With Hearts of Flame (Deluxe Limited Edition): A Dark Academia Romantasy Novel of Vampires and Dragons Featuring Stenciled Edges and Illustrated Endpapers (Bloodwing Academy, 4)
Briar Boleyn
Afterlife: Afterlife Saga, Book 1
by Stephanie Hudson
About this book
Keira is a woman on the run, desperate to bury a haunting past under the anonymity of a new life in a cold, unfamiliar town. When she lands a job at Afterlife, the city’s most infamous gothic nightclub, she believes her luck has finally turned. The club is a place of shadows and secrets, rumored to be run by an unearthly, powerful elite. However, she quickly learns that some doors are better left closed when she catches the predatory gaze of the club’s mysterious owner, Dominic Draven.
This addictive urban fantasy pulls you into a high-stakes world where the supernatural hides in plain sight. As Keira is drawn into a consuming obsession with the dark and dangerous Draven, she must decide if the thrill of his forbidden world is worth the risk of losing her sanity. The narrative blends intense paranormal romance with a chilling, gothic atmosphere, perfectly capturing the tension of a woman trapped between a terrifying past and an even more volatile future.
If you are looking for a page-turner defined by the fated-mates trope and dark, brooding heroes, this series is your next obsession. With its unique Northern English charm and unpredictable supernatural twists, this story offers a cinematic, pulse-pounding experience that will leave you desperate for more.
- Publication Date
- May 25, 2026
- ASIN
- B018H0U2V6
Reader Reviews
June 16, 2023
Best and most original Paranormal/Romance/Fantasy I have read lately. I read it a couple of years ago and still loving Stephanie Hudson's Draven & Keira's love story. All her books are full of action, adventures, and romance. The story introduces us to Keira, a shy and reserved girl seeking refuge from her troubled past. But the town is anything but ordinary, especially with the presence of the Gothic nightclub, Afterlife. **Keira: Our protagonist is curious and vulnerable. Her curiosity and...
January 13, 2022
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. However, there were two things that prevented me from giving it a full 5 stars. First, Hudson had a few grammatical errors throughout the novel that were off-putting. For example, she would write things like “He was sat in the chair” to mean “he sat in the chair.” The “was” threw me many times. She used this extra past tense verb a lot. I wonder if this isn’t a dialect particular to where she grew up? Maybe where she is from this is a normal part of the...
June 27, 2021
There are so many things I could say about this book. Talk about a page turner! First, the cover hooked me right away and although it was free on Amazon Prime, I purchased it to support the author. Second, generally I hate books that end with a cliffhanger but when the author takes the time to warn you that this is a 12 book series, I can only send her major kudos. Third, any author who can hook me so throughly into the incredible world building she has done that I found myself still reading at...
August 10, 2025
Afterlife by Stephanie Hudson isn’t just a serie—it’s an experience. From the very first page, I was completely hooked and transported into a world that is dark, romantic, dangerous, and utterly addictive. The way stephanie weaves emotion, mystery, humor, and fantasy together is nothing short of brilliant. The chemistry between the characters is electric, and the world-building is rich and vivid. Every twist, every reveal, every moment of heartbreak or hope had me unable to put the book...
August 7, 2025
//ABOUT ME (aka so you can decide if my feedback is relevant to you and your tastes) Alright, I read about 110 Kindle Unlimited books a year, so I’m fairly desensitized to typos, etc., from self-published authors. I’ve also worked as a marketer for two decades, which means I write and craft stories for a living. Just not these kinds of stories. All this to say that I tend to have a soft spot for self-published authors in the romance, sci-fi, fantasy categories. Creativity is a tough skill to...
