Velvet Thorns

The Broken Devotion Duet, Book 1

By: Lea Rose

Narrated by: Rachel Dane, Brandon Francis

Ten years ago, Phoenix Cassidy ripped my heart out and left me humiliated.

Tonight, I’m here to return the favor.

One night.

One school reunion.

One perfectly laid trap.

I disappeared after what he did. I changed my name, buried the past, and swore I’d never let him touch a single part of me again. But standing in front of him again, it all comes rushing back.

The ache.

The betrayal.

The fire.

He doesn’t recognize the girl he destroyed. But by the time tonight ends, he’ll remember everything.

©2025 Lea Rose (P)2026 Lea Rose

Phoenix & Shannen 🥀

🌟:5 🌶️:2 🎧:5

Literally the perfect dark romance novella, all wrapped in thorns and revenge. 😈

Can I please have a man as obsessed with me as Phoenix is with Shannen?? 😩 This man is obsessed to the point that he has never kissed or been with anyone since her, which was 10 YEARS AGO. Ughhh, the yearning 🫠

“𝙷𝚘𝚠 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝙸 𝚔𝚒𝚜𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕 𝚘𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚙𝚜? 𝙸’𝚖 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚊𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚢 𝚟𝚒𝚛𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚢-𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝. 𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝙸’𝚟𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚘𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞.”

I became obsessed with Lea Rose when I first read and DEVOURED Where We Burn, and I just knew I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to listen to her first audiobook. If you could bottle up perfection, it would be this audiobook. It gave me everything I love in a dark romance and it was so easy to consume, how could I not finish it in one go?

It’s the first in a duet, and there is a cliffy, but have no fear.. the ebook for book two, Poison Petals, is out now and you can jump right in!

Brandon Francis & Rachel Dane performed in duet on the audio, and they were such a fantastic pairing. I adore Brandon, and will always enjoy anything he narrates. His narration style is so unique and it totally fit as Phoenix. I’ve never listened to Rachel before, and honestly, that’s my mistake, because she was beyond incredible. Her voice suited Shannen’s character so well, and I loved every second of listening to this!

Diving into Poison Petals now, post-haste! 🖤🖤

please, I beg you, give us the next book on audio!

I read this book twice on my Kindle before listening to it on Audible… When I say that Audible elevated and brought these characters life even more - I’m not kidding. The narrators did such a good job capturing the intensity, especially that is Phoenix Cassidy. You could hear the tension, the hurt, the obsession. It made the whole dark romance vibe feel stronger and more real.

This dark romance novella takes place at a ten year high school reunion that also happens to be a masked Halloween party.. I was so sat. Because there’s just something about a masked party at Halloween that I eat up.
The Shannen goes into the night with a plan and it’s not there to reconnect. She is there for revenge. There was a group of peers in her class that were cruel, but the person who hurt her the most was not just some random guy from school. They grew up together. They were each other’s safe place. She loved him, and he shattered her heart. So everything between them feels heavy and personal.

There is stalking, revenge, morally gray choices, and that shared past that makes it all hit harder. The book may be novella, but it does not feel small. I read it in a couple of hours because I could not put it down.