THE EMPEROR IS HERE. AND SHE MADE HIM WORSE.

Rae is a fantasy reader who’s been transported to her favorite fictional world of swords and sorcery, castles and monsters. Playing the villainess, she thought she could change the narrative, but this version of the plot is far much more deadly than the one she knew.

Her friends are on the run: the Cobra shelters in an eerie manor haunted by dark secrets, while Emer and Lia stoke a revolution in the gutters. Undead armies roam the kingdom, raiders camp at the city gates, and the irresistible emperor – Rae’s favorite character ever, now possibly the greatest monster in the land – wants her to be his evil queen. 

Romantic in fiction, complicated in reality. What’s a villainess to do? Time for wicked bargains and fake engagements, in a fantasy where the most dangerous thing you can do is believe in someone.

Published
May 12, 2026
Where to find this book
External links open a book search at the selected retailer. Availability may vary.
Time of Iron

The series

Full series details →
Risingshadow

Anticipation distribution

How anonymous reader anticipation is distributed across the 1–10 scale.

100
91
81
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
Risingshadow

Be the first reviewer

Sign in and write the first reader review.

Risingshadow

Readers Also Enjoyed