Hello my Midnight Romantics,
I write to you tonight, on this sweltering spring eve, with a few delicious updates, as well as some goodies for your reading pleasure.
First, a few updates…
Due to some story revisions, I’ve broken book one (Bloodborn) into two books, which bumps the Darkborn Saga up to a series with five installments:
Runemarked - Prequel, written, Releases in Kindle Unlimited May 2026
Bloodborn - book one, written, Releases in KU July 2026
Soulbound - book two, written, Releases TBD
Fatesworn - book three, drafting, Releases TBD
Emberwake - book four, TBD
I’ve just sent Runemarked to the editor and finished my re-read of Soulbound. Starting tomorrow, I dive into Fatesworn.
As you can probably tell, I’ve been writing and revising my buns off since the New Year, and this momentum is addicting. Or maybe it’s just these characters and this story. I’m utterly in love.
When I’m not writing, I’ve been designing all the fun things with a different part of my creative brain. Goodies like series covers for Amazon, as well as an array of maps for the books as the story progresses and the world continues to build. Here’s an early draft of my Rothgard world map…
Created in Inkarnate, a map making and world-building design program.
If you haven’t claimed your free Sylas story yet (he’s the leader of the Darkborn, aka The Wolf of the North) you can download it free here from my bookshop:
https://scarletstjames.com/products/darkborn-origins-a-prequel-ebook
And now…
A little snippet from Bloodborn, book one:
“Learn,” Hel whispers to her creations, though they cannot hear. “Or we are all doomed.”
This line, spoken by the goddess of death as she watches her newly-made champions wreak havoc, perfectly encapsulates the stakes of the story. It’s not just their souls on the line, but the fate of the entire realm, and it establishes a tone of desperate, high-stakes hope.
Find more dark and dangerous reads here in the Darkling Collective - be sure to check it out!
Snag more free reads in the Darkling Collective: https://books.bookfunnel.com/darklingcollective/5a0kmks03n
You can read all four Darkborn beginnings stories in my After Dark Reader Lounge. Join us if you dare.
Hello my Midnight Romantics!
I know Rockhavn is not a character per se, but as much settings do, it plays a huge role in the Darkborn world. This is where they wake after they are turned. These are the people they are sworn to protect AND where they have to learn about themselves... and their hunger.
It makes for an interesting dynamic as the Darkborn struggle to understand what they have become, and as the saga moves through three books, it's the backbone of the story - where relationships are developed and a person's character is tested. It's the warm hearth and heart of the Darkborn's world, and even when they are pull to different parts of the realm this is where they already return. The village is a patchwork of scars and war and famine and love and resilience as much as the characters who live there.
I can't wait for you to visit!
xo, Scarlet
Hello my Midnight Romantics!
I did a thing last month... I went back to the beginning.
Let me back up.
I knew the Darkborn Saga would be a four book series. But loosely outlining the plot-points for each book only carries the writing progress so far when I sit down to get the story out of my head.
Bloodborn came relatively easily, and book two, Soulbound, even more so. But as I started writing book 3, I realized how much my characters had changed and devloped over two completed books, and I needed to go back to the beginning to introduce them to the reader better. I needed my foundation for the series to be as solid as my understanding of the world and characters writing book three.
That's why I went back to the beginning of Bloodborn and fleshed things out. In doing that, I've grown to love my characters all over again, adding little nuances Easter eggs that will come back later in the story and give readers all the feels.
One character that I LOVE in the Darkborn world is Brunhild. She is a human hearth mother who is introduced in the first chapter of Bloodborn. And she comes in sharp as a whip and doesn't put up with freshly-turned Darkborn bullsh*t. In short, she's kind of my hero.
And so, I give you Brunhild of Rockhavn, hearth mother to a village of survivors and refugees... and begrudging keeper of the Darkborn.
She's blunt and ornery and the perfect foil to a bunch of angry vampire-like warriors who brood, have tempers, and wreck havoc (even when they try not to).
I can't wait for you to meet her in book one, Bloodborn, which releases in June (paid members will receive a copy early).
More character intros to come!
xo, Scarlet
Good evening my Midnight Romantics!
Here is the official After-Dark reader lounge reveal of the Bloodborn book cover in all its glory! If you've read any of the Origin stories, you get the symbolism. :)
All four of the prequel origin stories are now available exclusively in my bookshop! And Sylas is free!
Four warriors died in flames.
The Darkborn rose from the ashes.
Sylas. Thorne. Arless. Lucian.
Once mortal champions of Nordlund, they were resurrected by the goddess of death and cursed with immortality. They are the Darkborn—Protectors of the North, bound by blood and an unbreakable bond sharpened by hunger, pain, and rage. And their immortality comes with a cost. Every night, the hunger gnaws, and every battle steals another piece of their humanity.
As an ancient corruption, older than the gods themselves, spreads through the roots of the world, the fragile balance of Röthgard begins to fracture.
When Sylas saves a young princess from a blood-soaked dungeon in the rival kingdom, fate tightens its grip. She may be the key to ending the Butcher King’s tyranny, but the princess is also twelve years old, bound to Sylas by a bond neither of them chose, and her very existence makes his hunger roar.
As years pass, the princess is hewn into a weapon, the North is pushed to the brink of war, and a devastating truth comes to light: the Darkborn are not the only monsters the gods have created, and the ties that bind them may be the very thing destroying them.
Bloodborn is an epic dark fantasy romance where gods make monsters, and love is both salvation and ruin.
This is the first book in an epic, slow-burn romance of Norse-inspired myth, immortal warriors, and found family forged in blood. Perfect for romantasy fans of From Blood and Ash and A Court of Thorns and Roses with the brutal, fate-cursed grit of The Witcher and The Shadow of the Gods.
ORIGIN STORIES INCLUDE with Preorder (or can be purchased separately):
Sylas the Wolf (Free): https://scarletstjames.com/products/darkborn-origins-a-prequel-ebook
Lucian the Shield Breaker: https://scarletstjames.com/products/darkborn-origins-lucian-ebook
Arless Ravensong: https://scarletstjames.com/products/darkborn-origins-arless-ebook
Thorne the Red: https://scarletstjames.com/products/darkborn-origins-thorne-ebook
If you are a paid member in my After Dark Reader Lounge, you have access to these stories for free now, and Bloodborn upon release without purchase. I have posted the links for Members-Only, but if you would like me to resend them to you, let me know. I'd be happy to!
PREORDER BLOODBORN HERE: https://scarletstjames.com/products/bloodborn-darkborn-saga-book-one-ebook-w-bonus-content