The Nightborn Duet by Carissa Broadbent

For humans and vampires, the rules of survival are the same: never trust, never yield, and always – always – guard your heart.

The Serpent & The Wings of Night/The Ashes & The Star-Cursed King of the Crowns of Nyaxia series

The adopted human daughter of the Nightborn vampire king, Oraya carved her place in a world designed to kill her. Her only chance to become something more than prey is entering the Kejari: a legendary tournament held by the goddess of death herself.

But winning won’t be easy amongst the most vicious warriors from all three vampire houses. To survive, Oraya is forced to make an alliance with a mysterious rival.

Everything about Raihn is dangerous. He is a ruthless vampire, an efficient killer, an enemy to her father’s crown… and her greatest competition. Yet, what terrifies Oraya most of all is that she finds herself oddly drawn to him.

But there’s no room for compassion in the Kejari. War for the House of Night brews, shattering everything that Oraya thought she knew about her home. And Raihn may understand her more than anyone – but their blossoming attraction could be her downfall, in a kingdom where nothing is more deadly than love.

In the wake of the Kejari, everything Oraya once thought to be true has been destroyed. A prisoner in her own kingdom, grieving the only family she ever had, and reeling from a gutting betrayal, she no longer even knows the truth of her own blood. She’s left only with one certainty: she cannot trust anyone, least of all Raihn.

The House of Night, too, is surrounded by enemies. Raihn’s own nobles are none too eager to accept a Turned king, especially one who was once a slave. And the House of Blood digs their claws into the kingdom, threatening to tear it apart from the inside.

When Raihn offers Oraya a secret alliance, taking the deal is her only chance at reclaiming her kingdom–and gaining her vengeance against the lover who betrayed her. But to do so, she’ll need to harness a devastating ancient power, intertwined with her father’s greatest secrets.

But with enemies closing in on all sides, nothing is as it seems. As she unravels her past and faces her future, Oraya finds herself forced to choose between the bloody reality of seizing power – and the devastating love that could be her downfall.

Rating -

After sooo many people recommended this series to me, I finally took the plunge... and I enjoyed it!

Everyone and their mama knows that I'm picky about heroines and Oraya had plenty for me to pick apart. But for every moment she irked me, she made me so proud of her too. She was the human daughter of the vampire king and her whole life was lived in terror. Constantly looking over her shoulder, trusting no one, and always on the brink of having to defend herself. When she joins the Kejari, she goes in with one goal — win at all costs. It was the start of a horrifying adventure and a journey toward her true path. She annoyed me to no end, but I was excited to see her triumph.

Raihn was hard to like in the beginning but this male quickly grew on me. He did a lot of the unexpected and I didn't doubt for one minute how much he truly valued Oraya. I loved whenever they got the chance to fight together. It was them against the world... until it wasn't. Raihn did some things that were hard to forgive and boy did Oraya make him work for it.

When I got to the end I found myself wishing for more. Raihn and Oraya had fought for most of this story and I wanted to spend more time with them as a couple. I can only hope to see more of them in the books to come.

My personal notes on the book:
* am I the only one tired of the whole "the heroine is the most beautiful, strongest, powerful person on Earth and the hero worships at her feet" trope? What is wrong with them being on equal footing?
* the amount of times Oraya said she won the Kejari when she only won because Raihn gave her the win.
* will all of the side characters get a story? Oops, just checked and saw that The Songbird & the Heart of Stone is about Mische.

PER THE AUTHOR:

I’ve been freaking out teachers and parents with mercilessly grim tales since I was roughly nine years old. Since then, my stories have gotten (slightly) less depressing and (hopefully a lot?) more readable. Today, I write fantasy novels with a heaping dose of badass ladies and a big pinch of romance. My books include the Crowns of Nyaxia series, the War of Lost Hearts series, and hopefully many more to come!

I live with my husband, one very well behaved rabbit, one very poorly behaved rabbit, and one perpetually skeptical cat in the extremely underrated state of Rhode Island.

You can find me around the internet on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

Visit carissabroadbentbooks.com for more information.