What Blooms in Barren Lands
Margo Smythe
Rated: 3.75 of 5 stars
3.75
· Steam/Spice level: 4 of 5
Explicit open door [?]
· 8 ratings · 532 pages · Published: 21 Oct 2025
When her dreams of having a family are shattered, Renata’s life unravels completely. But so do the lives of everyone else, as a mind-altering disease ravages the global population. Almost overnight, the world is plunged into chaos, and within weeks, the human race is driven to the precipice of extinction by the bloodthirsty infected and their uncompromising attack, feed, multiply.
Seeking refuge in a survivors’ settlement on the Mediterranean island of Corsica, Renata meets Einar, a dangerous man who reawakens her appetite for life, along with many of her long-buried desires. What starts as a strategic arrangement soon becomes an obsession more lethal than the outbreak itself.
Combining his tactical mind with her archery skills, they embark on a journey not only to eradicate the menace lurking in their new home but also to reinvent their lives after the unthinkable has happened.
But in humanity’s darkest hour, every great victory comes at a crushing cost. Should the ransom they are willing to pay for survival be condemned by the very posterity whose existence they help ensure? And what matters more, being the heroes in each other’s story, or the villains in everyone else’s?
Contains mature content, trigger themes, and a bittersweet ending. Reader discretion advised.
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Tagged as:
- suspense 1
- science fiction 1
- dark romance 1
- m-f romance 1
- bondage 1
- anal sex 1
- spanking 1
- consensual non-consent 1
- primal/chase play 1
- survival 1
- pregnancy 1
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- content warnings
- dubious consent 1
- graphic violence 1
- mental trauma 1
- misogyny 1
- miscarriage / infertility 1
- abuse 1
- abuse between mcs 1
- third party abuse 1
- child death 1
- death / grief 1
- non-consent between mcs 1
- third party sexual assault 1
- no hea 1
- geography
- europe 1
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- standalone 1
