I spent twenty years battling to earn my freedom. Then I met five fae males who could never be free.

Trust no one. Keep your blades sharp. Never let them see you bleed. Rules that got me through two decades of slavery in the fighting pits. Until House Ravilon bought my contract and gave me five reasons to break them.

Axlan, whose practiced charm slips past my defenses. Silas, whose watchful silence keeps me on edge. Reyker, whose training sessions are designed to torment me. Lysander, whose penchant for chaos has me questioning my sanity. And Finley, the house heir who commands everyone...except for me.

Now we're sneaking off to ancient temples and hunting artifacts. Objects powerful enough to kill the tyrant who took everything from me. When we step into the arena, the hungry crowd knows nothing of the treason we're plotting, and when the emperor looks down at me, he sees nothing more than a slave.

But when I look up at him? All I see is his downfall.

The Fallen Laurel is the first book in The Thirteenth House, an epic slow-burn romantasy where the heroine is never forced to choose between her love interests. Throughout the series, expect a brutal fantasy world inspired by Ancient Rome, artifact hunting, Greek-inspired mythology, gladiatorial combat, political intrigue, and relationships forged through danger, trust, and shared survival.

Perfect for readers who love:

Slow-burn romance

Why choose

Artifact hunting

Gladiators

Greek-inspired mythology

Found family

Morally gray heroes

Touch her and die

CONTENT WARNING

The Fallen Laurel is intended for mature readers and contains dark themes that may be difficult for some readers. Content includes slavery and forced servitude; graphic violence, blood, gore, and death; torture, corporal punishment, and forced mutilation; child endangerment and violence involving a child in a fighting arena; strangulation and forced submersion; trauma, grief, and loss; prejudice and discrimination; sexual exploitation and coercion within systems of slavery; sexual harassment and threats; violence involving mythical creatures; and heat-induced involuntary sexual arousal, including instances of dubious content during a heat cycle.

This book also contains explicit sexual content, including M/F, M/M, and multiple-partner sexual situations, as well as elements of dominance and restraint.

For a detailed, fully itemized content warning list, please check below.

The following list is intended to help readers make informed choices and may contain minor thematic spoilers.

• Slavery and forced servitude

• Buying, selling, and ownership of enslaved people

• Imprisonment, confinement, locked quarters, cells, and physical restraint

• Gladiatorial combat and death matches

• Graphic fantasy violence

• Blood and gore

• Graphic injuries and wound descriptions

• Murder and on-page death

• Public executions and displayed bodies

• Torture and punishment-based violence of side characters

• Corporal punishment, including flogging and whipping

• Strangulation and choking

• Forced submersion in water

• Forced mutilation, including ear clipping and removal of a tongue

• Starvation and dehydration of prisoners

• Child endangerment

• A child forced to participate in lethal combat

• Violence against and attempted strangulation of a child during combat

• A child killing adults in self-defense/combat

• References to children being enslaved, abandoned, sold, or taken from the streets

• Separation from a child and uncertainty regarding the child's survival

• Death of family members and loved ones mentioned

• Grief and traumatic loss

• War, conquest, and references to mass death

• Traumatic memories and nightmares

• Trauma responses and panic

• Fantasy race-based prejudice and discrimination

• Dehumanization of enslaved and conquered peoples

• Sexism and misogyny

• Sexual harassment and sexually threatening language

• Threats or implications of sexual violence

• Sexual exploitation of enslaved people

• Sexual coercion within systems of slavery

• Enslaved sexual entertainers

• Groping and unwanted sexualized touching within scenes of exploitation

• Public sexual activity

• Nudity

• Explicit sexual content

• M/F sexual content

• M/M sexual content

• Multiple-partner sexual situations

• Oral sex

• Anal sex

• Masturbation

• Voyeurism

• Spanking

• Dominance and submission themes

• Physical restraint during sexual situations

• Consensual biting and marking

• Dubious content during heat-cycle with biological mating themes

• Involuntary, heat-induced sexual arousal and intense sexual need

• Attacks by mythical creatures

• Graphic violence involving mythical creatures

• Death of mythical creatures

• Captivity and forced violence involving a mythical creature

• Alcohol use and intoxication

• Vomiting

Please read with care.