Six Scorched Roses: A Crowns of Nyaxia Novella

This book was beautifully written. I’ve read all three of the Crowns of Nyaxia books and I loved the background I was able to learn on Lilith and Vale. I do now wish they had a whole full length book on just them. Carissa’s writing is just amazing and keeps me hooked the whole time. This is a great starter to get your toes wet in fantasy reading.

I loved this story. It was so short and sweet and desperate. It was yearning and desire. This was a bite of everything you want. Enough to make your heart race and make you beg for more. Carissa, you've done it again.

Six Scorched Roses was a pretty firm meh from me. I love the larger Crowns of Nyaxia world, but I spent most of this novella wondering what it was adding to the series. Vale and Lilith eventually appear elsewhere in the series. So, we get some additional history surrounding the gods and vampires in this story, but none of it felt important enough to justify how bored I was getting. Lilith is dying alongside the people of her cursed village, so she strikes a bargain with the reclusive vampire Vale. Six roses earn her six vials of his blood, which she hopes to use to develop a cure and save her sister. Their arrangement slowly moves from reluctant allies, to friendship, and then romance while Lilith searches for answers about the plague. Lilith is desperate to save her sister and the few people still alive in her village, but desperation is practically her entire personality. Vale seems fascinated by her almost immediately. I never understood why. Their relationship follows a very familiar enemies-to-friends-to-lovers path without giving either character enough personality to make their romance memorable. I kept waiting for the chemistry, danger, or draw that Carissa Broadbent has created so well in her other books. It never arrived. The additional mythology surrounding the White Pantheon, Nyaxia, and Vale's history does connect back to the larger series. I would not consider this necessary reading based on what it contributed to my experience with the series. Amanda Leigh Cobb narrates the audiobook on her own and gives a perfectly solid performance. Nothing bothered me about the narration, but nothing particularly stood out either. I already know how much I enjoy Carissa Broadbent's writing from her other books which probably worked in this novella's favor. I am not sure I would have continued reading her books if Six Scorched Roses had been my introduction to her work.

this was so cute omg. i didn’t know what to expect and honestly that makes for the best stories most times. i found myself being encapsulated by the characters and could not put this novella down. ate it up and left no crumbs. wasn’t OBSESSED but heavily enjoyed it

I often times read only the primary works in a series but I am so glad I picked up this novella. My only complaint is that there aren't more pages in this book! Despite being a novella this book somehow manages to fit in all of the character and plot development of a full length novel. I loved books one and two in the Crowns of Nyaxia series but this little novella stole my heart.