The Lion and the Deathless Dark

Crowns of Nyaxia, Book 5

By: Carissa Broadbent

Narrated by: Amanda Leigh Cobb, Aiden Snow

From New York Times bestselling author and BookTok sensation Carissa Broadbent returns with a brand new novel in the Crowns of Nyaxia series, The Lion & the Deathless Dark—the first book in the Bloodborn Duet.

Some blood tastes like vengeance. Some blood tastes like grief. Some blood tastes like nothing at all.

Under an eternal night, the world has been ravaged by ten years of war between humans and vampires. Kyrene scrapes by as a bounty hunter, bearing a blessed sword from the goddess of justice. But in the wake of a devastating loss, Kyrene commits a crime that makes her a target for mortals and gods alike—and she is still desperate for vengeance.

Her only chance at survival—and revenge—is making a deal with her enemy, the silver-tongue vampire prince, Septimus, who offers her one final job: to slay the gods themselves.

Together, Kyrene and Septimus must hunt the ultimate marks, all while navigating a web of prophecies and curses. Septimus is calculating and mysterious, masking secrets bloodthirsty enough to consume them both. Yet, most dangerous of all, Kyrene finds an unexpected kinship in him.

But their growing attraction is deadly in a world where the only currency is blood. And Kyrene will stop at nothing to fulfill her ultimate goal: to kill the goddess of vampires, even if it means sacrificing love for revenge.

©2026 Carissa Broadbent (P)2026 Podium Audio

Another excellent addition to the series

Wow. What an absolutely amazing book! This is the 7th book I've read in this series (if you count the standalones), and they've all been 5-star reads. The world just keeps expanding, and I've been loving all the lore, twists, and romance arcs.

I really liked Kyrene's character, and I also didn't think I'd ever be rooting for Septimus, but here we are. (And there's a sassy talking sword!)

All in all, I think this book (and that ending) was really well done, and I can't wait to see how everything plays out in the final book!

Great book loved it

The book was amazing. Do not see the ending coming nyaxia being sintaway, in a prison for all eternity was beyond crazy.! i thought we were gonna have to wait till book 6that to happen.

Acaeja!! girl 🤦🏾‍♀️ I even said before I know she was going to do something unexpected " how crazy, it would be if she was the villain of this story" 😳 and how true, it was, I did not see her being this villain at all. She played her part well like too well... 😳 all the things that she had done. My jaw is still on the floor and i'm still processing it. Because that is wild.

Septimus I didn't like him at first but now I'm so sad for him. He had been also given false information by Acaeja who we all thought would help in the curse for his people but the backstabb was crazy 😬

I hope that this book 6 ends in a happy ending for all parties involved because I love every single person from book 1 to now ❤️ so I'm hoping for the best 🙏🏽

The performance I did not like how Acaejas voice was being changed, it was like getting a high low and everywhere in between to me. It was hard to listen I feel like that was doing too much... 😬 also, I'm going to keep saying it. Use the male reader to read the male characters in the book. 🙄 also I hope that I do not have to hear that same performance for the voice of Acaeja please do not do that again 🙏🏽 i don't like to say it, but it was cringe sorry 😬

Overall great book can't wait for book 6.

Kyrene and Septimus

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Pacing: 🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️
Main Characters:
Kyrene and Septimus
Book 5 of Crowns of Nyaxia
The Bloodborn Duet Book 1
The character building is incredible. The plot is complex and, as is typical for good fantasy, the pacing varies at times but it is always engaging. Fiiiiiiiinally. That’s all I’ll say on that matter to avoid a big spoiler but GEEZ it was about time.





SPOILERS POSSIBLE IN TROPES

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Tropes:
✍️ Kyrene POV
✍️ FM
✍️ Enemies to Lovers
✍️ Forced Proximity
✍️ Vampires
✍️ Slow Burn

Such an elegant ending 💜🩷

I loved this book of all the FMC in this series I relate to kyreen the most I loved her love story and that the book was so high fantasy and had so many Easter eggs from the other books 💜

Absolutely wonderful…but Aiden Snow AGAIN

I have listened to every book in this series multiple times, my favorite being Selena and Atrius’. This one is tied with theirs at first place. It’s so great! The narrator always does such a wonderful job! I wish she was able to read the entire thing alone. I complain again about Aiden Snow always popping up “without my permission”. He needs to go announce movie previews and leave these stories alone.