Oaths & Vengeance

 Two enemies in a world of magic, both cursed, will marry in secret to accomplish their goals.

Book Title: Oaths & Vengeance, by Susan Illene

Genre: Romantasy

Release Date: 22nd of August, 2025

Where to Buy It: Amazon

From the Blurb:

Darrow is powerful, ruthless, and her sworn enemy. The wickedly good-looking elf is also cursed never to love.

Aella should stay far away from him, especially considering he could kill her from a distance with little effort. Except that someone close to her is dying, and he is the only person in the realm with the means to help. She has strong powers of her own to offer in exchange, but to her dismay, Darrow wants a secret marriage as part of the bargain.

Fae marriages are forever, so she'd always be his.

With other factors pushing her toward it, she agrees to a private wedding that the king himself officiates while hiding the ceremony from her disapproving family. Aella suspects there is far more to Darrow’s motives if Zadrya's monarch is involved. It isn't long before she discovers that dark forces are circling, and it’s her rare magic they want to use or eradicate by any means necessary. Her new husband has drawn her into a dangerous conflict started centuries ago that could either end in the salvation or destruction of their world. If she wants to survive, she’ll need to trust Darrow with her body, but never her heart.

About the Author:

Susan Illene served in the U.S. Army for eleven years, working first as a human resources specialist and later as an Arabic linguist. She served primarily in Airborne units and did two deployments to Iraq.  After leaving the army, she studied history at the University of Oklahoma. She currently lives with her husband and two sons.

More About Susan Illene:

How long does it take you to write a book? How long does each stage of the process usually take?

On average, four to six months. I had a long gap in publishing when my boys were born, and I had to figure out how to juggle motherhood and writing, but I've finally gotten the hang of it. Staying up until 2 am to work is not uncommon for me, lol.

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What is your favourite type of character to write?

I love to write one side character in my series you love to hate. In the beginning, you hate them completely, but as the series progresses, you start to look forward to scenes with them while still wishing them ill-will. These are never morally gray hunks that you'd lust after, but they tend to have some of the most comedic moments.

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What do you do when you find yourself in a bit of a writing rut? Is there any strategy you find works for you to help the words start flowing again? 

Sometimes, taking a break and reading helps. Other times, listening to writing/publishing podcasts can motivate me to get the creative juices flowing again.

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What is something you wish you had known earlier on in your writing career?

I did as much research as possible before I published my first book, but I tend to learn the best lessons the hard way.

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Do you mine your own life for ideas, settings and/or characters?

Yes. My upcoming book is set in a different world where there aren't severe thunderstorms, but I'm from Oklahoma. We had numerous tornado threats while I was working on this book and had to take shelter more times than I can count. Some tornadoes came within a few miles of my home, but thankfully, none hit us directly. My main female character controls wind, and thanks to the weather in real life, I decided to have her come up with the idea to make the wind "swirl" to defeat an opponent. She thinks she was so clever, lol. Of course, she has no proper name for it, but the readers will get what she was doing.

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What's next for your writing?

The second book in the Realm of Zadrya Series. I'm also contemplating writing a gargoyle romance at some point in the next year or so, but I'm letting it simmer for now. The best ideas hit me when I least expect it.