By Fairest Blood

by Avery Frost

Queen Irenay of Valdivia is under a spell, a curse rather, that makes her irresistible to any man's eye. To maintain the curse, she uses a magic dagger that harvests the life and beauty from whomever she kills with it. Raised to believe that men are nothing but lustful pigs and that love is a weakness, Irenay is satisfied with the power the curse offers her. But a dark past haunts her and causes her to guard her heart relentlessly. That is until a particularly handsome clothier from the village is caught trying to steal from the castle. Instead of killing him, she decided to hire him.

Rayder Ovando wants for nothing. He is the son of the village seamstress and invariably popular with the ladies. But he’s one of the lucky ones. After agreeing to help his best friend raid the castle, Rayder and his friend’s sister, Jalene, are captured. When he witnesses the queen kill Jalene, he is overcome with the need for revenge. But the curse placed upon the queen makes it impossible for him to even think about that need when he’s around her. However, as he starts to unravel the truths of Irenay’s past, he begins to see her in a new light. Perhaps there is more to the curse than meets the eye. As he learns more about her, he learns new things about himself as well, and how breaking the curse could possibly bring back Jalene.

A ravishing tale about discovery, trust, and learning to love again.

226 pages, Paperback

Published October 31, 2020

About the author

Avery started writing Jack Frost fanfiction at 12 years old and knew that she wanted to be a writer. She decided when she read what would become her favorite novel, "Edenbrooke" by Julianne Donaldson, that she wanted to write about characters, stories, and worlds of her own. At 13 she started publishing her fanfiction and eventually an original story on amateur writer and reader website and app, Wattpad. At 14 she met Julianne Donaldson and told her her 3 goals for the future. She wanted to go to Brigham Young University, be an English major, and publish a book before she graduated. "By Fairest Blood" is her debut novel. Avery graduated with a Bachelors degree in English (Creative Writing) from BYU in 2025. She also had minors in Linguistics and Music. She is now a student in the Masters of English program at Weber State University.
Aside from writing and reading, she enjoys watching old Disney channel TV shows and original movies on Disney+, and Bridgerton on Netflix. Her bookshelf is full of proper romance novels written by some of the authors who inspire her. She plays the ukulele and listens to music almost every second of the day.

Reviews

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantasy romance isn’t my usual read. I’m glad I picked this book up and gave it a chance. The vocabulary was rich; the storyline kept me guessing until the satisfying conclusion. Bonus for the clean content. Well done, I can’t wait to read more from this author.

[Abby Dewsnup · Rating 5 out of 5]

By Fairest Blood is gripping, romantic, and dangerous all in one -- It is evident that Avery cares deeply for her characters, and because of that, they come to life on the page. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

[Macall Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few weeks ago Avery reached out to me and offered to send me a copy of her recent book. Of course I accepted! It was fun to have a change of pace 😊

🔪 the first thing I noticed about the book was Avery's writing! It was very well written, and there were many moments in the book that I laughed out loud!

🔪 I will admit that Irenay was a little hard to connect with at the beginning. But as the book progressed, it was easier relate and fun to see her change! And Rayder was just someone I wanted to be friends with 😂

🔪 Throughout the book I thought I knew how it would end. And while some of my predictions were correct, I couldn't have foreseen the direction the book took. Definitely some twists near the end!!

I don't read a ton of fantasy, but it was fun to change it up a bit! Thanks for sending me a copy Avery!

⭐⭐⭐⭐ / 5

[Matisse Balazs (always_reading_romance) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh my heck! This book was so good! It's medieval, but it's also fantasy. Avery does a really great job developing her characters, Irenay and Rayder, and making you fall in love with them. I was hesitant to read this at first because I'm not really into the whole magical powers thing. But I sure am glad I read this one! It was the perfect amount for me. I highly recommend this book to anyone! There were some moments where I had some issues with the verbiage but overall it was a very entertaining and fun read! There is a very unexpected twist that I think readers will enjoy as well. It's a classic fairytale kind of story. And the kissing scene! *swoon*😍 I definitely recommend reading this one!

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

By Fairest Blood is very creative and unique fantasy romance. At first, I wasn't sure if I would like Irenay, but as the story progressed and her backstory is revealed I definitely had a change of heart towards her. The twists at the end were really well done and I was happy with how the story turned out. This is a clean and well written debut novel. I look forward to seeing what else this author writes.
I received a gifted copy of this novel. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Al Gale · Rating 4 out of 5]

My friend Avery wrote this!!!