Excerpt – These Violent Nights by Rebecca Crunden @rjcrunden #fantasy #scifi #newrelease

StoreyBook Reviews 

 

 

Synopsis

 

Once upon a time, inhabitants of another world tore a hole through the universe and came to Earth. They called themselves Suriias, and rivalled humans in knowledge and skill with one great exception: they had magic.

War followed. Humanity lost. And three hundred years later, humans are on the brink of extinction.

Orphans Thorn and Thistle live in hiding. They are the last of their families, the last of their friends. They scrape by, stealing to survive and living on the streets or hiding in sheds. But even under the brutal regime of the Suriias, there are places where humans can mingle in secret with magical sympathisers, and one night Thistle gets an unexpected offer of marriage from a Suriia with high standing and friends in all the right places. For Thistle, it’s a chance at safety and comfort; for Thorn, it’s a chance to find the ones who killed her parents.

And so the pair move into the capital city of Courtenz. An urban monstrosity of magic and might, false friends and flying cars, drones and death tolls, the new city promises a fresh start – and new love – for both.

But if there’s one thing Thorn knows for certain, it’s that dreams can swiftly turn into nightmares.

 

 

 

 

Amazon

 

 

Excerpt

 

Excerpt from These Violent Nights (2021) by Rebecca Crunden, p. 143

‘You can be whatever you want in whatever world you’re in.’

‘No,’ she retorted. ‘You really can’t.’

‘Maybe not easily. But you have to try.’

‘Does that argument work for the ones who died before they had a chance?’

He held her gaze openly, a dark eyebrow arched. ‘Arguments are arguments with or without luck,’ he replied. ‘Sometimes life is disgustingly unfair. It doesn’t change the fact that you have to keep trying to live life as you want it to be. If we let the pain cripple us, there’s no hope for anything.’

‘I don’t have any hope.’

‘Of course you do.’

Her scowl deepened. ‘You say that like you have the authority to say it.’

‘I know you hope for humans to return,’ he countered. ‘I know you hope for a future for you and Thistle. I know you hope that, despite everything, you’ll be proven wrong about us. And even if you don’t want to believe that they do, you hope that good things still exist. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t fight to stay alive. I’m not saying any of this to mock you, Rose. I’m saying what I know about you. What you’d admit to Thistle but won’t admit to me.’

Indeed, rather than admit he was entirely right about how much and how adamantly she hoped for all those things, she said instead, ‘If you know already, it would just be redundant.’

‘Yeah,’ he muttered, scratching at his beard. ‘But getting to know you would be nicer if it didn’t feel like you have no interest in getting to know me.’

 

 

About the Author

 

Rebecca Crunden is an indie author of fantasy, science fiction, and romance who lives in Cork, Ireland. To date, she has published one series, three standalone novels, a novella, and various short stories. Her most recent novel, These Violent Nights (2021) is set in a futuristic world that blends fantasy and sci-fi.

 

Website * Twitter

Recommended Posts

4 paws coming of age New Adult romance Texas

Review – Under the Gulf Coast Sun by Skip Rhudy

  UNDER THE GULF COAST SUN By SKIP RHUDY   Romance / Coming of Age / Surfing Publisher: Stoney Creek Publishing Pages: 266 Publication Date: April 22, 2025     Synopsis This coming-of-age tale set against the sun-soaked beaches of 1970s Port Aransas, Texas, is a love letter to the people and culture of the […]

StoreyBook Reviews 
excerpt Science Fiction Young Adult

Excerpt – The Defectives by Jim Bates

  Synopsis Life for Lenny and Alex is not pleasant. It’s the 27th century, and they are living in an orphanage with thirty other boys like themselves. They are labeled Defectives. They don’t fit the accepted mold for the appearance-based society. They also live in an underground city like the rest of the world’s population. […]

StoreyBook Reviews 
Book Release LGBTQ+ romance Young Adult

New Release – If We Were a Movie by Zakiya N. Jamal

  Synopsis Booksmart meets Phantom of the Megaplex A sapphic story of first love, processing grief, coming of age, and academic stress. Rochelle “the Shell” Coleman is determined to become valedictorian, get into Wharton, and outdo her academic rival, Amira Rodriguez. But her college application lacks one thing: a job. When Rochelle lands a position […]

StoreyBook Reviews