Six Scorched Roses by Carissa Broadbent (Review)

Title: Six Scorched Roses
Author: Carissa Broadbent
Type: Fiction
Genre: Adult, Fantasy, Romance
Publisher: Bramble
Date published: September 17, 2024

A complimentary physical copy of this book was kindly provided by Bramble in exchange for an honest review.

Six roses. Six vials of blood. Six visits to a vampire who could be her salvation… or her damnation.

Lilith has been dying since the day she was born. But while she long ago came to terms with her own imminent death, the deaths of everyone she loves is an entirely different matter. As her town slowly withers in the clutches of a mysterious god-cursed illness, she takes matters into her own hands.

Desperate to find a cure, Lilith strikes a bargain with the only thing the gods hate even more than her village: a vampire, Vale. She offers him six roses in exchange for six vials of vampire blood–the one hope for her town’s salvation.

But when what begins as a simple transaction gradually becomes something more, Lilith is faced with a terrifying realization: It’s dangerous to wander into the clutches of a vampire… and in a place already suffering a god’s wrath, more dangerous still to fall in love with one.

⤖ My Review ⬻

I really enjoyed the novella Six Scorched Roses by Carissa Broadbent! Probably more so than the first actual novel in the Crowns of Nyaxia series, The Serpent and the Wings of Night. The novella felt more grounded and mature to me, with characters I found easier to connect with. Perhaps I just enjoyed the characters more? They definitely read more adult to me than young adult, which was not the case for me with The Serpent and the Wings of Night.

The plot itself also read more adult, with stakes and themes that felt weightier and more deliberate. That being said, I don’t think I would have enjoyed Six Scorched Roses as much if it weren’t for the backdrop created by the first novel in the series—if I didn’t already have a grasp of the world and cultures there. All in all, I had a good time reading Six Scorched Roses, and while I didn’t want to say goodbye to the characters so quickly, I think that novella length of this work was just right for the story being told.