The Book of Azrael
Dianna is the kind of heroine I’d follow into war, or a morally gray situationship with a reclusive god.
❤️🔥 Into spice, banter & demon princes who don’t know they’re in trouble?
Meet Maren and Evander in Chapter 1 of “A Little Rough, A Little Ruined.”
Don't you know? Love is the purest form of destruction there is.
What Is This Book About?
A thousand years ago, Dianna made a deal with a monster. One moment, she was a desperate sister trying to save the only family she had left. The next, she was something else entirely: immortal, terrifying, and bound to serve a dark power named Kaden. Her mission? Track down the Book of Azrael, a god-level relic that could either stop a war or end the world, depending on who gets to it first.
Liam—formerly known as Samkiel, the World Ender—has spent centuries in hiding, haunted by what he became during the last gods’ war. He’s quiet. Powerful. Very much done with celestial politics. Until Dianna crashes into his life, dragging old chaos back with her.
She’s supposed to kill him. He’s supposed to stop her. Neither of them is in the mood.
They don’t trust each other. Don’t even like each other. But when ancient powers start moving and the fate of multiple realms hangs in the balance, they’re forced into an uneasy alliance. She’s reckless, jaded, and maybe just starting to remember who she used to be. He’s grief-soaked, powerful, and not quite as numb as he wants to be.
The attraction between them is messy. Unwanted. And completely unavoidable.
Because in a world where gods are real, monsters wear crowns, and history is written in blood… falling for the enemy isn’t just dangerous.
It’s divine punishment waiting to happen.
Liam was a Guardian, a savior, a protector of this realm and every realm in between. I was an Ig’Morruthen, the beast of legend he and his friends hunted. I was the monster under the bed. Stories were told of me to keep all divine beings in line. We were destined to fight until the sky bled and the worlds shook. But when he touched me, cradled my face as if I were the most fragile, beautiful being in the world, I melted. - Dianna
Quick Facts
Title and Author: “The Book of Azrael” by Amber V. Nicole
HEA: Cliffhanger
Tropes: Enemies to lovers, slow burn, morally grey, forbidden love
POV: FMC, MMC
Trigger Warnings: Death of a loved one, eating disorder, depression, slut shaming, PTSD
Books in Series: 4 as of June 4th, 2025 (Gods & Monsters series)
Overall Story: ★★★
World Building: ★★★★
Character Development: ★★★
Plot: ★★★
Pacing: ★★★
Spice: 🌶️🌶️
A part of my soul had been waiting for this woman, and one kiss from her had undone me. A voice I couldn’t ignore quietly insisted that she was what I had been missing. - Liam
My Take (Minor Spoilers)
If you told me I’d lose sleep over a book where the heroine shapeshifts, drinks blood to steal memories, and falls in love with a god who doesn’t understand how sarcasm works—I’d believe you. But I’d still be mad you didn’t warn me how much I’d care.
The Book of Azrael is what happens when your enemies-to-lovers story gets handed a god complex, trauma, and a map to hell. It has big lore, big feelings, big “the world is ending and it’s your fault” energy. There’s no info dumping, but you get names, power systems, wars, magical orders, cosmic stakes, and you’re expected to keep up.
Honestly, it reads like someone gave a romance author two emotionally unavailable immortals, a celestial war, a corkboard full of red string, and said, “No notes. Go feral.”
And, god bless her, she did.
Dianna isn’t like other FMCs. She isn’t quirky. She’s not awkward. She doesn’t blush when the scary man flirts with her. She’s lethal on page one, and only gets more terrifying from there. Immortal, morally gray, and powerful enough that people tell bedtime stories about avoiding her, Dianna’s not the FMC you relate to. She’s the one you want on your side when the world catches fire. Maybe even the one you secretly want to be.
But underneath the bad attitude? She’s a woman who made a catastrophic deal centuries ago to save the only person who ever mattered. She would burn the world to save her sister—and honestly, already kind of did.
Then there’s Liam. Or Samkiel. Or the World Ender. Take your pick. He’s a god who lost everything, spent a few thousand years sulking in magical exile, and now gets dragged into a war he didn’t start by a woman who was very recently trying to kill him. He’s closed off, uncooperative, depressed, and doesn’t know how to swear. Dianna fixes one of those things.
Their meet-cute is attempted murder. Their dynamic? A full disaster. They don’t pretend to like each other. It’s all sharp edges and mutual loathing. But they need each other, so they work together. And somewhere along the way, that hostility gets softer. Not sweeter. Just… softer.
The slow burn in this book is a real slow burn. Not a pacing issue. Not foreplay disguised as plot. It's the entire point. Watching two mythic-level disasters try to coexist without giving in to the inevitable is what makes this book tick. There’s no flirty banter by chapter two. No accidental touches that make them spiral. Just long stares, loaded silences, and the occasional “don’t catch feelings, we’re at war” vibes.
I appreciated the emotional weight behind Liam’s trauma. He’s not just sad for flavor. He’s grieving for his realm. His people. His choices. And somehow, Dianna—who was absolutely not hired to do emotional labor—ends up becoming the one person he can rely on when it matters most.
I also have to shout out the sibling bond. Dianna and her sister Gabby are ride-or-die in the truest sense. Diana’s entire character is built on that loyalty, and it anchors her in ways most romances wouldn’t. It’s not the same as Feyre’s loyalty to her sisters in ACOTAR. Dianna literally sells her soul to save Gabby’s life. And everything she becomes (monster, traitor, walking weapon) is filtered through the lens of protecting her. Feyre grows out of her role as protector. Dianna grows deeper into it.
As for the spice: let’s manage expectations. This isn’t a romance that starts with flirty banter and builds to a predictable climax. This is hate. Real hate. Legacy-of-war, “I might stab you while you sleep” hate. The kind that gets complicated when you’re stuck in close quarters with someone who suddenly isn’t as murderable as you thought.
There’s one oral scene near the end, and yes—it’s good. But most of the heat lives in the tension. In the daydreams. In the slow, frustrating ache of almost. If you’re here for frequent open-door scenes, this won’t scratch that itch. But if you love a good “I want you and I really, really shouldn’t” arc? You’re in the right place.
Is this book long? Yes. It’s big in scope, in cast, in lore. This is ancient power meets emotional ruin. The ending left me staring at the page like, Excuse me??
I opened book two within five minutes.
If you like your fantasy romance with war crimes, divine trauma, and enemies who actually hate each other—until they really, really don’t—give this one a whirl.
Just clear your weekend. You're not leaving this world anytime soon.
Just wait till book two 🫢🫣