Going Rogue: A Sapphic Romantasy Novella

by Vivien Nash

All Kestrel wanted was a clueless merchant to rob. Instead, she’s saddled with a prickly witch set on an impossible heist.

Kestrel is fully prepared to spend her day as she always does: hiding in plain sight, badly composing rhymes, and maybe catching a nap while waiting for a well-off victim to stumble into her ambush. But instead of a cashed-up mark, she gets a damsel in distress.

Turns out Sera is a witch, who doesn’t at all appreciate being treated as a damsel, especially since Kestrel’s ambush-turned-rescue has made all her carefully laid plans go up in smoke. If Kestrel wants the reward for her good deed, she must make up for her tiny little lapse in judgement by helping Sera infiltrate the local bandit camp.

There is only one problem.

The witch is prickly, sharp-tongued, and absolutely doesn’t want her there–which makes her alluring in a way gold and prized jewels never were. She quickly learns that some things are worth more than coin… but Kestrel isn’t quite sure how to steal a heart.

This novella is available for free on Vivien Nash's website.

Genres: Novella

67 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 24, 2026

About the author

Early on, Vivien Nash took one long look at reality and decided she did not like it. The solution? Build her own queernormative stories where all genders stand equal and the morally grey rogue always gets her hard-earned happily ever after—no matter how much she insists she doesn’t need one.

When she’s not writing queer fantasy adventures packed with tension, tenderness, and just enough heat to keep things fun, Vivien disappears into other people’s stories, experiments in the kitchen (good food fixes most things), and works out purely because she thinks muscles are cool (some of her stories might or might not include a muscle mommy ready to crush you between her thighs). She does not enjoy being perceived, but she is more than happy to share her fictional worlds with you.

If you’re looking for dark sapphic fantasy, soft-for-her romance, found family, and heroines who learn that needing someone doesn’t make them weak, welcome. You’re exactly where you’re supposed to be.

Reviews

[Anna Makowska · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very satisfying short, sapphic, swashbuckling novella.

Novellas can be such a hit-or-miss for me, as often the short form contorts the stories into really odd pacing, it's either too cramped or a nothingburger, but this one chose a perfect amount of story to tell in these 50-something pages.

Kestrel, a rogue, saves a prisoner of a bandit group in hopes for a ransom, only to find out said prisoner is not who Kestrel assumed she was, and was on a rescue mission of her own. Kestrel is torn between her habit of being a self-serving lone wolf, and her attraction to the stranger woman (and maybe also hope of becoming more than just a robber). There's a pretty hilarious push-pull dynamic between the woman claiming she's not the helping type and the woman who claims she doesn't need any help, and yet they end together in the adventure.

There's also one spicy scene at the end, but the bulk of the story is adventure fantasy, not erotic exploits.

I couldn't help but love Kestrel and her bravado, and her interactions with Sera were quite fun. I'm often wary of sapphic fiction because it trends towards yearning, melancholy, forbidden romance and I prefer my women ferocious rather than sad, but here the "we can't be together" was a really small aspect, mostly stemming from the fact it's a novella happening over very short period of time, so it's hard to make big plans just after meeting someone, especially in an antagonistic circumstances, while shameless flirting was played up, and I loved it. I do prefer my women confident rather than demure. I was raised on Xena and Tank Girl, so 2 women sowing chaos is my kind of jam.

It was a fast and fun read!

ARC received through the author's newsletter. I'm voluntarily leaving my honest opinion.

P.S. How come I'm first. 😆

[Steve Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not sure if this is a long short story or a short novella, but at 60ish pages, it can be consumed over a lunch hour.

Sera, a witch, has been captured by bandits with the intent to ransom her. Kestrel, an “independent contractor”, not above a little theft to support herself, decides to swipe the bounty from the bandits and negotiate her own reward for rescuing her.

She easily succeeded, only to find the witch didn’t want to be saved, and in fact had nothing of value. Her intent was to find the bandit camp and make off with what they had taken from her. Kestrel offers to help Sera find the camp, but witches don’t need help. Usually. She begrudgingly accepts and the two set off.

Their travails force them together and they sorta, almost, kinda awkwardly become friends. It’s cute and embarrassing, like a high school girlfriend romance. There is little more than some canoodling, if you are worried about steamy bits. For medieval tale enthusiasts with swordplay and adventure, this will hold you attention for at least a little while.

I downloaded a free copy from the author’s website. I was not bewitched into writing this. Almost 5 stars, but a bit too short. I wanted to read more about these two!

[Sasha · Rating 4.25 out of 5]

This was a free novella sent by the author via her newsletter.

Its a short read at under 70 pages but I admit I quite enjoyed it. Both Kestrel and Sera were endearing to me, Kestrel is such a cocky little rogue and Sera the prickly confident witch.

If I have a "complaint" about it, its that when it ended I wanted a little more because I enjoyed these two and their infiltration against bandits - maybe we will get more of them in the future (I can hope)

[Nicole · Rating 3.75 out of 5]

Going Rogue is a short romantasy by Vivien Nash. This novella is my first read by the author, and I am glad to have more of their work on my TBR. The book is a quick and entertaining story that starts strong. I like the writing style. It is descriptive enough to set a vivid scene, but it does not use so many words that the pacing suffers. I got a good sense of the main characters' personalities right away, and that matters to me when there are so few pages to work with. I enjoy the banter between Sera and Kestrel and their believable chemistry. Though the relationship is insta-lust, it is well done, and I appreciate it for what it is: no big declarations, just possibilities.
Sera is a sassy witch on a quest to recover a friend from a band of vicious bandits and is "rescued" by Kestrel, a lone thief who is lying in wait for her next mark. Kestrel is playful and capable. The two protagonists butt heads right away, but they also have an immediate attraction. There is delicious tension and a steamy scene.

I think this passage is quoteworthy and perfectly sums up their personalities.

Sera supposed it might be fair to maybe acknowledge that. The words felt stuck in her throat. “Thank you,” she said eventually, with some difficulty. Kestrel stared at her. “Come again?” Sera narrowed her eyes. “Absolutely not. That is all you’re getting from me.”

My criticism is that the ending feels abrupt. I like where the story is going, but I think I need just a little more for it to feel complete. For me, there were also a couple of unanswered questions.

Remaining Questions:
1. How did Cael get in trouble with the Bloody Eagles?
2. Why did Kestrel take off after the event in the woods?

Going Rogue is a fun adventure. I am looking forward to reading more by this author.

#fantasy #romantasy #novella #witch #bandits #thief #grumpysunshine #enemiestolovers #wittybanter #instalust #fantasticalbeast #HEA
I received a gift copy through the author's newsletter. This is my honest opinion.