If you loved
Books like The Serpent & the Wings of Night
You want a human heroine in a world that wants to eat her, a deadly game and a vampire she can't afford to trust. These eight get closest: tournaments run by gods, war academies and kings with fangs. A few are lighter on darkness and some spicier; the spice and warnings are listed for each.
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1. The Games Gods Play
Abigail Owen · 2024
SteamyAdultLyra files paperwork for the Order of Thieves and has been cursed since before birth, by Zeus, so that no one can love her. Then Hades names her his champion in the Crucible, the deadly contest for the throne of Olympus, and offers a deal: win, and he breaks the curse. Gods playing dirty, steamy, and a cliffhanger.
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2. Quicksilver
Callie Hart · 2024
ExplicitAdultSaeris steals the wrong thing and gets dragged into a fae court that wants her dead or useful. What follows is enemies to lovers with real bite, a love interest who insults her more than he explains anything, and a slow burn that pays off. High spice, lots of snark, a cliffhanger you'll forgive.
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3. Trial of the Sun Queen
Nisha J. Tuli · 2022
SteamyAdultLor has spent twelve years in Nostraza prison when she's pulled out to be the last Tribute in the Sun King's trials for a queen, the only mortal among fae rivals who want her gone. She has secrets of her own, and the golden king isn't what he seems. Deadly trials, steamy, and a cliffhanger.
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4. King of Battle and Blood
Scarlett St. Clair · 2021
ExplicitAdultTo end a war, Princess Isolde is married to Adrian, the vampire king who conquered her people, and she plans to kill him. He knows, and he's patient. Dark, sensual and full of court danger, high spice, and it ends on a cliffhanger.
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5. Blood of Hercules
Jasmine Mas · 2024
ExplicitAdultAlexis is a scarred, stammering foster kid until a blood test says she's one of the immortal elite, and she's shipped off to a war academy that will either make her a god or kill her. Snarky narrator, terrifying mentors, Greek myth turned war academy. High spice and a cliffhanger.
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6. Kingdom of the Wicked
Kerri Maniscalco · 2020
MildNew adultWhen her twin is murdered, Emilia summons a demon to find the killer and gets Wrath, one of the princes of Hell. Sicily, witchcraft, a bargain neither of them trusts, and a slow burn that takes its time. Low spice, very atmospheric, cliffhanger.
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7. Daughter of No Worlds
Carissa Broadbent · 2020
SteamyAdultTisaanah was sold into slavery at thirteen, and the night she pays for her freedom, her master tries to whip her to death, so she kills him and runs to Ara. To join the Orders and go back for the friend she left behind, she has to apprentice with Max, a reclusive fire wielder with a terrible past. Slow burn, dark history, one steamy scene, cliffhanger.
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8. Bride
Ali Hazelwood · 2024
ExplicitAdultMisery, a Vampyre who grew up as a hostage among humans, is handed over to marry Lowe, the Alpha of the Weres, to hold a fragile peace together. She has her own reason for saying yes: her best friend has vanished, and she thinks the Weres know something. Funny, high spice, happy ending.