Hey darlings! 2026 has been such a fab year for indie book releases. I thought I’d share some of my favourite indie reads so far. These books are a mix of romantasy, romance, and thriller. If these books don’t go viral, then society is failing, and I’m here to do something about it! Every book has it’s description, personal review and rating. Happy reading darlings!
Web of Vows and Vengeance by Aria Ashbrook
If your ideal romantasy is equal parts brutal competition and slow-burning enemies-to-lovers tension, this debut is going to hook you fast. Rose has spent years clawing out a life in the slums after Prince Kyor’s lie stripped her family of their magic and cast them out of Court, and the only way to save her younger sister is to win the Tournament of the Gifting.
The Gifting is a deadly once-a-century competition where the victor earns a blessing from the Goddess herself. Naturally, the brooding royal she has every reason to loathe is right there in the thick of it, and the friction between them is delicious.
Set in a moody, Nordic-inspired world, it leans into all these tropes: an underdog heroine who refuses to stay broken, deadly trials, found family, political intrigue. It is the first book in the Hirathean Path series.
My Review: 5⭐️ THIS WAS SUPER FUN!
Tropes: Dark academia vibes / Deadly trials / Enemies to lovers
The book gave me fourth wing at times! Specially the friendships between the characters and then the slow burn enemies to lovers situation between Rose and Kyor
I have to say KYOR HAS A DIRTY LITTLE MOUTH ON HIM🥵 my man my man my man. I swear whenever he spoke I was sat, seated and grinning to myself like a crazy person😂
The ending had me like GIRLLL🤦🏽♀️Let’s get into book 2.
Trivium by Jenna Ruby
This is such a fun one if you love a magical academy packed with secrets, because it does not settle for a single heroine, it gives you three women on very different paths through the same dangerous institution. Ahmina has trained for years to become a Defender and cannot understand why she is suddenly failing, and it certainly does not help that Lennox, her infuriatingly attractive Trivium lead, keeps turning up to rescue her like she is some damsel in distress.
Meanwhile Zeina could not care less about the Academy, until a free meal lands her behind its gates and she has to fake her identity to survive.
What I love about the setup is how it braids these three storylines together as the women start unravelling the Academy’s dark secrets. It has that irresistible blend of found family, slow-simmering romantic tension, and creeping unease that makes fantasy academy reads so bingeable.
My review: 4.5⭐️ wow this was such a fun time!!!
I did take me a little while to get my head around the plot, as you’re quickly introduced to 3 different main characters. But around 20% in I was HOOKED!
I love an academy setting so I knew right away this book was going to be a bit of me🤭
It honestly took me back to my zodiac academy era. Every chapter was entertaining, and that ENDING…!!!! Zeina…girlll… I need book 2😭
Tropes: academy setting, mystery, hidden powers, secrets, enemies to lovers
The Bargain by Aurora Reed
A word of warning before you go in expecting fae and magic: this is not fantasy at all, it is a contemporary dark academia romance, and a wonderfully angsty one. Desdemona Sutton-Knight is the rich, golden, outwardly perfect girl of Spearcrest, and Elias Lennox is the scholarship “nobody” who survives among the elite by trading favours for cash.
When Desdemona finds her siblings in trouble one night, she does the one thing she swore she never would and strikes a bargain with him, and Elias agrees on a single condition: she fake-dates him so he can leverage all the connections that come with her name.
This book is a boarding-school, rich-girl-meets-poor-boy, reluctant-allies-to-lovers slow burn. It is the first in the interconnected Spearcrest Legacy series, with a Gossip Girl vibe.
My review: 4.5⭐️ I loved this!!!!!!🥺
Stop cause why was I genuinely crying while reading the last few pages😭😭😭
I feel like many girls, or even the oldest sisters can relate to Desdemona. Her obsession with perfection was described so well I could really relate to her at some points. She’s that sister who will do anything to make sure her family is okay. And then in comes Elias🥺 he’s just so precious I need me some of him.
Overall I really enjoyed this! If you’re looking for a romance with a boarding school setting and sweet yearning, read this
Incandescent Fates by Isabelle M. Lang
Lady Emory Valorian has built a solitary life hunting monsters in the dark reaches of Bartane Forest, keeping her family close and her secrets closer, right up until a vampire slips through her fingers and slaughters everyone she loves. Emory does whatever it takes to reclaim the blood she is owed.
Fighting in a Legion, working alongside witches, and reuniting with an old flame, all while guarding a lethal trove of secrets that could get her killed the moment they slip into the light.
This book scratches that specific itch for vengeance-driven plots with a heroine you are never quite sure you can trust.
My review: I freaking love Emory. She’s such a sassy badass, literally the kind of women I aspire to be. Shes definitely a lil hot headed at times but very understandable considering everything….
Now, I knew the prince wasn’t the MMC I was going to swoon over, because in comes Kal, the mysterious sexy Aloryian I didn’t know I needed. I really really hope there is a book 2 because I NEED more of Kal and Emory😭 I feel like Kal is hiding a lot of things that hopefully may come out in a second book….
The world building and the pacing was fantastic! I was not bored once, and really enjoyed learning about the world of Calathea. If you’re looking to immersive yourself in a new world with witches, vampires, unique powers, secrets, royalty, and a bad ass fmc, read this book!
The tropes in this book: slow burn, kind of love triangle, hidden powers, secrets, witches, vampires, competition
Please tell me there is a book 2 because WHAT WAS THAT ENDING!!!😱😭😭😭
She Never Lived Here by Rita Maxil
This is a domestic psychological thriller. Camila Reyes moves her family to Belladonna Estates, a gated, wealthy neighbourhood, hoping to leave a disturbing past behind, and when she befriends her charming red-haired neighbour Erin, it finally feels like a fresh start.
Then Erin vanishes, and when Camila starts asking questions, every polished housewife in her new social circle calmly insists that no woman by that name has ever existed. Camila knows they are lying. The problem is that the harder she pushes, the more unstable she looks to everyone around her.
This is the first book in the Secrets of Belladonna Estates series, and it is a perfect pick for fans of chilling, unputdownable domestic suspense.
My review: 5⭐️ This was such a fun read!!! I was entertained all the way through.
I even got anxious at some points wondering what was going to happen😂 a great plot and unexpected twists🫢
Anyone looking for a suspenseful domestic thriller, you need to give this a read.
Of Fates and Ruin by Alaya Wells
Pitched as what you would get if The Hunger Games, Fourth Wing, and Quicksilver had a dangerously romantic book baby.
Princess Isi, known to her people as the Lady of Mercy, crosses into a rival fae court in disguise to hunt down the rebels who murdered her sister, and promptly makes a spectacular first impression by sinking her dagger into their infuriatingly gorgeous golden-eyed king. Rather than retaliating, Trewyn just smirks like being stabbed was mild flirtation, and when he assumes she is there for the Rite of Bonds, she lets him believe it, because failing the bonding trials means exile before she can uncover the truth.
This book has hidden identity, brutal magical trials, beast bonding, court intrigue, found family, and a feral, slow-burn enemies-to-lovers thread laced with emotional torment. It is book one of the Kingdom of Shattered Vows duology.
My review: 5⭐️ I absolutely devoured this book!
We have rival courts, scary evil creatures, trials, mystery, and an OBSESSIVE MMC!
This book was a mix of fourth wing and hunger games. Ends in a cliffhanger…
Isi is a BADASS fmc! She’s a princess who is sent undercover to infiltrate another court, but her mission doesn’t end up going according to plan…
TREW IS MY HUSBAND. MY MAN. HES OFFICIALLY ON MY BOOK BOYFRIEND list! This man does everything in his power to protect Isi😭
Discover More
I hope you guys enjoyed my little reviews on some of my favourite indie reads so far. Feel free to check out more reviews, book recommendations, quizzes:
