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Carved Legacy #1
Virin
Even predators are hunted by something.
Zelara has spent her life dedicated to eradicating the Vampyre plague, and that dedication cost her everything.
When a choice with no true option leads her to being exiled from the only life she’s ever known, Zelara finds herself at the mercy of the very creatures she’s protected, and those that she’s hunted. Blood and pain have been some of the most prevalent things in her life, but stepping foot into a human village sets her onto a path of discovering the depths of each. On that path brings clarity to what it is inside blood that causes such pain, but she already knows...
Sometimes the things that hurt you the most are the things that don’t try to.
Zelara has spent her life dedicated to eradicating the Vampyre plague, and that dedication cost her everything.
When a choice with no true option leads her to being exiled from the only life she’s ever known, Zelara finds herself at the mercy of the very creatures she’s protected, and those that she’s hunted. Blood and pain have been some of the most prevalent things in her life, but stepping foot into a human village sets her onto a path of discovering the depths of each. On that path brings clarity to what it is inside blood that causes such pain, but she already knows...
Sometimes the things that hurt you the most are the things that don’t try to.
317 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 23, 2023
About the author
C. Miller
28 books49 followersC. Miller lives in Kentucky and has been writing books for more than a decade. She believes books are magical things, transporting readers to other worlds and allowing them to live, laugh, love, and learn with the characters. She loves dogs, beautiful days, and working hard. When not working, you can usually find her playing video games, crocheting, or enjoying those beautiful days that come.
Discover more by visiting her website!
www.cmillerauthor.com
For reviewers interested in ARCs/review copies, head to: www.cmillerauthor.com/for-reviewers
For exclusive discounts and to never miss out on a new release, sign up for her newsletter!
www.cmillerauthor.com/newsletter
Discover more by visiting her website!
www.cmillerauthor.com
For reviewers interested in ARCs/review copies, head to: www.cmillerauthor.com/for-reviewers
For exclusive discounts and to never miss out on a new release, sign up for her newsletter!
www.cmillerauthor.com/newsletter
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
October 25, 2023
This is a vampire (vampyre) book unlike others. Zelara is a Virin, a vampyre hunter. The Virin are a different kind of hunter, as they are not human. They are born with special kind of abilities but they need their blessing in order to do certain things. How do they get these blessings? You have to read to find out. Unfortunately for Zelara, she is cast out of the Virin and loses everything she’s ever known.
The story follows Zelara on her journey of discovering herself without her tie to the Virin people. She is in the fight for her life when she was exiled from the Virin. Not only is she having to run from or kill her own people but the very things she used to hunt, now hunt her. If she had a sliver of a chance for survival before it’s even less now. Read to find out how Zelara makes her way through the world and how she learns that everyone needs someone.
I have read many vampire books and series but none like Virin. Besides it being about vampires and the hunters it has other fantasy beings as well like the Elven and mages. There are plenty of heart pounding moments that will have you gripping your seat along with some awesome fight scenes. There were times I thought, could this be it for Zelara? Will this vampyre be her end? How will she get herself out of this one?
With all the scary and crazy that comes in this series comes even more goodness and light. Tolerance for others that are different than you are. You can’t always go it alone. And many other lessons to be learned or added to. This book is great to get lost in and is perfect for those rainy autumn days. So grab a cup of coffee or tea and curl up with Virin. You won’t regret it. I couldn’t put it down and can’t wait for the others in the series!
The story follows Zelara on her journey of discovering herself without her tie to the Virin people. She is in the fight for her life when she was exiled from the Virin. Not only is she having to run from or kill her own people but the very things she used to hunt, now hunt her. If she had a sliver of a chance for survival before it’s even less now. Read to find out how Zelara makes her way through the world and how she learns that everyone needs someone.
I have read many vampire books and series but none like Virin. Besides it being about vampires and the hunters it has other fantasy beings as well like the Elven and mages. There are plenty of heart pounding moments that will have you gripping your seat along with some awesome fight scenes. There were times I thought, could this be it for Zelara? Will this vampyre be her end? How will she get herself out of this one?
With all the scary and crazy that comes in this series comes even more goodness and light. Tolerance for others that are different than you are. You can’t always go it alone. And many other lessons to be learned or added to. This book is great to get lost in and is perfect for those rainy autumn days. So grab a cup of coffee or tea and curl up with Virin. You won’t regret it. I couldn’t put it down and can’t wait for the others in the series!
February 13, 2025
I really enjoyed this book! It was romantic, heartbreaking, thoughtful, philosophical, and passionate. This is not your typical romantasy fiction, and this is only the first book in the series, so there's some development of a possible relationship, but C. Miller's books aren't a straight track toward a HEA, they wind and twist all over, so I'm looking forward to seeing where this story goes in the rest of the series!
Zelara is a bit of an unreliable narrator, and she muses a lot, so be prepared for wanting to shake her and ask what she was going to say before she was interrupted! 😅
4 stars because I felt like I was thrown into the world with not much explanation, though I think that might have been intended by the author 🙃
🌶️🌶️ because there is on-page intimacy, though it's all vague. I usually save one chili pepper for only kisses books.
Zelara is a bit of an unreliable narrator, and she muses a lot, so be prepared for wanting to shake her and ask what she was going to say before she was interrupted! 😅
4 stars because I felt like I was thrown into the world with not much explanation, though I think that might have been intended by the author 🙃
🌶️🌶️ because there is on-page intimacy, though it's all vague. I usually save one chili pepper for only kisses books.
November 27, 2023
Virin are a race of vampire hunters that are trainer from birth to do only one thing: go out and kill vampires. Always in pairs, and with priests to renew the blessings that make them the hunters of the monsters in the dark, even their blood draws vampires in. They are trained not value love, have families, or question the mission of vampire slaying. The punishment for disobedience is exile, blessings removed and defenseless, easy prey for any vampire. Which is how Zelara finds herself, alone in the world of humans without her partner or her priest, barely better than a human herself. What did she do to be thrown out by her own people?
Hunted by other Virin, vampires that can smell her unique blood, and other monsters of the dark, Zelara knows it is hopeless. But even after being captured by an older vampire, she still does all she can to protect the humans that can't protect themselves. Still reeling from the loss of her most reliable companions and her blessings, Zelara wanders with the vampire until people from her past rekindle her trust in others and show her that maybe any creature is capable of change, if only given the time.
I loved how Zelara's character didn't really change during this book. Normally its the opposite, characters are supposed to evolve throughout a book. But it wouldn't have been realistic to have Zelara just stop caring about humans and their safety, or to have her fall in love with her vampire captive, despite that being his entire plan. And if she had been overly emotional after being reunited with old friends or fell in love right away, it would all be too rushed. Miller takes her time to shape the introduction into what I hope will be a long series.
Miller has another fantastic start to a series here. There are a lot of hints and details that she peppers in to the book that lets readers know this is going to be a series full of twists. Carved Legacy is coming out at the perfect time of year as the nights get longer. Zelara will never return to her home or her people, but she is also unwilling to embrace death. Virin are raised to be fiercely independent and detached, but sometimes attachments are what make the world worth fighting for.
Hunted by other Virin, vampires that can smell her unique blood, and other monsters of the dark, Zelara knows it is hopeless. But even after being captured by an older vampire, she still does all she can to protect the humans that can't protect themselves. Still reeling from the loss of her most reliable companions and her blessings, Zelara wanders with the vampire until people from her past rekindle her trust in others and show her that maybe any creature is capable of change, if only given the time.
I loved how Zelara's character didn't really change during this book. Normally its the opposite, characters are supposed to evolve throughout a book. But it wouldn't have been realistic to have Zelara just stop caring about humans and their safety, or to have her fall in love with her vampire captive, despite that being his entire plan. And if she had been overly emotional after being reunited with old friends or fell in love right away, it would all be too rushed. Miller takes her time to shape the introduction into what I hope will be a long series.
Miller has another fantastic start to a series here. There are a lot of hints and details that she peppers in to the book that lets readers know this is going to be a series full of twists. Carved Legacy is coming out at the perfect time of year as the nights get longer. Zelara will never return to her home or her people, but she is also unwilling to embrace death. Virin are raised to be fiercely independent and detached, but sometimes attachments are what make the world worth fighting for.
October 22, 2024
Zelara is a Virin, a unique race of non-humans that are hunters of Vampires. Her race must protect the humans from Vampires - so needless to say her thoughts about humans are that they are weak and at times ignorant.
In order to complete the tasks of hunting and killing Vampires Virin must have all their blessings and their priests. Without these things the Virin are noting - they fit now where and have no powers. Without these things the Virin are outcasts; hunted not only by Vampires but also by their own people. And how does a Virin lose these things - they commit a crime against their own by killing their partner Virin.
The writing style of this book is contemplative and at times philosophical in nature. It reminded me so much of olders authors like Emerson. The story is told from the POV of the FMC, Zelara, who is contemplating the deeper things of life. What she believes about the world around her as well as reevaluating previous thoughts and prejudices.
I loved this story. On surface level it is a story of Vampires and battles, of friendships forged despite differences, of finding oneself when everything is stripped away. But then, then the book is much deeper I think; exploring themes of friendship, the way our opinions are formed and prejudices are developed and rationalized (humans are weak and stupid), how life changes and things are always what they seem, of family ties, friendship and what love truly is.
I don't think this book is a fast read. I think it is one that is best savored over time, read slowly and enjoyed deeply.
I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
In order to complete the tasks of hunting and killing Vampires Virin must have all their blessings and their priests. Without these things the Virin are noting - they fit now where and have no powers. Without these things the Virin are outcasts; hunted not only by Vampires but also by their own people. And how does a Virin lose these things - they commit a crime against their own by killing their partner Virin.
The writing style of this book is contemplative and at times philosophical in nature. It reminded me so much of olders authors like Emerson. The story is told from the POV of the FMC, Zelara, who is contemplating the deeper things of life. What she believes about the world around her as well as reevaluating previous thoughts and prejudices.
I loved this story. On surface level it is a story of Vampires and battles, of friendships forged despite differences, of finding oneself when everything is stripped away. But then, then the book is much deeper I think; exploring themes of friendship, the way our opinions are formed and prejudices are developed and rationalized (humans are weak and stupid), how life changes and things are always what they seem, of family ties, friendship and what love truly is.
I don't think this book is a fast read. I think it is one that is best savored over time, read slowly and enjoyed deeply.
I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
November 4, 2025
Virin is not your typical vampire story nor is it your typical romantasy. While there are some scenes where there are relations, there isn’t any real romance to it, not until the very end, and even then it’s more of a reference. The story starts when Zelara, who is a Virin, a vampire hunter, is exiled and she finds herself all alone for the first time and expecting to die at some point. She makes her way to a human village where she is discovered and a human guy tries to give her shelter. Things quickly lead to the two of them in bed together, where they are interrupted by a vampire. Now this vampire doesn’t act like what we expect and takes her away. They wander around together and next thing you know they are getting it on and she gives him her blood. Her blood seems to be doing something to the vampire, what we do not know. Then they are attacked by a few vampires and when she wakes up she’s with two elves, who she apparently knows from her past. The vampire is still around but we don’t really get any interactions from him anymore, he’s just part of the group. They make their way to the elves home where she is separated from the elves and the vampire for experiments because of her bloods influence on the vampire. When she gets enough clarity from all the testing she is set free and the two elves are going with her, but not the vampire? That’s where it ends and if the story has captured your attention enough there are more books in the series. While this book did not capture enough of my attention I did find it a unique take on vampires, elves and their connections.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 28, 2026
An interesting idea took too long to develop.
This started out feeling like a foes to lovers romance. The author gives us a world where Virin are a race tasked with protecting humans from the Vampyre plague. Our heroine is an acknowledged beauty, but wrestles with internal doubts and self-loathing. Her people exiled her and took away her main powers as punishment for killing her vampyre slaying partner. We learn of the circumstances and reasons in the tale's course. Virin and Vampyre are implacable foes, and her training is that she and they should have no feelings, and certainly not for each other. A large section of the text shows how Virin and Vampyre could doubt this concept and change. It may have been to show how alien and different our heroine is, but to me, her dialogue and internal musings came across as stilted and clumsy. It was a lot of reading to convey the ideas.
Then Elfen people are thrown into the mix. Early chapters tell how these are despicable, selfish, and arrogant in their dealings (or lack of them) with Virin, Vampyres and humans. Yet, at the end of the tale the male Vampyre is forgotten and our heroine is absorbed by the relationship with a male Elf. We are told our heroine has sex with all the male main characters we hear about, but that this is not the same as making love. I found the ending unsatisfying and inconclusive, as the long middle section invested my sympathies for the Vampyre, but his fate was unknown.
I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This started out feeling like a foes to lovers romance. The author gives us a world where Virin are a race tasked with protecting humans from the Vampyre plague. Our heroine is an acknowledged beauty, but wrestles with internal doubts and self-loathing. Her people exiled her and took away her main powers as punishment for killing her vampyre slaying partner. We learn of the circumstances and reasons in the tale's course. Virin and Vampyre are implacable foes, and her training is that she and they should have no feelings, and certainly not for each other. A large section of the text shows how Virin and Vampyre could doubt this concept and change. It may have been to show how alien and different our heroine is, but to me, her dialogue and internal musings came across as stilted and clumsy. It was a lot of reading to convey the ideas.
Then Elfen people are thrown into the mix. Early chapters tell how these are despicable, selfish, and arrogant in their dealings (or lack of them) with Virin, Vampyres and humans. Yet, at the end of the tale the male Vampyre is forgotten and our heroine is absorbed by the relationship with a male Elf. We are told our heroine has sex with all the male main characters we hear about, but that this is not the same as making love. I found the ending unsatisfying and inconclusive, as the long middle section invested my sympathies for the Vampyre, but his fate was unknown.
I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
January 3, 2024
As I delved into the pages of "Virin," I found myself captivated by this story. Zelara, our is not a vampire but a Virin—a special breed of vampyre hunters endowed with unique abilities, bound by their blessings. However, Zelara's world shatters when she faces expulsion from the Virin, losing everything she held dear.
The narrative unfolds with Zelara's quest for self-discovery in the absence of her Virin ties, thrust into a struggle for survival against her own kind and the very creatures she once hunted. The stakes escalate as she navigates a world where the hunted becomes the hunter, leaving her with a diminishing chance of survival.
Amidst the dark and eerie atmosphere, the narrative weaves in threads of goodness and light. Themes of tolerance and the importance of solidarity resonate throughout, offering more than just a tale of vampyre survival. The story invites readers to reflect on the significance of embracing diversity and the realization that one cannot always face challenges alone.
“Such is Life”
I enjoyed the book and I am excited to read more in the series!
The narrative unfolds with Zelara's quest for self-discovery in the absence of her Virin ties, thrust into a struggle for survival against her own kind and the very creatures she once hunted. The stakes escalate as she navigates a world where the hunted becomes the hunter, leaving her with a diminishing chance of survival.
Amidst the dark and eerie atmosphere, the narrative weaves in threads of goodness and light. Themes of tolerance and the importance of solidarity resonate throughout, offering more than just a tale of vampyre survival. The story invites readers to reflect on the significance of embracing diversity and the realization that one cannot always face challenges alone.
“Such is Life”
I enjoyed the book and I am excited to read more in the series!
February 28, 2026
This is Book 1 of the Carved Legacy series.
'Sometimes the things that hurt you the most are the things that don’t try to.'
The characters were well written and developed. Plot was intriguing and well paced. World building was solidly drawn. All in all a very good start to the series. Recommend.
Grab a copy, kick back and enjoy!.
I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
'Sometimes the things that hurt you the most are the things that don’t try to.'
The characters were well written and developed. Plot was intriguing and well paced. World building was solidly drawn. All in all a very good start to the series. Recommend.
Grab a copy, kick back and enjoy!.
I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
May 7, 2025
this was a strong start to the Carved Legacy series, it had that element that I was looking for from other books that I read. I was invested in what was happening and thought the overall feel worked well. The characters were so well done and I was invested in what was written by C. Miller.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
February 27, 2026
This is a very unique approach to vampires and I really like it. It’s like nothing I’ve ever read before and I was immediately pulled it by it. I love the characters and the type of person Zelara is. I want to know so much note about what’s going on. I hope to read the next book in this series. In really enjoying this so far.
May 30, 2024
Zelara is a part of the Virin, a special breed of vampire hunters who are not human and are born with special abilities. For more information about Zelara and her journey, read the book -- it does not disappoint!!
October 11, 2024
I so enjoy C. Miller's skilful writing. This book kept me wondering what was going to happen next and I guessed wrong each time. As always, the characters are captivating and the storyline is unique. I'm delighted that there are more to read in the series. I can't wait to read them.
January 4, 2026
can't get past how she speaks. It's so confusing that I'm not sure I understand what she's even talking about
December 2, 2024
❤️Unique!
The Virin let her thoughts drift away while looking at the glass of alcohol waiting in front of her at the tavern.
She couldn't help but hear the whispered remarks around her...
**************
Here is an extraordinary journey into a unique Fantasy universe that tells the story of a moment in the dangerous life of a Virin.
The main character is very mysterious and touching, and she will have to make choices.
- Will she manage to survive?
A hyper-captivating and totally unexpected read.
I highly recommend !
The Virin let her thoughts drift away while looking at the glass of alcohol waiting in front of her at the tavern.
She couldn't help but hear the whispered remarks around her...
**************
Here is an extraordinary journey into a unique Fantasy universe that tells the story of a moment in the dangerous life of a Virin.
The main character is very mysterious and touching, and she will have to make choices.
- Will she manage to survive?
A hyper-captivating and totally unexpected read.
I highly recommend !
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews