A Crown of Ruin

Poppy has fallen into stasis, her body broken and power spent, carried beyond the mortal realm. While she lies suspended in dreams, Casteel faces a world without her—raw, wrathful, and altered in ways he doesn’t yet understand.

Left to steady a kingdom trembling under the weight of loss, Kieran shoulders what he cannot say aloud, even as the fractures between gods, mortals, and fate widen around him.

Dear readers,

If you’ve finished Primal, you’re probably feeling a lot right now. The Primal of Blood and Bone is one of the most intense entries in this series, and Poppy and Casteel are pushed harder here than ever before. Some choices were painful. Some moments were devastating. And yes, Cas has changed in ways that aren’t easy to watch.

But every step of this book was necessary for the past that has yet to be revealed, where the prophecy leads…and where their love ultimately takes them.

So, here’s what I want you to hold on to:

Their story isn’t over. Their romance isn’t lost. And the happily ever after is still guaranteed.
There were also important scenes and perspectives that couldn’t fit into Primal without turning it into a brick big enough to stop a carriage. But those moments matter. So, I wrote them for you.

A Crown of Ruinis a free novella that bridges the end of Primal and the beginning of The Throne of Bone and Ash. It fills in some of the emotional gaps, shows the aftermath, reveals the choices, and expands the shifts you didn’t see on the page—but will absolutely feel in Poppy and Cas’s final book.

It won’t spoil anything, but it will give you a small glimpse of what you didn’t get to experience and what still lies ahead: growth, consequences, revelations…and yes, hope.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for sticking with Poppy and Cas through the darkness. I promise you the light is coming.

xoxo
JLA