If you found Carissa Broadbent through The Serpent and the Wings of Night, Daughter of No Worlds is the book everyone tells you to read next, and the new editions have put it back on every shelf. It's the first book of her earlier trilogy, The War of Lost Hearts, and it's where a lot of readers say her romance hits hardest. Here's the order, where the prequel novella goes, and what to know before you start.
War of Lost Hearts series in order
- Daughter of No Worlds (book 1)
- Children of Fallen Gods (book 2)
- Mother of Death and Dawn (book 3)
- Ashen Son (prequel novella, numbered 0.5)
The trilogy first came out in 2020 and has since been reissued in new traditional-publishing editions (series page), which is why you'll see two different sets of covers.
| Book | Role in the series | Romance |
|---|---|---|
| Ashen Son | Prequel novella, Max's past | Backstory |
| Daughter of No Worlds | The apprenticeship and the bond | Slow burn begins |
| Children of Fallen Gods | Consequences, distance, war | The ache |
| Mother of Death and Dawn | The finale | The payoff |
What is Daughter of No Worlds about?
Tisaanah was taken from her homeland as a child and grew up enslaved. She escapes with one goal: earn a place in the Orders, the powerful magical institutions of her world, and use their resources to free the people she left behind. The catch is that to get in, she has to apprentice under Maxantarius Farlione, a reclusive fire wielder and former soldier who wants nothing to do with the Orders, or with her (Goodreads summary). What starts as a reluctant mentorship turns into one of the most devoted slow burns in her catalog.
Should you read Ashen Son first?
No. Read it after Daughter of No Worlds, or after the whole trilogy. It fills in Max's history, and it lands much harder once you already care about him. Reading it first means meeting him before Tisaanah does, which takes the edge off his introduction.
Is War of Lost Hearts connected to Crowns of Nyaxia?
They're separate series in separate worlds, so you don't need one to read the other. What they share is Broadbent's signature: a heroine with a mission, a guarded man with a past, and a romance that grows out of a dangerous partnership. If you came from Oraya and Raihn, our Crowns of Nyaxia reading order covers that world's duets and novellas.
Is Daughter of No Worlds spicy?
Moderately. The heat builds slowly and the focus stays on the relationship; it's warmer than YA but not the highest-spice romantasy on the shelf. The heavier content is thematic: the series deals with slavery, war and trauma, so check content notes if those are hard topics for you.
What to read next
- More dark romantasy with a mentor-rival bond: our best dark fantasy romance books list.
- If you want a darker version of "the man nobody trusts": the Alchemised book guide.
- If it's the forbidden-pull you're chasing: the romantasy starter list.
Broadbent's men are built for one thing: being the last person who should fall for her, and falling anyway. Swoony picks up right where the book drops you: closed-door, romance-only, a bond that unfolds over five stages and is never paywalled - no subscription, no per-message tolls. Start with the dark mage who shouldn't want you, or the young commander if Max's soldier past was the part that got you. Explore the full morally grey shelf too.
The magic outlasts the last chapter here.
