Book 1
The Serpent and the Wings of Night
Average Goodreads rating4.5
Author · Canadian
Carissa Broadbent is a fantasy romance author known for dark, emotionally driven stories featuring deadly trials, slow-burn romance, and morally complex heroines.
New to Carissa Broadbent? A popular place to start
Book 1 of Crowns of Nyaxia
The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent is a dark romantasy of deadly trials, vampiric courts, and slow-burn love where survival demands sacrifice.
Picked from Carissa Broadbent’s most widely rated books on Goodreads, starting at the beginning of its series.
Retailer links may earn Trope Trove a commission, at no extra cost to you.
5 books in reading order
Book 1
Average Goodreads rating4.5
Book 2
Average Goodreads rating4.3
Book 3
Average Goodreads rating4.3
Book 4
Average Goodreads rating4.2
Book 5
Carissa Broadbent is a bestselling fantasy romance author celebrated for crafting emotionally intense, character-driven stories that blend dark fantasy stakes with powerful romantic arcs. Her work has become a staple of modern romantasy, appealing to readers who crave high tension, dangerous worlds, and love stories forged under extreme pressure.
Broadbent is best known for the Crowns of Nyaxia series, beginning with The Serpent and the Wings of Night. These novels combine brutal magical trials, vampiric lore, and intricate political power struggles with slow-burn romance and deep emotional payoff. Her worlds are unforgiving, shaped by violence, hierarchy, and ancient rules that demand sacrifice from those who seek power or freedom.
A defining feature of Broadbent’s writing is her focus on resilience and survival. Her protagonists are often outsiders - underestimated, constrained, or deliberately broken by the systems around them. Strength in her stories is earned through endurance, cleverness, and emotional growth rather than destiny alone. Victory always comes at a cost, and survival rarely leaves characters unchanged.
Romance plays a central role in Broadbent’s narratives, but it is never simple or safe. She frequently employs beloved romantasy tropes such as enemies to lovers, slow burn romance, and power imbalance, allowing attraction to develop amid mistrust, rivalry, and danger. Love becomes both a vulnerability and a weapon - something that can save or destroy depending on the choices made.
Broadbent’s work consistently explores moral ambiguity. Characters are forced into impossible decisions where there is no purely right answer. Authority figures are rarely benevolent, and systems of power are built on cruelty, tradition, and fear. This thematic depth elevates her stories beyond surface-level romance, grounding them in ethical tension and consequence.
Her prose style balances vivid action with emotional introspection. Fast-paced scenes of combat, trials, and political intrigue are interwoven with moments of vulnerability, grief, and longing. This approach keeps stakes high while ensuring that character relationships remain the emotional core of the narrative.
Another recurring theme in Broadbent’s work is choice versus destiny. While prophecy and divine forces may loom in the background, her characters are defined by the decisions they make under pressure. Survival often demands compromise, but identity is shaped by what they refuse to surrender.
Carissa Broadbent’s novels are ideal for readers who enjoy Fantasy and Romance that embrace darkness without losing emotional resonance. Addictive, intense, and deeply character-focused, her stories deliver a potent mix of danger and devotion - where love is earned through blood, loyalty, and the courage to endure.
Penn Cole
The Kindred's Curse Saga, book 1
Average Goodreads rating4.4
Penn Cole
The Kindred's Curse Saga, book 2
Average Goodreads rating4.5
Penn Cole
The Kindred's Curse Saga, book 3
Average Goodreads rating4.5
Alex Aster
Lightlark, book 1
Average Goodreads rating4.0
Alex Aster
Lightlark, book 2
Average Goodreads rating4.1
Alex Aster
Lightlark, book 3
Average Goodreads rating3.7
You finished ACOTAR and now nothing else feels like enough. Here are the books most likely to pull you back under - fae courts, forbidden romance, morally grey love interests, and worlds you won't want to leave.
Because the slow burn is the point, and you know it. The best enemies-to-lovers books - from faerie courts to war colleges, workplaces to regency ballrooms.
Finished Fourth Wing and can't move on? Discover 10 romantasy books with the same dragons, enemies-to-lovers tension, and high-stakes magic that made Yarros's series unmissable.
If Lauren Roberts' Powerless left you desperate for more slow-burn romance, deadly trials, and magic-fuelled tension, these eight books belong on your shelf immediately.
Occasional emails with new recommendations, series news and trope round-ups.