🖤 Shadows, Spice, and Sovereignty: Why Once the Skies Fade by Vanessa Rasanen Will Own You

Welcome, sinful souls and spice lovers, to your next literary obsession.

Book titled "Once the Skies Fall" by Vanessa Rasanen on a shelf with string lights, next to a framed photo. Dark background. Black and white.

Today, we gather under blood moons and flickering candlelight to honor a story that has left me wrecked, ruined, and ravenous for more — Once the Skies Fade by Vanessa Rasanen.

This book didn’t just captivate me… it conquered me. It clawed its way into my soul with grief-laced prose, emotionally wounded characters, and shadows that wrap around things they absolutely shouldn’t (and yet… yes, please 😈). It is the second installment in the Immortal Reveries series — a web of interconnected standalones — and oh, darling, it’s even better than the first.

🖤 A Grieving Queen, A Grumpy General, And One Hell of a Power Play

From the first page, you’re thrust into a storm of emotional torment and political tension. Our heroine is a morally grey queen, freshly widowed, tangled in suspicion and courtly whispers. The law says she must marry or lose her throne. Love already failed her once… so she’s not about to risk her heart again.

But the kingdom has other plans — and so does a certain grumpy, dagger-toting general named Matthias.

Oh, Matthias.

You brooding, sarcastic, shadow-ravaged menace. I want you to whisper threats in my ear and then smirk like the bastard you are when I blush.

He’s everything you want in a fantasy book boyfriend: battle-worn, emotionally guarded, devastatingly sexy, and just a little unhinged. And when he tangles with our sharp-edged queen? Sparks. Fire. SHADOW-STROKING SPICE.

A book titled "Once the Skies Fade" is surrounded by flowers, leaves, a dagger, and an envelope on a dark, moody background.

💋 The Tension? Unholy. The Spice? Heaven.

Let’s talk about the real magic here — Vanessa’s ability to balance heartbreak with heat.

This book doesn’t shy away from the dark. We’re talking torture, grief, death, depression, and betrayal. But woven through that pain is chemistry so thick, so palpable, that it thrums on the page.

And then comes Chapter 46.

Let me repeat that: Chapter. 46.

Vanessa Rasanen said, “Here, have some shadow-wrapped seduction with a side of thigh-clenching tension,” and I ascended. That scene? It lives in my head rent-free. If you don’t walk away from that chapter with a new kink unlocked, are you even alive?

There’s even a “Spice Rack” in the back of the book, so readers can know exactly where the heat is coming. Innovative. Iconic. Queen behavior.

✨ Tropes That Had Me Feral

✔️ Grumpy/Sunshine (but make it war-scarred and royalty-drenched)

✔️ Morally grey heroine with a past as jagged as her shadow magic

✔️ Deadly tournament (with knives AND feelings)

✔️ Touch Him and Die energy (and oh, she does)

✔️ Fated mates (but with pain and spice and glorious angst)

💀 The Recap? Genius. The Writing? Seductive.

Special shoutout to the snarky, fourth-wall-breaking recap at the start of the book. Told by Matthias himself, it’s clever, cheeky, and the perfect appetizer for what’s to come.

Rasanen’s prose is poetic yet brutal, lyrical yet laced with daggers. Her worldbuilding is immersive without ever dragging, and the emotional resonance is so real I had to pause and just breathe several times.

Also, “Death was a greedy bitch” is going in my Quote Hall of Fame.

🩸 Final Thoughts from The Queen’s Throne

If you’re a fan of dark fantasy romance with depth, grit, wit, and spice — this book belongs on your altar. Vanessa Rasanen is building a world that blends emotional devastation with seductive storytelling, and Once the Skies Fade is a crown jewel in the romantasy genre.

This isn’t just a story about thrones and shadows. It’s about survival, grief, hope, and rediscovering desire even when your heart feels shattered beyond repair.

So pour a glass of something sinful, dim the lights, and let this story own you.

I promise… you’ll never look at shadows the same way again.