One of the buzziest books of 2025 is Julie Soto’s romantasy debut, Rose in Chains. I never got into the Harry Potter craze, so I was a bit nervous to dive into the deep end with Dramoine fan fiction, but in Julie I trust.
Rose in Chains [Buy Bookshop Amazon LibroFM] centers on Briony, the Princess of Evermore, as her country is going through it. Her dad? Dead. Her twin brother? Dead. Briony? Captured and heading to the auction block so someone from the other side can use her to support their magic. She’s doing greaaaaat.
At the auction, her former classmate and high-ranking member of the opposition’s line spends a ridiculous amount of money to buy her (plus a little something else unknown, since technically someone else won the auction). Toven takes her back to his mansion and strips her of her magic, but he’s not following all the expectations. Briony has lots of questions about what’s going on, and the sizzling tension between her and Toven isn’t making things easy.
Rose in Chains started slow for me as I tried to grasp what was going on and the workings of the various magic systems. However, that didn’t last too long. This book is filled with action, twists, and so much freakin’ yearning and sizzling tension. This is the slowest of slow burns, which I guess is to be expected since it’s book one of a whole trilogy and we wouldn’t trust anything if they were in a happy ever after situation in book one. Sigh.
I’m eagerly awaiting book two, especially after that cliffhanger and epilogue. So many questions!
72. JULIE SOTO: Diving into Romantasy & YA Thrillers with Rose in Chains & The Thrashers – LiteraryHype Podcast
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