This is the first in a stand-alone series and includes the following tropes: touch her and die, friends to lovers, lost memories, animal companion, chosen mates, only one ‘horse’, and dual POV.
Life never fears Death.
Time was not something Alora remembered. Not before the age of twenty, anyway. For three years she’s been paraded before wealthy lords and viscounts while stealing precious moments with another lady in the beautifully kept gardens when no man was looking.
Fate, however, needs her to remember.
When deafening screams rip apart her secret relationship, Alora gives no second thoughts to following the only other person who can hear them, and finds herself pulled into a war between kin. All while losing her heart to the only one who has ever truly kept it safe.
He doesn’t answer to Death, Death answers to him.
Ascian spent three years building his walls tall and immovable, hiding any softness beneath layers of grit and stone. Now, he no longer remembers what it feels like to open up to someone. To hand his heart over without protection.
For three years he fought eternal life itself, defending death and everything that came with it in an attempt to keep balance in his world.
Until one day, a girl falls through a crack between worlds. A crack that should never have existed, and sets off an avalanche of events that might just end up knocking down his immovable guards.
But can he keep the world around him intact while losing his heart to the only one who can destroy it?
Trigger Warnings
Depictions of self-harm, graphic scenes of violence, and gore. Suspected off page SA, mentions of SA, consensual sex scenes, mentions of family death (parents and siblings), sibling death, family trauma, depictions of depression.
18+ Only
Published: December 27, 2024
ISBN: 9780473728663
Language: English
Format: E-Pub
About the Author
Zoey J. Briar is a fantasy romance author from Aotearoa. Her debut When Death Called Life Home, the first in her When Deities Awaken series, released in December 2024. She crafts heart wrenching stories filled with found family, animal companions, and healing journeys.
When she's not writing, you can find her surrounded by her own animal companions, watching her favourite tv shows, reading indie books, or playing cozy games.
