New Release: Sweet Venom of Time by Sara Samuels

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Happy release day to one of my most anticipated dark fantasy romances of the year. Sweet Venom of Time by Sara Samuels arrives Tuesday, August 19. If you have been living inside the Blade of Shadows universe, you already know this series. It is not just another time travel romance. It is a labyrinth of timelines, power plays, cosmic rules, and impossible choices that ripple across families and centuries. It is a saga that punishes cowardice. It rewards loyalty. It reminds us that love can be the sharpest weapon in a world built on shadows.

This is Book 6 of 7, and it is a big one. At 582 pages, it reads like a fever dream you do not want to wake up from. It is available on Amazon, Kindle Unlimited, and Barnes & Noble. The early response has been glowing, and I can see why. Sara Samuels goes for the jugular here. She trusts the reader. She assumes you have been paying attention to every breadcrumb and every quiet line of dialogue. You should note every mention of Solaris and every whispered name inside the Timehunter Society. If you are new, please start at Book 1. This is a series you must read in order. Otherwise, you will miss the emotional freight that makes it so special.

Here is what makes this release extra delicious. The book gives us the forbidden love story that shaped the entire series. We finally step into the past and meet the two people whose choices tore open the future. This tells the parents’ story behind Roman and Marcellious. They are central figures whose lives and loyalties have defined much of the series conflict. We knew their parents’ history mattered. We just did not know how much. Now we do.

The worldbuilding continues to be one of my favorite parts of reading Sara Samuels. She writes with the confidence of a creator who knows her rules and uses them to turn the knife. Time is a weapon here, and it is also a curse. Power draws a cost. Loyalty is transactional inside the Timehunters, yet it also becomes a tragic faith. Every choice creates consequences that fold back on themselves like origami. The plot never meanders. It coils tighter and tighter, then strikes.

I also want to shout out how cinematic the opening chapters feel. We are in France in 1761, then we cross to Anatolia, then to England. We witness the buildup to a battle. There is a poison fog and a chilling masquerade of power. A father’s cruelty lands like an iron collar around his daughter’s throat. We also meet Amir Hassan. He has been the shadowy nightmare stalking the Timehunter Society. Now, he finally speaks in his own voice. It is haunting, violent, and raw, yet it is deeply human. And finally, we meet Elizabeth Alexander, who is grieving, isolated, and under her father’s control, yet not broken. Their collision is instant, charged, and full of terrible promise.

If you are here for tropes, here is a quick sampler platter. Enemies to lovers. Forbidden love. Undercover infiltration. Secret identities. Touch of destiny. Found family inside a ruthless brotherhood. Powerful heroine trapped in a gilded cage who decides she will not stay small. Antihero who has to choose between vengeance and the person who ruins his plans. Political marriage threat. Ballrooms and blood. Snakes, masks, and poison. It is catnip for those of us who like our romance to flirt with ruin.

I am a huge nerd for story structure. I noticed how carefully this book is positioned inside the series arc. The author’s note confirms that you should read Book 5 first, when Amir first steps out of the shadows. Book 6 then unravels his origin. It also reveals the parents’ love story. This reframes everything we think we know about Roman, Marcellious, and the fault lines between rival factions. It is the behind-the-scenes reel. It explains who pulled the strings. It shows how the separations happened. It reveals why so many people were willing to burn the world to protect or destroy a single bond.

WHAT IT IS ABOUT

Elizabeth Alexander, daughter of England’s most feared Timehunter leader, has been raised inside a machine that eats the weak. Amir Hassan is the blade aimed at that machine, sworn to dismantle it piece by piece. Fate ties them together. Love becomes their most dangerous secret. It is their only chance to bring the Timehunter Society to its knees.

WHY I CAN’T WAIT

I have a lot of feelings about this book, so consider this the long coffee chat version. Pull up a chair.

1) The parents’ love story raises the emotional stakes for the entire series.
Series prequels can be tricky. Sometimes they read like bonus content. This is not that. Sweet Venom of Time functions like a hinge. Once you read it, the door of the saga opens wider. All the earlier books align differently in your head. Roman and Marcellious are not just products of fate. They are the result of a decision. Two people who should never have met made this choice. They absolutely should never have fallen in love. That knowledge adds gravity to every scene set in the later timeline. Now you feel the history thrumming beneath the dialogue.

2) Amir Hassan’s voice is a revelation. In Book 5, Amir stepped out of the shadows like a myth. Here, he is a man. He is not a safe man. He is not a gentle man. He is a man with a code, a past, and a wound that explains why he became the Black Wraith. I do not want to spoil the set pieces. The Paris sequence with the poison fog is horrifying. It is one of the most memorable openings I have read this year. The aftermath in Anatolia, with Lazarus and the snakes, is gruesome. It is oddly sacred. This scene clarifies the level of magic at play. It also complicates Amir. He is not just a mask and a blade. He is mercy withheld and mercy learned.

3) Elizabeth is more than a pawn, and I loved that for her. Elizabeth’s introduction knocked the breath out of me. She is grieving her brothers. Her father treats her like a business deal. The threat of a grotesque arranged marriage sits on her chest like a stone. Yet she starts to resist. Not with flashy defiance. With sanity saving decisions. She grabs moments of choice and refuses to let them go. The first time she and Amir collide in the corridor. It is electric. What hooked me was not the sizzle. He recognizes her. She recognizes him. From that second onward, everything is in motion.

4) The writing pairs velvet atmosphere with razor edges. Sara Samuels leans into Gothic mood, historical texture, and sensory detail. The Paris streets feel wet with fog. The manor in England smells like stale power. The study scenes with Thomas Alexander make your skin crawl without a single jump scare. At the same time, she does not linger so long that the plot loses urgency. There is always onward motion. There is always a choice pressing down on the characters. When violence erupts, it is fast and surgical. When tenderness appears, it feels like a secret passed hand to hand in the dark.

5) The family tree matters, and it is not decorative. I am including the official family tree graphic in this post, and I encourage readers to study it. The connections between Elizabeth and Amir, Roman and Olivia, Marcellious and Emily, and so on, are not accidents. Names like Mathias, Balthazar, Angelo, and Zara are signposts pointing to old wrongs and future reckonings. Even the children’s names, like Astrid, Meya, Revna, Tove, and Freya, suggest the next generation’s role in this saga. The tree helps you track alliances and betrayals across time, which becomes vital as secrets surface in Book 6.

6) Forbidden love is treated as both a gift and a responsibility. I love a pretty romance as much as anyone, but this story is not pretty. It is full of cost. Elizabeth and Amir are not sacrificing for a vibe. They are gambling their lives and the lives of people who rely on them. That is why the intimacy, when it arrives, hits like a benediction instead of a plot device. Love gives them the nerve to do the unthinkable inside a brutal system. Love also exposes their softest parts to the sharpest knives. The book respects that tension and never looks away from it.

7) The Timehunter Society remains one of the most compelling fantasy organizations I have read. So many fantasy series give us secret orders that feel like aesthetic wallpaper. Not here. The Timehunters are a machine built to harvest power through cruelty. They police bloodlines, they worship control, and they believe time itself belongs to them. The English faction gains special attention in this book, and the portrait is not kind. Yet the point is not shock. The point is complicity. Sara Samuels keeps circling the question many of us think about when we read dark fantasy. What would you do to be safe. What would you excuse to keep your place. Who would you become if the world taught you that love is weakness.

8) The time travel rules are strict, and the plot uses them like trip wires. I appreciate when time travel has a cost and a logic that is more than hand-waving. In Book 6, the phases of the moon, the rituals, and the way bodies respond to crossing make sense. How souls respond also aligns with what we have already seen. Those rules do not just exist to look smart. They drive decisions. They make the characters choose patience when they want to run. They turn certain locations into choke points. They allow an enemy to predict a move, or an ally to stall for hours that feel like years. That grounded approach keeps the stakes high and the twists fair.

9) The prose balances brutality with grace. There are images in this book that will stay with me. The cracked white mask grinning like a skull. The ballroom floor littered with bodies that did not merely fall, they melted. The serpent venom used as medicine. A daughter forced to accept a marriage contract that reads like a sentence. And then, woven through the horror, there are soft things. A hand that steadies. A breath that calms. An apology that arrives without conditions. That balance is why the story works. The darkness is not a costume. The light is not naive.

10) It moves the series toward its endgame without sacrificing character. With a seven book plan, Book 6 has to carry heavy weight. It needs to explain the past. It must set the trap for the future. It also needs to stand on its own as a love story. It does all three. The masquerade plot is clever and tense. The infiltration in England is a chess match with knives. The betrothal announcement scene is a nightmare that exposes who Thomas Alexander and Lord Winston really are. Yet amid the spectacle, the book keeps returning to two people. They are trying to hold on to a bond that was never allowed to exist. That is the heartbeat that keeps the pages turning.

Personal reading notes for fellow mood readers: Expect a darker tone than Book 5. There will be a more intimate focus on the psychology of power. Expect a villain who believes cruelty is a birthright. Expect a mentor figure who is not safe but is necessary. Expect brothers in arms who are ruthless with their enemies and tender with each other. Expect a heroine who refuses to let grief calcify into obedience. Expect a hero who learns that vengeance is easier than hope. Expect chapters that beg you to slow down and absorb the atmosphere. Then, expect scenes that force you to read with your shoulders around your ears.

Tropes and vibes in one breath: Enemies to lovers, forbidden romance, and a slow burn with sharp turns. There’s an undercover lord and the threat of an arranged marriage. A masked vigilante and courtly politics add drama. Think of ballrooms that hide knives and ancient alchemy. There is ruin kissed tenderness, fate testing free will, and morally gray everything.

Who will love this book: Readers who want dark fantasy with a strong romantic through line. Readers who liked the political games of K. J. Charles but want a supernatural twist. Readers who love the sweeping historical mood of Outlander but prefer sharper stakes and a morally messier world. Readers live for the hero’s moment of vulnerability. They cherish when he sets down a blade to touch the person who terrifies him. They elicit a craving for a life he did not think he deserved.

What I am bringing into Book 7 because of this book: A thicker skin. I will have a longer memory. I will keep a closer eye on anyone who claims to harvest power without paying a price. Also a truly unhelpful crush on a man who wears a cracked white mask like a second face. Send help.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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Sara Samuels is the author of the Blade of Shadows series. It is a time travel fantasy romance saga known for intricate plotting, cinematic action, and high emotional stakes. When she is not tormenting her characters in the nicest way possible, she enjoys reading romance. She also loves cooking and baking. Additionally, she spends time with her family. She loves hearing from readers. Follow her on her socials for updates, snippets, and behind the scenes peeks.
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A quick note of appreciation. Writing a six book arc that still holds surprises is hard. Creating a six book arc that reveals a parent love story this late is a challenge. Making it feel essential is even harder. Thank you, Sara, for trusting your readers to follow you into the dark.

Let’s Talk

Do you enjoy a prequel love story that reframes everything? Or do you prefer to keep the past off the page? If you are already deep in Blade of Shadows, what was your first impression of Amir and Elizabeth together. If you are new, are you a purist who reads in order? Or do you prefer to jump in where the hype is? Tell me in the comments, and please keep spoilers gentle so new readers can join the fun.