The circus welcomes you, but will you survive?
VITALIA by Eliza Benner is the first book in The Circus of Souls series!
Vitalia (Circus of Souls Book 1)
Release Date: February 2026
Genre: Spicy Fae & Dragon-Shifter Romantasy
Spice Level: 3 Peppers
Features
⦁ Competent FMC
⦁ Morally Grey MMC
⦁ Dragon-shifters
⦁ Fae
⦁ Slow Burn
⦁ Enemies-to-Lovers
⦁ Forced Proximity
⦁ Touch Her and Die
⦁ “Who did this to you?”
Synopsis
The King’s Circus doesn’t come to villages like hers. Or, at least, it didn’t until now. Naevyn just wishes she’d stayed the hell inside. When the performers lock the crowd in place and shift into dragons, ripping souls from bodies to feed an immortal king, Naevyn should be dead alongside everyone else. Instead, she’s dragged into a centuries-old rebellion because her blood does something it shouldn’t—it kills.
She’s supposed to be human. A girl from Xardon who just wants to keep her family safe. But in the fae realm, nothing about her makes sense, and the prophecy everyone whispers about marks her as their salvation. Then there’s Cairos—a dragon-shifter with centuries of blood on his hands and a smirk that makes her want to strangle him. Cursed to collect souls for the very king he used to serve, Cairos is powerful, lethal, and, unfortunately, the only one who can help Naevyn survive. She should hate him for the atrocities he’s committed.
She should definitely fear him. So why does he feel like the one thing she can’t stop wanting? To save her family and shatter the cycle of death, Naevyn will have to trust a monster, face what she really is, and get close enough to a king to destroy him. But the closer she gets to the truth, the more she realizes that everything she thought she knew about herself was a lie.
Love has a price. Prophecies have power. And this one demands blood.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Eliza Benner writes dark-ish romantic fantasy filled with dangerous curses, morally gray heroes, and heroines who refuse to stay powerless. Her stories blend high-stakes adventure with slow-burn tension, fierce loyalty, and enemies-to-lovers romance.
She is the author of the Circus of Souls series, a spicy romantasy featuring fae, dragon-shifters, rebellion, and a heroine who discovers she may be far more than human. She has also authored a young adult urban fantasy series titled Wings of Shade and Starlight featuring angels, demons, and epic adventure. Her books explore power, identity, and what happens when love collides with destiny.
Eliza lives in Minnesota with her husband and their five children, where she spends most of her time writing, reading, and dreaming up new worlds filled with dangerous magic and complicated love stories.
Learn more about Eliza and her books, follow her on Instagram @elizabennerwrites
Freelance Writer Janny(Jan Marie)C 