Once the Skies Fade

Immortal Reveries, Book 2

By: Vanessa Rasanen

Narrated by: Zura Johnson, Shane East

The law is clear: remarry or lose the throne.
But it says nothing about love.

My husband is dead, and I’m the prime suspect. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the law requires I marry by the end of the season, or I lose my kingdom.

I followed my heart the first time; I won’t do it again.

The old tournament tradition could help me select our next king while protecting my broken heart, but I never expected a close friend of my husband’s family to show up to compete.

I don’t know if he believes the rumors and suspects me of murder, but it’s clear someone wants him out of the competition and me off the throne.

Caught in a tangled web of political games and deadly secrets, I must choose between following my wounded heart and keeping my crown… before more end up dead.

Once the Skies Fade is the second in a fantasy romance collection of interconnected stand-alones set in a magical war-torn world, where secrets have power and allies are few. This tale of love lost and fated mates brings a morally grey queen with shadowy secrets and the sarcastic general who could mend her heart… if he doesn’t put a dagger in it first.

©2025 Vanessa Rasanen (P)2025 Dreamscape Media

Wonderfully done!

Narration: I love this narration. Zura and Shane did an excellent job bringing the characters chemistry and story to life.

Plot Review: The best recap of the previous book I have ever read. Thank you Matthias for the recap. His sarcasm and humorous comments were hilarious and provided some lightheartedness to the story. This book does an amazing job portraying the grief and how Calla expressed her emotions of the loss she endured. She is now my favorite shadow weaving fae and my first shadow mommy. The competition was the very intriguing and fun to read. I loved this book and can’t wait to see the next book in this world.

Warm hug

Very happy to see a story about grownups, imperfect but real. Liked it a lot

Intense, moving, and incredible

To start off, Zura and Shane are AMAZING NARRATORS!! They have beautiful voices and bright Matthias and Calla to life! They bring the humor, sensuality, the fear, and the bravery of the story and these characters.

Vanessa wrote such an intense follow up to Until the Stars Fall, which follows General Matthias and Queen Calla after the death of her husband. She’s forced to remarry so she decides to throw a set of trips to pick a new king. This story is about grief, depression, loss, anger, forgiveness, and loving again after losing a first love. Matthias is a sarcastic, snarky golden retriever to Calla’s grumpy, broody, angry self. They fit so well together, and they fight for each other.

Not For Me

I’m a fan of fantasy, but I had a really hard time liking the main character, even at the end. Also I don’t like this trend of explicit torture showing up in fantasy books.