Validus Vale Academy

Essence Bound Series, Book 1

By: Nicky Shivers

Narrated by: Klio Dean, Jeremy Gardner

"Dear Theodora, Congratulations on your scholarship to Validus Vale Academy…"

This is a twist. A total m-fing twist.

So the big question is—should I go?

My parents would have said no, but they're dead. My ex-lovers would definitely veto the idea, and my only friend just wants me to stick around as a free babysitter. So I guess I'm going to Validus Vale.

I'm sure I'll be safe among the other witches as long as I keep my head down. Yep, everything will be just fine as long as the authorities don't uncover my impossible secret: I'm telepathic. They've spent millennia searching for this kind of innate magic. One slip and I'll be a lab rat before I know it.

But keeping a low profile here is difficult. The academy halls are filled with dark secrets, savage students, and a conspiracy that stretches to the highest seat of power. I walked into the belly of the beast, and I'm not escaping without help.

Which means turning to most unlikely sources: the professor who controls my every move, the silent guardian whose gaze never leaves me, and the ruthless Elite who wants nothing but my destruction.

Validus Vale Academy is book one of a slow-burn paranormal reverse harem romance series. This is a why-choose series, which means the main character will have many love interests and not have to choose between them. The heat level rises with each book.

©2026 Nicky Shivers (P)2026 Podium Audio

Kept me interested

I like the story line so far and am looking forward to book 2 audible to come available in July.

great performance from the VAs

the story is very gripping and pulls you from chapter to chapter, and I found the voice actors did an incredible job. there are lots of different voices in the text and characters and they consistently were able to play them well-- Alexis imitating Theo sounded like Alexis imitating Theo, etc. they did a great job!!

I don’t know

The FMC is like-able enough, the description about her power is what hooked me but definitely not what I had hoped for. I finished it, but not sure if I will finish the series.