses including Tor Publishing Group and Pan Macmillan. In July 2023, Bramble, a romance-focused imprint of Tor, acquired her body of work to publish original installments in the Crowns of Nyaxia series alongside new traditional editions of her backlist titles. Now a #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Broadbent's transition from self-publishing to traditional publishing is frequently highlighted in industry publications such as Publishers Weekly as a prime example of independent success driving major publishing partnerships.
Broadbent’s writing style is distinguished by its refusal to sanitize the harsh realities of war, oppression, and physical trauma. Influenced by the lyrical prose and nuanced exploration of femininity found in the works of Madeline Miller, her narratives focus on the psychological toll of conflict and the structural pressures placed upon women in patriarchal or authoritarian societies. Rather than relying on simple tropes, her work emphasizes complex emotional realism, where characters must grapple with moral compromises, trauma, and the heavy burden of survival in hostile environments.
Thematically, her stories delve into the psychological motivations behind both human and non-human behavior, examining why individuals seek authority and how legacy dictates personal agency. A recurring concept throughout her work is that love can be a dangerous vulnerability in worlds designed for cruelty and state-sanctioned violence. While her novels incorporate a substantial romantic thread, critics and readers frequently observe that her epic fantasy plots—complete with intricate magic systems and grim geopolitical maneuvering—are robust enough to carry the narrative independently of the romantic relationships.
Her character design consistently features resilient, complex female leads forced to navigate oppressive power structures. These protagonists are rarely unblemished heroes; instead, they are pragmatic survivors who use strategy, combat skills, and political cunning to protect their communities and claim their personal autonomy. By pairing intricate magical mechanics with intense character dynamics, Broadbent creates stories where emotional stakes and mortal danger remain inextricably linked.
Crowns of Nyaxia
