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The Aspect of Essence
(2023)(The first book in the Aelfyn Archives series)
A novel by Samantha Amstutz
Scorching slow burns. Sharp-tongued royals.
Feral tension. Morally gray elves.
Fated bonds. Ruinous magic. No chosen ones.
Across the series, slow burn romances unfold—beginning MF in Books 1–2, deepening into MFM by Book 3, and kindling a separate MM arc in Book 3 with different characters.
She was never meant to rule.
A half-breed princess ripped from her throne and forced into a brutal military academy—where a shadow-wielding commander targets her the moment she arrives.
He was never meant to be free.
A healer shackled to a system built to break him—until the pain becomes too much, and survival starts to look a lot like surrender.
He was never meant to survive.
A villain harboring secrets of the realm’s forgotten magic—willing to raze kingdoms to save his own.
A thousand years ago, elves colonized humans, reducing them to labor and breeding stock. Now, their magic is failing, their bloodlines sterile, their legacy unraveling.
Jassyn, an elven half-breed, has spent his life trapped between roles—brilliant researcher of the fertility crisis, and an unwilling contributor to its solution. His body is property. His mind, weaponized. When he’s sent to a human realm to ‘tutor’ a half-breed princess, it feels like a temporary reprieve.
Until he learns the truth behind the assignment.
Serenna, Jassyn's new pupil, has spent her life clawing toward a single goal—elevation into the elven courts. But after her twenty-fifth birthday, everything fractures. A monstrous race emerges from the shadows, shattering the lies she was raised to believe. Half-breeds like her and Jassyn aren’t powerless. They were bred for magic and war.
Instead of a throne, she’s conscripted to a military academy where half-breeds are forged into weapons. Her survival depends on awakening her magic, enduring the training, and resisting the relentless gaze of its commander: Prince Vesryn, a shadow-wielding prince with too many secrets, too much power, and a tongue that cuts sharper than his blades.
With war looming, Serenna must rise while Vesryn’s attention shifts from threat to fixation. But as Jassyn fights to protect her from the prince’s influence, his own chains tighten. And the path he takes may destroy more than just himself.
If you crave slow burns that scar, villains worth saving, and heroines who don’t flinch, The Aspect of Essence will wreck you in all the best ways. Perfect for fans of ACOTAR, Throne of Glass, and Fourth Wing.
Full content notes are included in the sample preview. This installment is a slow burn and spice (🌶️ 2–3) builds across the series, beginning in Book 2.
Genre: Fantasy
Feral tension. Morally gray elves.
Fated bonds. Ruinous magic. No chosen ones.
Across the series, slow burn romances unfold—beginning MF in Books 1–2, deepening into MFM by Book 3, and kindling a separate MM arc in Book 3 with different characters.
She was never meant to rule.
A half-breed princess ripped from her throne and forced into a brutal military academy—where a shadow-wielding commander targets her the moment she arrives.
He was never meant to be free.
A healer shackled to a system built to break him—until the pain becomes too much, and survival starts to look a lot like surrender.
He was never meant to survive.
A villain harboring secrets of the realm’s forgotten magic—willing to raze kingdoms to save his own.
A thousand years ago, elves colonized humans, reducing them to labor and breeding stock. Now, their magic is failing, their bloodlines sterile, their legacy unraveling.
Jassyn, an elven half-breed, has spent his life trapped between roles—brilliant researcher of the fertility crisis, and an unwilling contributor to its solution. His body is property. His mind, weaponized. When he’s sent to a human realm to ‘tutor’ a half-breed princess, it feels like a temporary reprieve.
Until he learns the truth behind the assignment.
Serenna, Jassyn's new pupil, has spent her life clawing toward a single goal—elevation into the elven courts. But after her twenty-fifth birthday, everything fractures. A monstrous race emerges from the shadows, shattering the lies she was raised to believe. Half-breeds like her and Jassyn aren’t powerless. They were bred for magic and war.
Instead of a throne, she’s conscripted to a military academy where half-breeds are forged into weapons. Her survival depends on awakening her magic, enduring the training, and resisting the relentless gaze of its commander: Prince Vesryn, a shadow-wielding prince with too many secrets, too much power, and a tongue that cuts sharper than his blades.
With war looming, Serenna must rise while Vesryn’s attention shifts from threat to fixation. But as Jassyn fights to protect her from the prince’s influence, his own chains tighten. And the path he takes may destroy more than just himself.
If you crave slow burns that scar, villains worth saving, and heroines who don’t flinch, The Aspect of Essence will wreck you in all the best ways. Perfect for fans of ACOTAR, Throne of Glass, and Fourth Wing.
Full content notes are included in the sample preview. This installment is a slow burn and spice (🌶️ 2–3) builds across the series, beginning in Book 2.
Genre: Fantasy
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