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The Emberrun #1
Marked by Flames
A multi-POV novel told entirely in first person.
Kiya Cain never wanted to be chosen. She didn’t want power. Didn’t want a Bond. She wanted silence, distance, and a place no one could find her. But Emberrun is not the kind of place you find by accident. It is the kind of place that calls you when it’s ready to burn.
And Kiya is already on fire.
Marked by trauma, hunted by the man she escaped, and carrying a legacy she doesn’t yet understand, Kiya stumbles into a territory guarded by three Hollowborn Sovar... Kael, Ronan, and Orren. Each one carved by bloodline, shaped by loss, and pulled by something older than instinct. None of them expected her. But the moment she arrives, the land begins to stir. And the fire she carries starts to rise.
They are not just wolves. And she is not just a woman. She is Solenya.
To accept them means surrendering to the Bond. To the Cindering. To the truth buried in her blood and bone.
But Kiya has never been a woman who surrenders.
As old enemies circle, fractured bloodlines stir, and the Gate begins to open, Kiya must choose what kind of power she is willing to become. The kind that consumes. Or the kind that claims.
Because in Emberrun, nothing stays buried. Not the past. Not the bond. Not the fire.
And Solenya does not kneel.
Kiya Cain never wanted to be chosen. She didn’t want power. Didn’t want a Bond. She wanted silence, distance, and a place no one could find her. But Emberrun is not the kind of place you find by accident. It is the kind of place that calls you when it’s ready to burn.
And Kiya is already on fire.
Marked by trauma, hunted by the man she escaped, and carrying a legacy she doesn’t yet understand, Kiya stumbles into a territory guarded by three Hollowborn Sovar... Kael, Ronan, and Orren. Each one carved by bloodline, shaped by loss, and pulled by something older than instinct. None of them expected her. But the moment she arrives, the land begins to stir. And the fire she carries starts to rise.
They are not just wolves. And she is not just a woman. She is Solenya.
To accept them means surrendering to the Bond. To the Cindering. To the truth buried in her blood and bone.
But Kiya has never been a woman who surrenders.
As old enemies circle, fractured bloodlines stir, and the Gate begins to open, Kiya must choose what kind of power she is willing to become. The kind that consumes. Or the kind that claims.
Because in Emberrun, nothing stays buried. Not the past. Not the bond. Not the fire.
And Solenya does not kneel.
551 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 29, 2025
80 people are currently reading
7 people want to read
About the author
Raven DeNoir
30 books16 followersI write love stories with body counts.
Dark romance is my lane — mafia wars, Bratva bloodlines, and women who don’t flinch when the world burns. If you’re looking for soft billionaires or cute misunderstandings, this ain’t it.
My books are about obsession, power, loyalty, and survival. They bleed. They fuck. They love hard and kill harder.
Start with Dark Vows. Just don’t expect to come out clean.
Dark romance is my lane — mafia wars, Bratva bloodlines, and women who don’t flinch when the world burns. If you’re looking for soft billionaires or cute misunderstandings, this ain’t it.
My books are about obsession, power, loyalty, and survival. They bleed. They fuck. They love hard and kill harder.
Start with Dark Vows. Just don’t expect to come out clean.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
August 5, 2025
The formatting of this book is wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong!!!! The author is trying to make this book more intense than the story calls for!
Stop.
Breaking up.
Paragraphs.
And the dialogue.
Like this.
Stop.
Breaking up.
Paragraphs.
And the dialogue.
Like this.
July 6, 2025
I really wanted to like this book. It had many elements that I like; black female as the main character, shifters, harem, and small town mystery. However, I found the book boring, and repetitive. The whole book kept repeating "there was a stillness", "there was a quiet", "there was a heaviness/pressure", "he/she didn't flinch" "flames" "fire". I was like i get it, something was off with the town and the main characters. I felt there was not enough action, not enough explanation of what solenya and sovars are and what's there purpose. Why are they needed, who was the enemy. Also, some of the chapters repeated it self out of order. though there are so many elements to this story, I just felt like I got a whole lot of nothing. I'm not sure if book 2 will be worth reading.
May 29, 2025
A Southern Gothic Shifter Romance That Leaves Marks
This book is the kind of storm I crave slow-building, thick with tension, and utterly unafraid to drag you through both tenderness and terror. If you’ve ever wanted a shifter story that means something, where every character is carrying a past they can’t outrun, and the stakes aren’t just personal but ancestral this is it.
What works:
• Voice: The prose isn’t just pretty it’s lived-in, lyrical, sharp when it needs to cut, gentle when it needs to hold you together. The Southern Black woman perspective isn’t window dressing, it’s soul-deep, woven into the language, the silences, the history of the land and people.
• Characters: Kiya isn’t a fairytale princess, she’s a survivor. She’s angry, brave, and refuses to be defined by anyone else’s prophecy. Kael, Ronan, Orren—these men aren’t just “book boyfriends.” They’re complicated, scarred, and as much in need of saving as they are capable of violence. Even the side characters (Tamsyn, Talia) feel like they have whole other novels happening in their shadows.
• Heat: The romance is a slow, aching burn—never cheap, never fade-to-black, and always earned. When they finally come together (in body and soul), it feels less like wish fulfillment and more like catharsis.
• Worldbuilding: The lore is dense but not overwhelming, old magic and new trauma interlocked. The town itself is a character, alive and breathing.
• Danger: No character is safe—not even Kiya. Raven DeNoir makes you feel every threat, every promise, every betrayal. The violence matters. The healing matters more.
What might not work for everyone:
• This book is dark. It deals with abuse, trauma, betrayal, and rage. If you want a light, cozy shifter romance, this ain’t it. But if you want something honest, unafraid, and transformative, you’ll find yourself in these pages.
• You will have questions at the end. But not the kind that leave you unsatisfied—the kind that make you desperate for book two.
Bottom line:
If you want a paranormal romance that will haunt you, heal you, and set you on fire, Marked by Flames is what you’ve been searching for. I’d put it on the shelf with Nalini Singh and Kennedy Ryan except it bites a little deeper.
This book is the kind of storm I crave slow-building, thick with tension, and utterly unafraid to drag you through both tenderness and terror. If you’ve ever wanted a shifter story that means something, where every character is carrying a past they can’t outrun, and the stakes aren’t just personal but ancestral this is it.
What works:
• Voice: The prose isn’t just pretty it’s lived-in, lyrical, sharp when it needs to cut, gentle when it needs to hold you together. The Southern Black woman perspective isn’t window dressing, it’s soul-deep, woven into the language, the silences, the history of the land and people.
• Characters: Kiya isn’t a fairytale princess, she’s a survivor. She’s angry, brave, and refuses to be defined by anyone else’s prophecy. Kael, Ronan, Orren—these men aren’t just “book boyfriends.” They’re complicated, scarred, and as much in need of saving as they are capable of violence. Even the side characters (Tamsyn, Talia) feel like they have whole other novels happening in their shadows.
• Heat: The romance is a slow, aching burn—never cheap, never fade-to-black, and always earned. When they finally come together (in body and soul), it feels less like wish fulfillment and more like catharsis.
• Worldbuilding: The lore is dense but not overwhelming, old magic and new trauma interlocked. The town itself is a character, alive and breathing.
• Danger: No character is safe—not even Kiya. Raven DeNoir makes you feel every threat, every promise, every betrayal. The violence matters. The healing matters more.
What might not work for everyone:
• This book is dark. It deals with abuse, trauma, betrayal, and rage. If you want a light, cozy shifter romance, this ain’t it. But if you want something honest, unafraid, and transformative, you’ll find yourself in these pages.
• You will have questions at the end. But not the kind that leave you unsatisfied—the kind that make you desperate for book two.
Bottom line:
If you want a paranormal romance that will haunt you, heal you, and set you on fire, Marked by Flames is what you’ve been searching for. I’d put it on the shelf with Nalini Singh and Kennedy Ryan except it bites a little deeper.
June 17, 2025
So happy I chose this story it was very great read.
This was a great read, I feel bad that I have to wait a month before the 2 one comes out. When Kiya stood up to Darren, it made me think of the Maya Angelo poem still I rise. To me that’s all weak men do live off your fear, but when you stop fearing them, then they try to do worse damage or even kill you because your doing something they didn’t expect you to do, which is stop fearing them. It is really nice when you have 3 men, you have your back, at any cost to protect you. What’s was the worse part is when a woman like Talia gets jealous, knows that if this man finds you he will hurt or kill you, but she is to jealous to care and puts you in the path of him. Even though she was caught in her mess she still felt she was right for doing what she did. Why fight for someone that don’t want you I never understood that. This was a really great read.
This was a great read, I feel bad that I have to wait a month before the 2 one comes out. When Kiya stood up to Darren, it made me think of the Maya Angelo poem still I rise. To me that’s all weak men do live off your fear, but when you stop fearing them, then they try to do worse damage or even kill you because your doing something they didn’t expect you to do, which is stop fearing them. It is really nice when you have 3 men, you have your back, at any cost to protect you. What’s was the worse part is when a woman like Talia gets jealous, knows that if this man finds you he will hurt or kill you, but she is to jealous to care and puts you in the path of him. Even though she was caught in her mess she still felt she was right for doing what she did. Why fight for someone that don’t want you I never understood that. This was a really great read.
May 29, 2025
This was my first Raven DeNoir and I’m officially hooked. Marked by Flames is messy, raw, and sometimes brutal, but that’s exactly why I couldn’t put it down. The world of Emberrun is unlike anything I’ve read—older, weirder, more dangerous. The lore is so rich I had to slow down and just take it in.
Kiya’s journey hit me in the chest. She isn’t the chosen one by accident—she chooses herself again and again. The romance is slow-burn but also explosive, and every character is fully alive (Talia had me cursing out loud).
There are some tough scenes—Raven doesn’t pull punches. But if you want romance that’s earned, not handed out, and a story where love is sharp-edged and sacred, this one’s for you.
Kiya’s journey hit me in the chest. She isn’t the chosen one by accident—she chooses herself again and again. The romance is slow-burn but also explosive, and every character is fully alive (Talia had me cursing out loud).
There are some tough scenes—Raven doesn’t pull punches. But if you want romance that’s earned, not handed out, and a story where love is sharp-edged and sacred, this one’s for you.
May 29, 2025
This new paranormal shifter romance is like nothing I’ve read before. Shrouded in myth, mystery and untold menace it tells the exciting story of Kiya Cain, a stranger to the town of Emberrun and Kael, Ronan and Orren the strikingly handsome men she meets there and to whom she seems to have an inexplicable bond with. The scene is set from the moment she enters the town's diner and slowly unfolds in vivid, palpable detail. The writing is pure, mystical and every page leaves you wanting more. It was a joy to read and I cannot wait to read more about Kiya and the bond with her three wolves Kael, Ronan and Orren. Be prepared to lose sleep whilst reading this book. You will lose track of time. It is that good.
I was given an ARC and I am leaving my review voluntarily.
I was given an ARC and I am leaving my review voluntarily.
May 31, 2025
Whew!!!! This book brings to life the love story of a fierce, strong and proud Black woman (like many of us see in the mirror daily). But this ain't your typical love story. This is a dark, paranormal romance of a woman that is loved, desired and wanted above all others by not one, not two but three alpha males that were willing to destroy anyone and anything that was foolish enough to come for her. I'm hooked and cannot wait for what is around the bend. It's worth buying!
May 31, 2025
Y’all. I cracked this open thinking I’d read a few pages before bed—next thing I know, it’s 2am and I’m fully invested like I know these people.
Kiya? A whole vibe. Just trying to get through her shift, and here come not one but TWO fine, mysterious men with secrets and stares that could melt steel. I said ohhh we’re doing this.
The tension was giving. The energy was grown and sexy. And the way the author writes these eerie, magical moments with a side of “don’t trust nobody”? Chef’s kiss.
Kiya? A whole vibe. Just trying to get through her shift, and here come not one but TWO fine, mysterious men with secrets and stares that could melt steel. I said ohhh we’re doing this.
The tension was giving. The energy was grown and sexy. And the way the author writes these eerie, magical moments with a side of “don’t trust nobody”? Chef’s kiss.
May 29, 2025
You into the supernatural? Want to read something different? Well this is for you. The main character, Kiya, a woman that has gone through some much and finally finding her power is very inspiring. Now these three men that have entered into her world, my GOD!! Without me giving anything away, just read the book!!!
July 29, 2025
Marked by Flames takes you on a powerful journey from survival to sovereignty, pulling you in from the very first page. It’s an otherworldly, darkly magical experience that feels both deeply personal and profoundly transformative. I wholeheartedly recommend it.
August 2, 2025
DNF tiresome prose
DNF 11% The story line and characters seem so good but the prose is exhausting. It's written in a way that conveys the intensity of the moment but as it's used throughout, every moment is tense and heavy, and so it becomes tiresome. :(
DNF 11% The story line and characters seem so good but the prose is exhausting. It's written in a way that conveys the intensity of the moment but as it's used throughout, every moment is tense and heavy, and so it becomes tiresome. :(
July 7, 2025
DNF!!!
Asking myself if all the repetition is an error and lack of proof reading or an AI byproduct? Not totally against AI to assist as long as the story is well delivered.
Asking myself if all the repetition is an error and lack of proof reading or an AI byproduct? Not totally against AI to assist as long as the story is well delivered.
July 10, 2025
DNF
I really tried to finish. I did. However the way the ‘chapters’ were situated was terrible. It was convoluted af. Also the MFC irritated me.
I really tried to finish. I did. However the way the ‘chapters’ were situated was terrible. It was convoluted af. Also the MFC irritated me.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews