The Lesser Gods - Exclusive Edition

by Heather Dubree

In a world ravaged by a 200 year war pitting humankind against the immortal vampire, Emmeline rises as a symbol of hope for her kind. As a scholar determined to help defeat the ancient immortal forces, as finds herself an unwitting sacrifice after a long, brutal battle.

Taken to Aeternalis, the ancient castle deep in the heart of the vampire city, she becomes the reluctant bride to their prince, Euclid. Peace for both people hangs in the balance as Emmeline tries to adapt to the court of the vampires, a group she had been brought up to hate.

In his tale of love and sacrifice, Emmeline embarks on a journey to find is true love can really bridge even the darkest of divides.

Will she find happiness and peace in the arms of her mortal enemy, or face an immortal life full of despair?

Trigger warnings from the author: wartime, gore, death of parents, explicit sexual content, strong language.

Genres: Fantasy, Vampires, Romance, Romantasy, Dark Romance, Enemies To Lovers, Paranormal

332 pages, Paperback

Published February 26, 2025

Reviews

[Jess · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ladies, how hot does a guy have to be for you to forget he butchered your friends right in front of you?


This story is unbelievably generic: an older supernatural male known for his cruelty and bloodthirst who is secretly a redeemable softie, a hidden bond, warring peoples, etc. But like many books that try to follow popular tropes, everything here is too rushed, making it neither believable nor well-written.


First, there is no world-building. None. There’s a goddess and a seer, yet no real structure to the religion, even though it's brought up often enough that there should be. The world itself is barely described, just that there are two cities, the races have been at war for 500 years, and a few far-off places are vaguely mentioned. That’s it. The whole plot depends on how painfully unaware our naive narrator, Emmaline, is. And that gets frustrating fast, especially when she constantly reminds us how she’s endured the horrors of war, dedicated her life to battle, and suffers nightmares from the carnage. The book relies on "telling" rather than "showing."


Then there’s the romance, if you can even call it that. The vampires steal babies from their cribs and eat them. They’ve been brutally slaughtering humans for generations, treating them worse than cattle. And yet, Emmaline falls in love in two weeks. Girl, get a grip. Then, during a gory massacre, she’s literally murdered, and a month later, she forgives the killer and runs into their arms. Don't even get me started on the immediate forgiveness of the best friend who kept her in the dark, which led to her murder.


Meanwhile, the humans suffer zero consequences for breaking the treaty the vampires entered into in good faith. In fact, they’re rewarded. Listen, maybe I'm just a gal prone to violence, but I would have wiped that town off the map in retaliation. Sure, humans have suffered, but they violently violated the peace treaty, meaning they were willing to accept the consequences. And yet… nothing. All they had to do was rebuild and thrive, but instead they chose to commit a mass murder, and somehow that worked out for them.

[Megan Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did I eat this up? Yes. Did it need some serious editing? Also yes.

[Brie C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rate:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Spice:🌶️🌶️🌶️

I know when I am on the verge of tears finishing a book, not wanting it to end, that its going to stick with me for a while, and I have no doubts that The Lesser Gods is gonna be in the back of my mind for quite some time. Gods bless my tiktok fyp that lead to me seeing Heather and this book (and her others), I was instantly hooked and in her comments basically begging to read this.

So imagine my scream when she asked me for my email so I could get an early copy of this to review before its release.

If you love Dramione coded main characters, top tier Mr. Darcy handflex slow burn, vampires, arranged marriages, Jamie Fraser levels of "My Wife" energy from the MMC then honestly look no further. This was such a beautiful story to read and I was EATING UP the energy between Euclid and Emmeline and I desperately need more. I can only hope and pray that there is more in store for Emmeline, Euclid, Aeternalis, along with the whole rowdy bunch. I need more of this world!!

[Rachel B. · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 30% This was a mess. I’m shocked the author is selling special editions of this book when she can’t even get a proofread done for the ebook. This had SO many glaring errors, missed punctuation, repeated sentences, half sentences. I picked up at least 100 errors in less than 100 pages.

If you’re going to pay for character art and masks, PLEASE just pay an editor to do a pass through. It’s so easy.

[Cassie Price · Rating 4 out of 5]

First and foremost, I loved this book with all of my being. I honestly enjoyed it so much that I blew right through it.

My only criticism would be that the book needs additional editing. There were quite a few parts in the book that had grammatical errors or transitional issues, but with some fine tuning and additional attention to detail, this could absolutely be the next big hit / 5 star book.

I highly recommend as a must read for 2024.

[Courtney Rasmussen · Rating 2 out of 5]

not great writing

Good plot but the writing has so many typos that it is obvious that spellcheck was used and not a real proofread. It wasn’t really enemies to lovers it was enemies then all of a sudden lovers so no leading into it. I don’t get how fmc was hating on mmc so much then is all of a sudden “do I love him”. The writing is unoriginal and recycles words. The idea was good but the reality wasn’t. Idk I was excited for this but it was a let down. It should’ve brought in the lesser god idea more than it did. Big RIP

[Jess (library.of.jess) · Rating 3 out of 5]

✨3.25 stars ✨
🌶️ 2.5 spice 🌶️

”He fell in love with the mortals after observing you. It changed him...you changed him, Emmeline. All of us."

What to expect in this
* Vampires
* War against humans and vampires
* Political marriage
* Enemies to lovers
* Soul bonds
* Yearning
* Romance focused romantic fantasy

I ate this book up. I love me some vampires so I knew I was going to enjoy it.

This is definitely heavy on the romance rather than the fantasy. It focused more on our main characters relationship growth than a plot which I don’t mind but would have liked a little bit more of a dive into the world.

It has a simplistic reading style and I think it benefited being in third person as we got to see more of the different characters perspectives than what we would have got with first person. There was a bit of spelling mistakes or grammatical errors but hey it didn’t stop me from reading.

I really enjoyed the characters in this. I loved seeing the side characters romances as well as our main couple. I love a man who yearns and that’s what we got with Euclid.

It was an enjoyable read and also a standalone so if you love some yearning vampires, here you go.
Also, Avendell CRUSHED this cover.

Check TWs and CWs
Happy reading 🩶

[adriana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I gave this an earnest try, making it 70% of the way, but I didn’t feel like forcing myself to finish — my tbr is closely pushing 2k, there is no time to waste 😅 The cover is what got me here. It started off strong, but little by little, my interest steadily declined.

Like many people mentioned, the writing needs some touching up, from the grammar to the overall narration. There were many times I had to reread dialogue to really understand who said what.

Plot-wise, I just felt like it was going around in pointless circles. I really disliked how literally everyone except her vampire husband was having to tell her things. Like man up dude & TALK TO HER YOURSELF.

I was waiting for the moment Elucid/the vampires redeemed themselves because what do you mean I, the reader, have to just excuse their barbaric slavery & murder solely because the mcs are soul mates & he had a strict daddy? 🤨 Nope, not buying that.

Tension buildup was mostly flimsy imo — like the night of the Moon Ceremony, the fmc goes to see him, after being told what exactly is happening, because she “needed to see if it was really happening.” I want better foreplay than that.

[Lauren · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 15%.
Saw this mentioned on TT and decided to check it out after seeing the rave reviews (and seeing that it's pretty much a Dramione fanfic?)
The story might have potential, but I couldn't get past the horrible editing. So many typos, incomplete sentences, no paragraph breaks when the subject changed, no break up of conversations so you knew who was actually talking, mixing past and present tense in a way that made no sense, etc.
It kept pulling me out of the story every page, so I just gave up.
Get some serious editing on this and it might be enjoyable.

[Vintagev_reads · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can’t. This needs some serious reworking. The story is in third person and “she” is used as a sentence starter SO often. I’m talking 6+ times in ONE paragraph level of excessive. When they don’t start with “she” it’s “her” or “Emmeline” 98% of the time… DNF.

[Ash ♡ · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was excited for what is being marketed as a Dramione-coded, Sleep Token-esque, Vampire-romance. However, this was not really that..

There were a lot of inconsistencies in the story, and the pacing felt off throughout. It leaned heavily on telling rather than showing, which made it hard to stay immersed. I couldn’t connect with any of the side characters--they lacked depth and felt more like props than people. The plot had real potential, but it needed a grittier, more grounded execution. At times, it felt like watching a play: the curtains close and suddenly you’re in the next staged scene.

That said, the spicy scenes were surprisingly well done.

On paper, it ticked all the boxes of something I’d usually love, but unfortunately, it ended up being a total miss for me. I might’ve enjoyed it more if the Dramione and Sleep Token comparisons hadn’t been part of the marketing. I think that set my expectations high, and I ended up disappointed.

[Krystal · Rating 1 out of 5]

Mkay what…. I DNF’d this. I started it cause I heard it had dramione vibes and then literally in the first chapter there’s a scene where the fmc goes to ‘get the knife from the sheath on her thigh’ and then literally 2 iPhone pages later she went to ‘get the knife from the sheath on her thigh’ like what. Did she forget she JUST DID THAT and no one caught that and this is published ?! Idk couldn’t continue

[Stormborn Bookshelf · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5⭐️

It wasn’t so bad, but when it comes to vampire romance I have extremely high expectations and it’s very hard to find books that live up to them.

This was very predictable and I feel I have read way too many books like this one to truly enjoy it at this point of my reading journey.

Would I recommend this to a younger reader or to someone that has just started reading? Absolutely yes.
Lesser Gods is a dramione coded vampire romance that has so many cute elements, 20 years old me would have enjoyed for sure.
Can’t say the same for 31 years old me though since it was quite predictable and cliché.

It was still entertaining for what it is worth and therefore I am adding 0.5 to my rating.

[Jenny Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was it the best written? No.
Was it a vibe? Yes.

[Michaela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly enjoyed the book, but there are some errors in the writing which stand out. Overall quick read, predictable but I read like 80% in one sitting bc I didn’t want to put it down.

[Tala · Rating 1 out of 5]

Why do I keep doing this to myself?

A good idea for a plot ruined by sloppy & lazy writing.
Typos, missing punctuation, inconsistencies, it’s a literal mess of a book.

[Coco · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF after chapter 1. I was so excited about this book based on the premise but the writing was extremely stilted and there were so many grammatical errors in the first few pages that made it impossible for me to continue. About one sentence in three could have used serious editing - missing words, changing tenses, heavy use of cliches, etc. I can't judge the overall plot of the book, but the writing quality was extremely disappointing. I usually don't rate a book that I didn't complete (let alone one that I read so little of), but the editing errors were so rampant that I feel like this is a fair reflection of my experience.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adore this book. I love the main characters, and the slow burn romance. It's full of all the tropes: arranged marriage, enemies to lovers, vampire x human. But the tropes are all very well done here; and, frankly, tropes exist because we love them! There's a nice balance between plot and spice. I also find the supporting characters to be well-developed and lovable. I've actually read it twice since I bought it at the end of May because I couldn't get it out of my head. I can see this being a frequent re-read.

[Shalenah Woolbright · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF
Don't judge a book by its cover...or assume it's worth the read. ☹️
I so wanted to like this book as a fellow Oklahoman. However, I couldn't get past the poor grammar and the odd syntax of the main character. The first chapter really held my attention, but everything after that is a blur of unnecessary descriptions, poor spelling, and (again) REALLY odd sentence structure. An editor, or three, would have really helped.

[Brittni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would you be willing to enter an arranged marriage with a vampire to bring peace to your people? ✨🌙

You've got a human vs vampire war, a forced/arranged marriage and slight twist near the end. The Lesser Gods by Heather Dubree sends Emmeline off to the vampire kingdom of Aeternalis to enter a marriage contract with the vampire prince to end the war and bring peace to both vampires and humans alike. Little does she know there's going to be a surprise waiting for her at the altar. Can she find it in her to forgive the vampires for all they've done to her people or will her burning hatred win out in the end?

I'm going to give this a 3 out of 5 stars. The potential for a good story is there for sure. It definitely still needs even more proofreading and editing but it wasn't enough to deter me from continuing the book. While the start of the story was intriguing and we learn a lot about the human side of the world, I would've liked to read more world building on the vampire side, especially about the vampire religion and the story behind it. I was also hoping to hear more about the neighboring vampire kingdom that uses the giant wolves in their attacks! The end felt a bit rushed and thrown together, like it all happened too quick.

Again, none of this is to say that it's a bad book! I still thoroughly enjoyed what I did read and the tropes that are in here are some of my absolute favorite! 💕

• Vampire/Human
• White-haired MMC
• Yearning
• Forced/Arranged Marriage
• Slow Burn

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you crave a deliciously slow-burn, mortal-enemies-to-lovers romance? How about an MMC who worships the FMC and radiates the best touch her and die energy? And let’s not forget—vampires, political intrigue, betrayal, and spice that is pure chef’s kiss.

If you haven’t read The Lesser Gods by Heather Dubree yet, what are you waiting for? This book is a masterpiece of lush world-building, lovable yet deeply complex characters, and a romance that will have you absolutely feral.

Emmeline has spent her entire life fearing vampires, longing for a world where humans aren’t hunted like prey. Euclid, raised to see humans as nothing more than food, has hardened himself to meet his ruthless father’s expectations. But when fate collides their worlds in an unexpected way, everything changes.

Their story is breathtaking, filled with tension, longing, and one of the hottest scenes ever written—where they’re not even in the same room. Trust me, you need this book in your life.

[Alyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an enjoyable read (there's always something about vampires isn't there?). That being said, there were a few things that kept me from fully immersing myself in the story. For example: there were a few lines that were reused which dragged me out of the story, I often had a sense of dejá vu - like I'd read this book before due to how similar it felt to other things I've read, and the characters and their connections felt a bit flat at times which made it hard to care about them. But mostly I struggled with the sudden shift between the FMC and love interest. One moment they were mortal enemies and the next she seemed like she wanted to jump him. I really wanted to love this book - but alas. But again - did enjoy myself. And telepathy sex? Hello, yes, here for it..

[Za · Rating 3 out of 5]

"I'd rather my entire family dynasty burn...than risk losing you"
What a violent little love story 💗. Memorable characters, a storyline that keeps you engaged and not over the top. The focus is very much the love story. This is a relatively short read, a little less than 300 pages. It's not repetitive and it's not a lot of filler it is very descriptive and it's not overtly spicy. It's self published, so there are errors and you can get lost at time with missing quotations, but I am here for the vibes. The story line covers a short period of time and one point of view. I would have love to see other points of view but that didn't take away from the book solid 3 stars.

[Kendra May · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW! HOW IS THIS NOT ON EVERYONE'S TBR

I picked this book up yesterday after a friend recommended it. Going in completely blind. I can not express enough how unputdownable this book was. I read it in less than twenty-four hours.

The characters were all extremely well-rounded. The slow burn romance was both epic and hilarious. It had everything that you look for in an epic romantasy. War, revenge, spice, found family, and one hell of a plot twist!

[Bai · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all, I would just like to say that the author is such a kind person who deserves all the success. This was my first ever ARC read, and I’m just so happy that it was this. I absolutely devoured it, the banter was amazing, the world was enjoyable, and it definitely gave Dramione vibes…iykyk. I just love a vampire romance what can i say 🤷🏻‍♀️ There was further editing that needed to be done, but in no way should that prevent anyone from enjoying this story! Thank you again for the opportunity of receiving an ARC, and I can’t wait to see what else is in the future!

[Nicole Sears · Rating 4 out of 5]

FLEW through this book in TWO days! This is the kid of book where once you get settled into the world, it's a book you can't put down. I definitely wanted more spice but I wasn't displeased with the spice that it did have!

[Stevi Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I do love a standalone about vampire gods ✨ 10/10 recommend.

[Brenna Padilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay first official vampire book that I’ve read, and I LOVED IT!!! Obsessed with the MMC and MFC, this book had so many twists and turns, had me gasping and laughing the whole way through. 🤗❤️🫶

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall the story was fine, quite predictable though. But there were a lot of writing mistakes which made it confusing to read at some times.
And I'm not just about the timing in the story, 2 full moons in 2 weeks seem odd but maybe I read it wrong.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This needed a LOT of editing but it was fun and quick.