Colorado Springs got its first real snowfall of the season yesterday, and I stood at my window watching fat flakes drift down while the temperature dropped to freezing. By morning, everything was blanketed in white—stunning but fleeting, because by noon the sun had already begun to melt it all away. That fragile beauty reminded me how precious temporary things can be, how urgency sharpens our appreciation. Six Scorched Roses captures that same bittersweet ache: a love story racing against time, where every moment matters because there aren't many left.
Plot Summary
Six Scorched Roses by Carissa Broadbent is a standalone fantasy romance novella set in the Crowns of Nyaxia universe. Lilith has been dying since birth, but when a mysterious god-cursed illness threatens her entire town, she refuses to watch everyone she loves wither away. Desperate for a cure, she strikes a dangerous bargain with Vale, a reclusive vampire: six black roses in exchange for six vials of his blood, which might hold the key to saving her people. Over six moonlit visits, what begins as a simple transaction evolves into something far more complicated. As Lilith and Vale bond over shared curiosity and loneliness, they fall deeply in love—but in a world suffering a god's wrath, loving a vampire is the most dangerous thing she could do.
Why I Love This Book
I love how tightly paced this novella is—every scene matters, every moment builds. Lilith is brilliant, determined, and pragmatic, a scientist who refuses to give up even when her own body is failing her. Vale is brooding, lonely, and unexpectedly tender, a vampire who's been isolated for so long he's forgotten what connection feels like. Their chemistry is electric, built on intellectual curiosity and genuine respect before it turns romantic. The emotional stakes are sky-high because time is literally running out. I appreciated the Beauty and the Beast vibes, the gothic atmosphere, and the bittersweet urgency of a love that defies both gods and death.
Who Will Like This Book
If you enjoy vampire romance, Beauty and the Beast retellings, forbidden love, or stories where the heroine is a brilliant scientist, this book is for you. It's perfect for readers who love atmospheric worldbuilding, emotionally intense novellas, and romances with real stakes. Fans of the Crowns of Nyaxia series will especially love getting Vale's backstory, but it works beautifully as a standalone too. The book has a melancholic, urgent tone with both sweetness and darkness woven throughout.
⚠️ Trigger warning: terminal illness, death, plague, grief, violence, blood depiction, needles, attempted sexual assault (brief, not graphic), explicit sexual content.
Tagged As
fantasy romance, standalone novella, Crowns of Nyaxia, vampire romance, Beauty and the Beast retelling, scientist heroine, reclusive hero, forbidden love, terminal illness, racing against time, gothic, atmospheric, emotionally intense, slow burn, open door, bittersweet, HEA
Steam Level
The novella features one very explicit, open-door love scene in Chapter 19 that's intense, emotional, and beautifully written. There's also a voyeurism scene earlier that's milder. The spice is well-earned and serves the emotional arc of their relationship perfectly.
