Book 1 of the Oaths of Steel and Shadow series
D.R. Quill — Forgotten Rites Publishing
Launching May 1, 2026
He feels everything she feels.
Every fear she hides. Every wound she carries. Every truth she’s never told anyone.
He knows her. Completely. And he stays anyway.
The story
Astrid Bjornsdottir died on a battlefield. The goddess Freyja brought her back — but not for free. Her mission: infiltrate the hall of Erik Bloodaxe, a cursed berserker warlord, steal back the god-forged weapon that seals the barrier between the living and the dead, and return it to Asgard before the draugr consume the Nine Realms.
The plan was simple. Pose as his thrall. Find the weapon. Feel nothing.
Freyja doesn’t trust her. So the goddess binds their souls together with a living connection that makes Astrid feel everything Erik feels: his rage, his grief, his desperate daily war against the monster the curse is turning him into.
She was supposed to use that bond to find his weakness.
Instead, it shows her the truth.
Erik feels her too. Every wall she’s built. Every wound she’s hidden. The grief beneath the warrior’s pride, the loneliness she’s never admitted to anyone. Through the bond, he sees the woman no one else has ever bothered to look for. And he doesn’t look away.
She came to betray him. She’s falling for the one man who has ever truly known her.
Now Astrid must choose: complete her mission and save the world, or protect the cursed, broken, achingly human man who is the first person in her life who has ever seen her as she really is.
Some oaths cannot be broken. Some loves are worth defying the gods. And being truly known by someone, even a man who could destroy everything, might be the most dangerous thing of all.
What readers are saying
“This book hooked me from the very first page. Astrid and Erik — the soul bond between them is perfection… The book is a morally gray enemies to lovers but the added mythology adds so much more to the love story. This book is a must read for any romance lover.”
— Heather Greer, 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐“The writing is vivid without being overdone, and the world feels harsh, real, and fully lived in… It’s a brutal story at times, but never for shock value. Everything serves the story and builds the stakes.”
— Richard Sullivan, 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐“The slow burn romance felt earned and emotional. If you enjoy morally gray characters, forced proximity, and enemies to lovers dynamics, this story delivers.”
— Charlotte, 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Read it early — ARC copies on NetGalley
Blade and Bone is available for advance readers on NetGalley right now. If you review on Goodreads, BookTok, Bookstagram, or anywhere else, request your ARC before launch day.
Launch date: May 1, 2026
Blade and Bone launches on Beltane, the Irish and Norse fire festival of threshold and new beginnings. That date isn’t an accident.
Available on Kindle, auto-delivered to your device on May 1, 2026.
Also in the series
Book 2: Iron & Ash — In development.
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Soul bond · Enemies to lovers · He falls first · Forced proximity · Morally gray FMC · Grumpy/sunshine · Touch her and die · Norse mythology · Slow burn
For readers of A Fate Inked in Blood, From Blood and Ash, and Fourth Wing.
forgottenritespublishing.com 