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
Hello my Midnight Romantics...
It is late and my brain is weary, but the backbone of the Darkborn world has finally come together. It's funny; I write these stories because I cannot get the characters out of my head. But that doesn't mean I have everything ironed out before I sit down to write. It has taken me two books to feel solid in the mythological world I've created - all the little nuances that drive the world my characters are trying to save. If you look closely, you might see where this story is taking us. :)
....
Finalized Lore of the Darkborn Saga - the backbone of the world I've created. It's taken two books to get the lore ironed out. Here's a sneak peek at the first page of Bloodborn:
From the Fragments of the Convergence Chronicles
In the time before memory, the world was whole—one land, anchored by the Soulwood buried deep beneath the earth. From the Soulwood, ley lines spread like roots, carrying life and magic across the realm and binding Röthgard in balance.
As all living things do, the world changed. Seasons turned. Life and death held equal dominion. Light and shadow flourished side by side, and the gods ruled the mortal plane from afar.
But change, like rot, is inevitable.
Every thousand winters, when balance waned and darkness threatened to overtake the light, the ancient protectors of Röthgard—great winged guardians and their Root Keepers—would wake. With frost and flame, they scoured the land, halting corruption and burning away what could not endure.
When their task was complete, the guardians returned to slumber, and the wheel began anew.
Yet the chronicles speak of an evil that rose beyond the natural order.
The Root-Rotter.
An ancient being that poisoned the foundations of the world itself, corrupting the Soulwood and waking the guardians before their slumber was complete.
The guardians fell, dying before their work was done. The texts do not say how, nor why. Only this remains: the Soulwood fractured, the Root-Rotter was cast into the depths of the realm, and the power once bound by the Soulwood surged free. Uncontained, the power splintered the land, creating the Great Fissure.
The fissure tore through Röthgard and the realm. The northern lands were ripped away, and where the continent split, the sea rushed in. Thousands perished, and when the tremors ceased, the world was changed forever.
What was once one land became two: Nordlund, frozen and scarred in the north, and Soothlund, land of sun and secrets in the south, divided by the Bitter Sea. Ley lines weakened, seasons grew cruel, and magic began to fade.
Yet still, the wheel must turn.
For all things endure only until they break.
Translator’s Note:
References to the Root-Rotter appear throughout recovered texts. In Old Soothlunder: Níðhöggr. In northern dialects: the World-Eater, the Root-Rotter.
Translated by Bryanna Thorvold, Archivist of the Forsaken
About the Darkborn Saga...
If you crave dark fantasy romance with cursed Viking warriors, Norse mythology, and morally gray heroes, the Darkborn Saga will leave you breathless, shattered, and hungry for more.
When vengeance becomes immortal, love is the most dangerous weapon of all.
Forged in fire and cursed by gods, four Viking warriors are betrayed and destroyed—only to rise again as the Darkborn: immortal, bloodthirsty, and bound by fate to a destiny more brutal than death.
In a world of fallen empires, ancient gods, and brutal wars, the Darkborn are the realm’s last hope against Barron the Butcher and his Red Army. But survival comes at a cost.
Amid the blood and ruin, forbidden desires ignite between enemies and fated lovers, making the Darkborn’s hearts as dangerous as their blades (and their teeth). Torn between their monstrous hunger and the shreds of their humanity, the Darkborn must battle gods and awaken ancient evils that stir in the shadows of a broken world. Every choice could tip the balance between vengeance and redemption… or unleash a darkness no one can escape.
Prepare for slow-burn, spice, and Viking warriors who bite.