The Song of the Marked (Shadows and Crowns Book 1) by S.M. Gaither

An ancient evil is stirring. The old gods are growing restless. Can she stop the coming storm? A Devastating Sickness For decades, the Kethran Empire has been plagued by a strange illness that leaches the very life and soul from its victims. The Girl Who Survived Casia is one of the Fade-Marked—one of the few people who caught this sickness and lived. Why she lived is a mystery even to her and the outcast crew of mercenaries she calls her family. It also makes her an intriguing target for the young, enigmatic king-emperor, who claims he wants to work alongside her to find a cure. Unfortunately, working alongside him also means working with the handsome but infuriating captain of one of the most prestigious branches of the Kethran Army. A Soldier With No Past This infuriating Captain Elander also has secrets: A past that Cas can’t seem to uncover, a powerful but strange brand of magic, and a deep distrust of the very monarch that he’s sworn to serve. She feels oddly drawn to him in spite of these things... But can she really trust him? The Fate of an Empire As the bodies pile up and strange monsters begin to wreak havoc throughout the realms, Cas and Elander will have to work together to protect their world whether they trust one another or not. Because one thing is clear: Something ancient and evil is stirring in the shadows of Kethra. And the empire will not survive its full unleashing. But how can they save a world where nothing and no one is what they seem to be— including Cas herself? — Return to the unique universe of myth and magic first introduced in the bestselling Serpents and Kings trilogy with this first book in a brand new series—or visit that world for the first time! You do not need to have read any of the Serpents and Kings books to read this one. All you need to enjoy this new series is a love of fierce heroines, epic world building, enemies-to-lovers romance, and breathtaking adventure.

The Empire of Empty Wars (Serpents and Kings Book 3) by S.M. Gaither

Death. Betrayal. Destruction. This was Alaya's destiny, written in the stars on the night she was born. She should have been killed because of it. She wasn’t. The once crown prince of the highest throne in Sundolia is now the high king, and all of his advisors agree on one thing: He should have destroyed that dangerous Dragon woman when he had the chance. He didn’t. Now war spreads like a wildfire from the southern kingdom. The empire is burning. The day of prophecy is arriving. Alaya still lives, her power more dangerous and unpredictable than ever. And the stars, it seems, told no lies. Or did they?

The Drowning Empire: The Complete Series by S.M. Gaither

This is the story of a girl who held up the sky. It begins with a break, a flood of rain and tears. And it ends with a crown that might cost her everything she loves. This boxed set contains all three books in The Drowning Empire trilogy--over 1200 pages of magic, action, and romance! One click today and prepare to get lost in this epic fantasy retelling of the Atlantis myth!  Book One, Sky Keeper
 Welcome to the World Below, where the keepers command the sky, but the commander of the keepers controls the empire...

For centuries, the four kingdoms of the Caspian empire have remained safe and hidden below the ocean, protected from the Surface World—and from that ocean that separates them—by a great barrier maintained by magic. 

Aven Talavir has spent her entire life learning to be a keeper of that barrier, channeling her powers into maintaining and healing it.

But now an impossibly sinister force seeks to shatter it.

To stop the looming flood of destruction, Aven picks up her knives and sets off on a quest to find an ancient power that may be able to permanently heal the makeshift sky. Reaching it will mean fighting her way through dangerous politics and deadly magic, all while finding love and friendship in unexpected places—

Only to realize that the greatest treachery may not lie in the breaking sky, but in the very hearts of the people around her. Book Two, Curse Breaker In the underwater empire of Caspia, a storm is brewing.

Aven Talavir's efforts to unite the four kingdoms resulted in a temporary peace, but that peace is shattered all over again when she is named the controversial heir to a dying emperor's throne. 

The crown on her head makes her a target. One that Kai 'West' Armana would do anything to remove. One that results in an attack, and a curse on the newly crowned empress that will require an unimaginable sacrifice to undo. And that sacrifice is only the beginning.

Because the world is not healed.

The sky is not safe.

And things that should be dead and drowned do not always stay that way. Book Three, Storm Bringer
 The Sky is Changed.

Once upon a time, Aven Talavir lived in a sparkling empire beneath the waves, protected from the Sea-Above by a sky made of magic.

Then it all fell apart.

The four kingdoms of the Caspian Empire are united no longer. Aven is an empress in name only, her kingdom overtaken by her rivals, her city flooded, and her hope fading as she sets out on a desperate journey to find allies, and to take back the power she needs to mount one final effort to save her world. 

That power exists.

She knows that now.

But the cost of wielding it may be more than she can pay.

The epic story that began in Sky Keeper concludes in this thrilling final book. Waters and armies will rise, kings and queens will fall, and the Empress of Sky will see her true reign begin…Or else watch everything she loves be swept away by a storming sea.

The King of Burning Skies (Serpents and Kings Book 2) by S.M. Gaither

War is coming to the Sundolian Empire. Can a forbidden love between a prince and a dragon save it? Or are they destined to bring it all down in flames? The kingdoms are shattering. A tyrant rules from the north. The Dragon clan, once exiled beyond the edges of the empire, has joined forces with a bloodthirsty, opportunistic king in the south. And the crown prince of Rooks is running out of options to keep the people and places he loves safe. His best chance to save his world and take the crown from his mad father may lie in the most dangerous of those exiled Dragons—a woman who is just as likely to ruin him as she is to save him. Alaya is part human, part divine, and fully prepared to use her growing powers to destroy everyone that has hurt and betrayed her. The list of those people is long. Despite her pain, she still intends to find a way to bring peace to her world—but she can’t do it alone. The high king must fall. What was broken must be mended. And somehow, both Dragon and Rook must find a way to protect each other from the dark side of the magic building within and around them… Or else watch their world burn to ashes.

The Queen of Cursed Things (Serpents and Kings Book 1) by S.M. Gaither

She’s the last member of a cursed and deadly clan. He’s the crown prince with a dangerous secret. Together, they’ll save the empire. Or destroy it. Decades ago, the High King of Sundolia waged a war that vanquished the serpent clan and drove them out of the empire, reducing them to nothing more than legends spoken of in occasional frightened whispers. But they did not leave peacefully. Their parting gift included curses that now rest within the empire’s soil, beneath the shade of its jungles, treading through the waves of its seas. Growing more and more dormant as the years pass under the shadow of that increasingly tyrannical high king. Until Alaya—a girl with a hidden serpent mark who shouldn’t exist—accidentally wakes one of them up. Then another. And suddenly she finds herself near universally despised and feared, a scapegoat exiled from her adopted village and left with no choice but to seek the truth about her cursed bloodline. About her true home. About a power, stolen from the serpent goddess herself, that is supposedly resting in that home. It is the sort of power that could help her overthrow a king, expose the lies he’s told, and put a stop to his wars. But the closer she gets to that power, the more complicated the truth becomes. The more dangerous her waking power seems. And the more she begins to wonder: Can you still be the hero if you were born a curse?

A Twist of the Blade (Shadows and Crowns Book 2) by S.M. Gaither

Mercenary. Survivor. Queen. Who is Casia Greythorne? Still reeling from an unimaginable loss and the revelation of an identity she isn’t sure she wants to embrace, Casia has one plan: Try to control something. Something like the strange magic awakening inside of her. Mastering that magic will take her and her friends on a quest through cursed lands, into the dwellings of old gods, and deep into a southern empire filled with deadly foes and unlikely allies. Meanwhile, the foundations of the Kethran Empire continue to crumble. The king-emperor clings to his crown with increasingly bloodied hands. Monsters and soldiers alike stalk Casia's every step, determined not to let her return to claim a throne that is rightfully hers. Still, the greatest threat to her possible rule may not lie in the king-emperor, but in a former captain of his army—a man that she came dangerously close to falling in love with. Elander Revenmar thought he knew who he was. He had a mission, a plan, a god he was content to serve. Then came Casia. A woman as mysterious as she is dangerous. One he should have stayed away from, and whose life he never should have saved. Because salvation always comes with a cost. And some debts can only be paid for in blood.

A Crown of the Gods (Shadows and Crowns Book 4) by S.M. Gaither

The highest throne in the Kethran Empire lies vacant, its once-ruler now a god-ascending, bringing more chaos and darkness to an already chaotic world. The line between the divine and mortal realms is blurring. The battlefield is set. A final, devastating war is on the horizon. Casia Greythorne has finally come home to claim the throne that is rightfully hers—one that she hopes she can use to unite her empire and help it survive a war with the very gods themselves. But to take hold of her crown, she’ll have to wrestle it free of a past that she’s avoided for too long. One that is even more complicated than she realized. The answers she needs to win her war—and save her world and the people she loves—all lie within that past... But discovering them might destroy any hope she has of a future.

The Call of the Void (Shadows and Crowns Book 3) by S.M. Gaither

War is building. Blood is spilling. And the gods are not pleased. Casia has survived her brother’s attempts to crush her and her growing army, but the battle for their empire is just beginning. Bitter and wounded, carrying the curse of a dark and dangerous upper-god, and desperate for more allies, she charges northward to seek the elves who once walked alongside the divine beings. The elven Court of Moreth holds knowledge. Secrets. And power. The kind of power that could shift all of Casia's wars in her favor. If she can survive the dangerous politics and treacherous magic of the elf-kind. While these outer battles rage, so too do the ones within. Elander is losing what remained of his divinity. His court. His powers. His grasp on what he once was and what he once knew. But he’s determined to keep fighting, gathering his own ancient allies and working to aid Casia in her wars. He lost her once. He won’t do it again. But his devotion to her may be the very thing that destroys him. And when that destruction comes, it comes with a twist—one that could change their entire world.

Queen of the Dawn by S.M. Gaither

"The light cannot always overcome the dark. But it can rise to meet it.” Against all odds, Casia Greythorne has survived battles with gods and monsters alike, and the most powerful crown in the Kethran Empire is now securely in her grasp. Yet a seemingly impossible task still looms: finding a way to rid her world of its darkest god so she actually has a future to rule over. The path to sealing that god away has been revealed, but to follow it will mean venturing into a deadly and strange new realm, facing old fears and enemies, and deciphering ancient magic that raises more questions than answers. Meanwhile, chaos continues to spread throughout the empires. Armies rise and fall. The bonds between allies begin to fray—and hope along with it. And with every bloody battle, the final cost of saving their world becomes clearer. Dawn is coming, but will Casia and her friends survive to see the new day?