False Legacies

by Amy Briar

Dark romantasy fans will love the glittering social trials, rival courts, three irresistible love interests, and scandal-soaked drama of False Legacies.

Welcome to the Legacy Trials, where power is inherited, secrets are currency, and desire is a weapon.

When Penelope Grimsorrow’s twin is poisoned into a deadly sleep, Penelope is forced to impersonate her at the ruthless Legacy Trials.

Arriving with uncontrolled Legacy magic, Penelope must compete under glittering chandeliers with heirs from the five ruling Houses, their whispered scandals and smiles sharp enough to draw blood.

Her goal is simple: find her sister’s attacker, secure the antidote, and save her House from ruin before she is voted out or her true identity is exposed.

Between her sister’s betrothed watching closely and the golden heir’s charms disarming her every move, Penelope’s facade begins to unravel.

But when a handsome and seductive lord offers her a bargain as tempting as it is dangerous, Penelope finds herself deep in a game she was never meant to play, with every forbidden desire she has tried to bury, threatening to destroy her.

583 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication November 12, 2026

About the author

Amy Briar is an Australian dark romantasy author who writes stories filled with dangerous magic, court scandal and complicated men who are almost certainly a terrible idea. When she isn’t writing, she can usually be found reading romance novels, drinking iced coffee, listening to Taylor Swift or counting down the days until Halloween.

False Legacies is her debut novel.

Find her on Instagram and TikTok at @amybriarauthor

Reviews

[Déirdre]

Release date: 12 November 2026

✔️Morally Grey MMC
✔️Strong FMC
✔️Arranged Marriage
✔️Enemies-to-Lovers vibes
✔️Deadly Trials
✔️Forbidden Love
✔️High Stakes
✔️Reluctant Allies
✔️Forced Proximity

Thank you Amy Briar for gifting me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.
OMG, what a book! I’m calling it now, this is going to be huge, watch this space.
I absolutely devoured it. From the very first page, I was completely hooked and OBSESSED.
I had high hopes going in based off the author's post with the book vibs, and it did not disappoint. Ruthless Houses, secrets, scandal, forbidden desire, deadly trials and a really interesting magic system. I loved the whole setting.
And then we have the MMCs… 👀 There was chemistry, tension, forbidden attraction…a nice bit of spice.
What more can I say, only that I need book 2 immediately!

[Kelly Gamboa]

Thank you to the author for giving me an earc.

So uh. What was that? My brain was functioning that ending! I can't think. I've been played because I was loving one of the love interest and now I'm just like? I feel betrayed. But this book was so good. We follow our main character Penelope pretending to be her twin sister for the trials and trying to find out who put her twin sister to a deep sleep. So many twists and turns that I wasn't expecting. That ending was diabolical. But Penelope we see struggling with self love and we see her coming out to be this strong female character that is sneaky and fiesty. I think it was done really well. The 3 love interests. I'm like confused on who to route for cause like I don't know anymore. I was routing for one till the ending! I'm like shocked at that cliffhanger plot twist. I really love the mystery aspects in here as well and the court politics. Everything was fantastic. I have feeling we will see Penelope be more strong and be more badass in the next one. The romance? Perfection to me. I mean it's messy since its 3 love interests but I love mess. Omg. This was just perfect. Definitely new all time favorite and one of my best books of the year. Infinity stars

[JKaTSTMaR]

Arc Review: False Legacies, Amy Briar.
Release Date: Nov 12, 2026
💙📖✨

I’ll start with; Thank You Amy, for the lovely opportunity to read your Debut Book, False Legacies, in Advance. I was absolutely blown away!

The story features, our FMC, Penelope, avenging her poisoned twin sister, by facing trials on behalf of her house, under the guise of her twin.

Between swooning over Gray, falling for Finn’s Charm, and loving Penelope’s wit— Falling in love with the characters is an understatement!

The Banter and Sass was truly unparalleled. Amy’s writing style is so easy to read. The political intrigue had me on the edge of my seat. I found the trials to be so creative and very well done!

The court drama and the plot pulled me in— and if it wasn’t for the busiest week of my life- I would have read this in one sitting! SO INTERESTING!

And the ENDING had me NEEDING book 2! Looking back at it now— the foreshadowing was there, but the plot twist was astonishing!

I am no writer by any means, but if you were to take away anything — it’s I’m a voracious reader, and I know a good book when I read one and this one will be a story I will be thinking about for a long time! Amazing book! 5 star read!

Again, Thank You Amy For this amazing opportunity, I look forward to reading book 2 and adding your works to my collection asap! This was one of my Favorite reads of the year!!!!

[Kat Hartwell]

Many thanks to the author for the ARC!

I knew as soon as I saw the blurb for this book that I was going to love it, and it didn't disappoint! Right from the dedication to the vibe girlies, this was such a fun ride that I didn't want to end. It's slightly longer than I expected, but the pages absolutely flew by and I was absolutely left wanting more.

The Legacy Trials were interesting to read, woven into the court politics of the story so you never quite knew what would happen next. But where this book really shines is in the moments in between the trials - the alliances, the banter and the backstabbing are all so fun! There are so many twists and turns that I genuinely could not predict where it was going.

Penelope is a great FMC, you really feel her struggle having to live in her sister's shoes and the toll it takes on her. While she may not always make the smartest decisions, this only makes her feel more real.

I knew there would be three MMCs, and I went into it pretty sure which one would be my favourite, but boy was I wrong! All three of them are fun to read, and it will be interesting to see if my favourite changes again in book 2.

The wider cast of characters are also great fun, especially Dario, as well as some I loved to hate (mean girls anyone?)

An incredible debut, I can't wait to see where the story goes next!

[Teddy]

Thank you Amy for my ARC of False Legacies.

The story follows Penelope, who finds her twin sister poisoned and must now secretly take her place in the Legacy Trials to represent her house and find her sisters attacker.

Surviving the trials unharmed is one thing, but surviving the scheming and court gossip to avoid being voted out is another.

Holy shit, I am all in on this book. It really had my attention with the tropes and blurb AND THEN IT FUCKING DELIVERED.

I was fully immersed in the story. I love Amy's writing style. I felt the drama, I felt the tension, I felt it all.

And the last line of the book... 10/10 no notes 👌

I love these characters, I love this book, one of my favourite reads! I know I'm going to be re reading it soon because I can't get enough.

[Claire]

Thank you to Amy Briar for the advanced copy of your book!

I had a feeling from the blurb that I was going to love this book, and it definitely did not disappoint! The story follows our FMC, Penelope Grimsorrow, who is forced to take her poisoned sister’s place in the Legacy Trials.

From the beginning, I felt so sorry for Penelope. She has always been 'the spare' in her family, while her sister was raised to take part in the trials and eventually become head of the family. I really loved watching Penelope grow throughout the book and become more of a badass, especially during the last 20%, where we really got to see that side of her come out.

And then we have our MMC or should I say MMCs, because we definitely have a few to choose from (and I am NOT complaining). Finn definitely stood out the most to me. He has such a happy go lucky personality, but he is also fiercely protective and will fight for the people he loves.

I really enjoyed the story itself, especially learning about the different houses and getting all the gossip happening behind the scenes of the trials. The last 20% was definitely a highlight for me because I was not expecting half of what happened, and I loved every second of it!

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I can’t wait to continue the series. If you love enemies to lovers, high stakes and forced proximity, then you definitely need to add this one to your TBR!

[Laurie]

I loved this! Bridgerton meets Survivor meets Gossip Girl!
When I read the blurb for this I just knew I needed to read it. Let me tell you this did not disappoint!
Penelope our FMC goes into the Legacy Trials as the spare, but by the end she absolutely is no longer that! She is there to avenge her sister and find out who poisoned her. What she gets is deadly trials, house politics and multiple love interests 😉
The banter, the tension, and the twists and turns will have you devouring this book!
And then that ending!!!! I’m feral for the next book!
Thank you Amy Briar for letting me read and review an ARC copy of this book!