Railed by the Reaper

Valley of the Old Gods #5

by Dalia Davies

ASHES TO ASHES, LUST TO LUST
Two hundred years ago, in a frantic fit of grief, my mother stole a piece of Death and bound me to the old god to keep me safe. Two hundred years ago, my own grief had driven me to say things I didn’t mean, but can’t take back. And yet… Time heals all wounds. And I’m drawn to the dying for a mere glimpse of him. But I’m tired, and lonely, and when I finally decide enough is enough—it uncovers a jealous and possessive streak I hadn’t known existed. He wants his ring finger back—returning it is akin to a divorce in the old gods’ realm—and I want what I should have taken centuries ago, even if he’s determined to make me see the worst of him.

Genres: Fantasy, Monster Romance, Dark Romance, Novella, Monsters, Fantasy Romance, Erotica

186 pages, Paperback

First published May 25, 2023

About the author

Dalia Davies fell into monster romance--almost by accident--and loves it here. She drinks her weight in tea every day and has been told on numerous occasions that she “knows too much”.
She pairs old gods, monsters, and aliens with human women who get exactly what they want and maybe a little more than they came for.
Brought up on fairytales read while hiding in the back stacks of her small-town library and sneaking in creature features at friends' homes, she always wanted a way to meld two fantasies into one. When not writing, she plays the banjo poorly, dreams of traveling the world, and avoids large crowds and loud noises.
Living in the southwestern US, she lets the outside heat permeate her stories and hopes they leave you panting.

This is, of course, a pen name. It is one of many I write under. You can find my other works as:
Andi Simms - Contemporary Romance
Ava Lunaria - Paranormal Romance

Reviews

[Grapie Deltaco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh. My. God!!!!

Vengeful, stubborn, and utterly romantic.

This story about an immortal woman and her obsession with Death, his devotion to her, and the chaos of the god realm was one I couldn’t put down from the moment I started it.

Inject this story into my veins EXPEDITIOUSLY🗣️🗣️🗣️

CW: explicit sexual content, murder, death, grief

[Poppy || Monster Lover · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was almost a rejected mates trope but without the fated mates thing. Onna was fierce, determined (I feel like there’s a theme in the type of women in these books or something), and vengeful when needed. She wanted death to be her husband in more than name and was willing to play dirty to get her way. They ended up being super cute together in their scary way. I liked that they had a long history of push and pull.

Spice: 4.5/5

Triggers: Death, Choking (lite) Explicit Sex Human/Non-Human Sex, Torture (brief, side character)
Mentions of: Blackmail, Femicide, Suicide, Torture, Wax Play

[Wicked Fox ✨️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another amazing story from Dalia Davies! 💕💕 I absolutely adore Death and Onna's relationship (and the spice, whew 🥵). The character cameos is one of the other things I love about this book (and series). Seriously, I got giddy when Klaus/Krampus showed up! As well as the cats! Dalia just keeps on serving us with these stories 🫶

[bailey ◡̈ · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

[riley ☠︎︎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars✨
I love Onna so much lmfao. She was NOT giving him up and got what she wanted. Her and Death were actually v cute🥹 But I also loved when she popped his skull off and threw it.

[Ciru · Rating 4 out of 5]

If only making deals with Death were this "easy".

I loved this. Angst filled love tangled with deals with Gods. It's a short book but not so much a fast read.

Loved the spice and that it wasn't actually as spicy/smutty as the other books in the series.

Above all else, I love that Onna had a goal in mind and in the end, she stuck to it and seemingly got what she wanted.

Then, the more the books progress, the more I wouldn't mind maybe a depraved/hedonistic novella for Calico and Minx.

[Littlebookterror · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have started too many reviews in the last two months with the question what it means to write a demisexual character but I am here, once again, wondering if I am missing something? Am I not catching the clues the author is laying down? Misinterpreting scenes? Blinded by my personal experience?

I started reading the Valley of the Old Gods series because I knew she had two books with MCs on the asexual spectrum falling in love. And I have since learned that Davies more so implies sexual identities than outright states it (which is fine!), so I was not hoping for some big ace moment - but I wanted something.
And I loved the first 60 pages so much, the setup is so me: Onna has married herself to the God of Death and will do anything in her power to remain his bride. And he's only "reluctantly" letting her. It's a fucking great dynamic and giving our two characters such an involved backstory had me more invested than all the other stories before.
It also serves as an excellent setup for our demisexual heroine. Onna is now immortal and has had two centuries to fall for him. But does the story use it? No. No hints that her desires have grown, nothing. And Death is supposedly a sex-positive ace and while they do end up having sex, he very much gives off a service top energy. While those identities are not mutually exclusive (I would even say that you can often find ace sex scenes with a similar focus on the other partner), it also means you could easily read him as simply being disinterested in being touched himself and not asexual. I'd wished Dalia leaned harder into his identity to build up his character.

And as it seems to be a trend, my interest wained as the story progressed and the mildly interesting subplot took over, the non-existent romance build-up and its underwhelming conclusion.

[readwithevelane · Rating 4 out of 5]

“𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔, 𝑶𝒏𝒏𝒂. 𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆.”

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🔥.5
Relationship: MW
Tropes/content: Monster romance, God of death/human, asexual representation, wax play, light choking
Series: Valley of the Old Gods #5

⚠️Check triggers⚠️

Two hundred years ago, Onna's mother stole Death's ring finger and bound Onna to Death. Onna was angry from grieving her brother, causing her to lash out at Death. Over time, Onna finds herself wanting Death, but he wants her to return his finger and break their bond. Onna doesn't want that and she's determined to show him how much she wants him.

I love this series. It's unique, fun, and something I've never read before. Jack and Lily are my favorite couple, but Death and Onna are easily my number two. They have great chemistry together. I love how they banter with one another. Onna is a woman on a mission. She knows what she wants and she's determined to get it. Death never stood a chance against her. Outside of their relationship, I enjoyed the world building we got with this story. I felt like we got even more insight on the gods, which I love, and it left me wanting more. I could read this series forever just to see what new god we get each time.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75
I genuinely enjoy the world Dalia has created. To the point where the spice almost detracts from it, which given the title feels weird to say. I’ve only read the first book and this one, but might go back to read the others now.

On a more technical level, the book needed some editing—a lot of typos. And for the first half, I sometimes thought I somehow missed something because it read a bit jumbled sometimes. As someone who loves the avoidance of dialogue tags whenever possible, there were times I had to re-read sections to figure out who was talking because of the serious lack of dialogue tags, since it didn’t always follow an A-B pattern.

All that to say, it’s a great story with complex characters. I’d like to see a more robust version of this world and more clarity in how some things work in it.

[Brigid Finn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this installment of the Valley of the Old Gods series- the romance was dark and beautiful, and the world of the Old Gods is eerie and whimsical as usual.

This is mostly a 5 star read-I just have some mixed feelings about the fact that our heroine creates the Christian heaven and hell? Not sure what to think about that. Not sure if I would've gone that route, though it's well-written regardless.

[Amber · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not a fan of this book. I didn’t read the first few books so I’m not sure if that’s the reason, but I felt so lost while reading this. I’d like to consider myself smart (ish) but I had to really work reading this book. There were also way too many grammatical errors for such an uppity book.
I also didn’t like the story or the characters. It felt like we were missing at lest 10 extra chapters. Just blehh.

[Genesis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely check the trigger warnings before reading (Death, Choking (lite), Explicit Sex, Human/Non-Human Sex, Mentions of: Blackmail, Femicide, Suicide, Torture, Wax Play). Davies’ world building is amazing and the spicy scenes are so fun to read. She balances the story telling and spicy stuff in the perfect way for me.

[Paige · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt like the first half of this book was a little confusing. it felt kind of jumbled and I was constantly playing catchup trying to figure out what anyone was talking about and what was going on. I liked this pairing more then the last book, it felt like death really needed someone to help him change for the better!

[Stefania · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not just a series: Dalia Davies has woven a tapestry, each strand intertwined and depicting a whole world.
Death and Onnanaya (I love this name!) 's story captivates the reader.
Having a peak at the other gods and mortals' stories from another perspective, makes each book a little gem!

[Kasey Bryant · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars- Fascinating world this author has created in the series. The main female characters are all interesting to read about. The spice is high! This book/series is idea if you want a quick fantasy read with lots of spice. I will say, I felt this book in particular had less graphic spice then previous ones in the series.

[Drew Osburn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This might be my favorite of the valley of the old gods books so far. It was a tad confusing at times but Dalia Davies has such beautiful prose and can really put a story together in a short amount of time.

[aspeccharactersoftheday]

Death from Railed by the Reaper is asexual!
Onna from Railed by the Reaper is demisexual!

https://www.tumblr.com/aspeccharacter...

[Artemis Cienfuegos · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the adding to the lore of the gods in this world. And the relationship was nice and spicy and just what I was looking for.

[Gracie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nothing like a good valley of the gods book ♥️

[Hollie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay. This series up until this point has been smutty and fun and not emotional but I should have known that death and his bride would make me feel all the feels. A+ steamy scenes.

[Niy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun story about love and hanging out honestly

[Elly · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first book is still the best book in this series.

[taytay🐇 · Rating 4 out of 5]

The world build is very interesting! And happy everything worked out cause I was concerned for a second 😭

[Tein · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the world of the Valley, but this book was a bit of a miss for me.

[Bri · Rating 3 out of 5]

So much plot, not detailed enough smut.

[mei_li_terature]

Definitely did not expect there to be this much plot 😂

[Froggy · Rating 5 out of 5]

not as good as the other ones but its good still

[binha · Rating 5 out of 5]

so different and so good

[Jay · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐