Hearts of Obsidian CREATE: Book 7

In a world preparing for war, two young artists discover that creating beauty isn’t frivolous—it’s revolutionary.

She paints to remember who she was. He carves to become who he could be. Together, they create something neither hope.

MEI CHEN came to the stars to escape her past. Instead, she crashed into a war. The only thing keeping her sane is her art—painting murals that transform cold caves into spaces of beauty. It’s frivolous, she tells herself. Pointless. But she can’t stop.

TOREK is everything a young Vothren warrior should strong, eager, ready to fight. No one knows about his carvings, the sketches he hides, the beauty he creates in secret. Art isn’t for warriors. Art is soft. Useless. Weak.

When their paths cross over a hidden sketchbook, Mei discovers she’s not alone in her need to create. Torek discovers someone who sees the artist he’s been hiding. Together, they’re commissioned to beautify the settlement—to give their people something to fight for beyond mere survival.

But war doesn’t wait for art to be finished. And love doesn’t wait for the perfect moment.

When the Hollow attack threatens everything they’ve built, Mei and Torek must hide from fear, or create something beautiful anyway.

CREATE is Book 7 in the Hearts of Obsidian series, fated mates romance between a human artist and an alien warrior who secretly createsThe “resonance” bond—a connection that makes his bioluminescent glow betray every emotionExplicit love scenes with tender, exploratory energyA settlement preparing for the largest Hollow assault yetArt as an act of resistance and hopeFound family and six beloved returning couplesSneak peek at Nina and Kethran’s brewing connection (Book 8 heroes)They burn from within. They’ve waited lifetimes. And when they find their mates, their glow betrays them.

This novel can be enjoyed as a standalone, but reading the series in order is recommended for full enjoyment of the world and returning characters.