Hollow

Don’t listen to the whispers of the woods.

Don’t trust the man cloaked in shadow.

Don’t earn the wrath of the scattered spirits.

Don’t go out after dark.

The Great Hunt begins once every fifty years and only the Champions willing to face death to shatter the curse dare to enter.

The Champions…and me.

I’m no warrior, no swordsmith, and certainly no Fae, but the forest is my only hope. To enter those trees is to walk willingly to my demise. But I need the boon the forest will grant the winner and I’m willing to risk it all for a chance at claiming it.

I just never expected to face him beneath those trees. The beast who strikes fear into the desperate people of all lands. The monster who commands the legion of Hollows and makes our plight a thousand times worse.

The Hollows are empty of all things but none are so heartless as him.

Prince Bane intends to be the death of me. But I have an oath to fulfil before I’ll let him have me. And I’ll do whatever it takes to achieve it.

I am Ferris Creed and I’m going to unite the lost spirits who once bound the wandering trees in place, return the scattered amulets to the core of its corruption, and use the winner’s boon to change my fate. Come wretchedness or torment, through trickery and deception, I will get what I came here for. And no one will stand in my way. Not even Prince Bane.

*** Hollow is a dark Romantasy from the bestselling authors of Zodiac Academy, Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti. It is a heady cocktail of Summoners, seduction and spirits, set to get your heart racing and feet kicking. There will be a ruinous, black hearted love interest, a rebellious, ruthless FMC, plot twists, cliff hangers, dark humour and a healthy seasoning of make-you-blush spice. It is not for the faint of heart. All those who enter the forest are bound by its terms–will you walk willingly into the dark? ***

©2025 Caroline Peckham, Susanne Valenti (P)2025 Caroline Peckham, Susanne Valenti

Not ZA or RB by a mile

This is a strong departure from ZA or RB. I was excited to get something fresh from the twisted sisters. However, it fell short for me. The FMC is truly one of the most selfish and dumb characters I have read in a fantasy novel. I was so disappointed when the Females they normally write are so smart and strong. I am sure there will be redemption at some point but it’s lost on me after book 1. I found myself wishing she would get killed in every battle.
The aura and location were written really well, I felt as if I had entered the forest many times. If only the female protagonist was not so deliberately awful to root for. It did not help that the voice of Ferris was THE WORST, I wish I would have chosen to read the hardback instead of audio. Why you would choose to have stuck up British accent as if she was a rich posh character I will never understand. I normally love when fantasy novels are performed in a British accent, this was not it. Imagine every O sound is pronounced owel with her pinky in the air, it was a conflict of character I could not get past. I also hated the whole sister thing. I mean move on lady. Hendrix’s voice actor did an amazing job it’s so odd his wife fell short. I am normally a big fan of theirs. In the end I missed the humor and intelligence their writing normally reflects. It just left me depressed from start to finish. I will be skipping any additional books in this series.

Spice? More Like Edging Instead and Unfortunate Singing (if you could call it that)

Part of the audiobook blurb said “plenty of spice” but there was very little spice and whole lot of edging instead. Also, the singing was a bit weird and took me completely out of the story - EVERY SINGLE TIME. The FMC’s plot line was glaringly obvious after her first encounter with the bear spirit animal. The end of the book was also very obvious after the FMC first met up with the MMC. ***sigh*** Was really hoping for a better, less predictable storyline. Or even at the very least, less edging.

Original and noteworthy

I came in blind, not knowing a single thing of this book or authors. The writing was top tier and I loved how descriptive their words were. The plot was thick but I’m not sure I’d have loved this book as much as I did if I didn’t listen to it on audible. The narrator’s took this book and ran with it. Incredible voices.

WTH!

What the heck?! I’m not gonna lie I was a little confused for a bit of this, but I was also very sick when I was reading the first half so I think I accidentally missed something. It was had more of a gothic vibe that I was not expecting but not in a bad way! :)

This was one wild ride after the next and pretty action packed and then the end happened and it was untamed!! Desperate for book 2 asap!

I had higher hopes

I Loved the Zodiac Academy series so I was so excited for this story! but I dont know if I enjoyed it as much. still a good story. but it was predictable. I still will preprder the next book for hope it will do better and I will understand it better. the last part was the best part of it all. truly to me it felt it was all Filler.