Six Scorched Roses (Crowns of Nyaxia #1.5) by Carissa Broadbent – A slow burn gothic romantasy

Six Scorched Roses is a beautifully written slow-burn, gothic romantasy packed with vivid prose, immersive world-building, and characters who will stay with you long after the last page.

Other Books In the Crowns of Nyaxia Series –

The Serpent and the Wings of Night (Book 1)

The Ashes & the Star-Cursed King (Book 2)

Synopsis

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.

Review

Six Scorched Roses is a beautifully written novella set in the Crowns of Nyaxia universe. This is the story of Vale, the formidable vampire from the Rishaan clan, and Lilith, a determined scholar with a mind sharper than any blade. With strong “Beauty and the Beast” undertones and lush, gothic vibes, it reads like a fairytale steeped in blood, grief, and quiet hope.

As I have read The Ashes and The Star Cursed King, that takes place after this book, I knew Vale returns to Obitrea with his newly turned wife, Lilith, Raihn expresses doubts about Vale’s love for her, questioning how a once-cruel noble of the House of Night could grow to be so gentle. Raihn’s skepticism made me curious: what did change Vale? This novella answers that question—and does so with elegance and emotional depth.

The story is set not in the vampire-dominated Obitrae but in human side of world, a struggling farming town called Adcova. The town worships Vitarus, one of the gods of the White Pantheon—a deity of growth, abundance, and decay. But Vitarus has seemingly turned away from his people. Their once-fertile lands have withered. Crops rot in the soil. A wasting illness, believed to be a curse, is slowly killing the townsfolk. It began with Lilith’s father, a man who—out of rage at the failing harvest—supposedly cursed Vitarus, prompting the god to retaliate with plague.

Now, Lilith’s sister is dying from that same illness. Desperate and running out of time, Lilith—who’s tried every potion and remedy within her grasp—makes a daring, borderline suicidal choice. She knocks on the door of Vale, the vampire who has lived in the shadows outside the town for the last 200 years, feared and left undisturbed. Her proposal is simple: in exchange for small vials of his blood, which she hopes to use in her experiments, she will give him one of the six roses that still bloom miraculously in her dying garden. Thus begins her monthly visits—six in total—and the title Six Scorched Roses comes to life.

The writing is gorgeous—fluid, atmospheric, and emotionally charged. Carissa Broadbent has an incredible ability to weave mood into every line, and while this novella has fewer action-packed moments than the full-length books, it’s rich with tension, chemistry, and heart. The focus is deeply intimate. It’s less about battles and bloodshed (though there is blood, thanks to lots of venipuncture) and more about the slow-burning romance between two people, running from their reality.

Lilith is a standout character. Born under a shadow of death, it was said she wouldn’t live long. But here she is at 30, still alive—though her time, she believes, is borrowed. That sense of infallibility fuels her fearlessness. She’s stubborn, brilliant, and unwilling to accept the limits placed on her by society, and looming death. Her passion for knowledge and her relentless pursuit of a cure make her reckless at times, but never foolish. It’s heartbreaking to see how alienated she feels in her own town, how her intelligence isolates her. But through her meetings with Vale, she begins to feel seen—for the first time. Understood. Wanted for who she is.

Vale is equally compelling. If you’ve read the main series, you know he’s not the monster the world makes him out to be. Still, this story adds so many nuanced layers to his character. He’s not just powerful—he’s curious, kind, deeply introspective. He respects Lilith’s mind as much as her courage, and he never once exploits her desperation. Their relationship builds slowly, gently. It’s tender, filled with longing and mutual fascination, so them falling in love feels real and earned.

The climax, while somewhat expected, is really interesting. I knew one of the zealot from the town is going to find out what Lilith is doing. They are not going to accept a medicine or cure made from child of Nyaxia- a heretic goddess who spilt from White Pantheon and created her own civilization and White Pantheon or anyone worshiping the gods of White Pantheon despised her and children. You can feel the tension of Lilith’s forbidden work exposed and what zealots will do. It was amazing how the consequences of it finally brought down the God who turned his back to his people.

What Vitarus revealed about the curse made sense a lot about Lilith’s life span and the roses. Her deal with Vitarus was bittersweet layered with sacrifice and strength. And then there’s Vale’s rescue. There was no grand, over-the-top battle. SO the rescue felt touching and right. The ending is quietly triumphant, and seeing Lilith finally choose to live, not just survive, is incredibly moving.

Six Scorched Roses may only be 200 pages, but it delivers the emotional impact of a full-length novel. It’s a slow-burn, gothic romantasy packed with vivid prose, immersive world-building, and characters who will stay with you long after the last page. A must-read for fans of the Crowns of Nyaxia series.

What to expect :

Beauty and the Beast vibe
Morally gray vampire
Slow-burn romance
Plague-ridden farming town
Experiments on vampire blood
Rich expansion of the Crowns of Nyaxia universe
Themes of loneliness, belongingness, and hope
Bittersweet twists with a satisfying ending

Book Links

Goodreads | Amazon.in | Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Have you read this or any book this series/by the author?
What’s is your favorite book with beauty and beast vibe?

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