Some dreams disappear when morning arrives. Lila’s dreams remain with her, carrying images of forgotten kingdoms, impossible places, and a gaze that feels disturbingly familiar. In Ash & Eternity, V.M. Nunez transforms these visions into clues from a life that ended centuries earlier.
Lila already has serious problems in her present world. Society has entered an age of extreme scarcity where no new metals are available. Water, food, and electricity are rationed, leaving families to measure their lives through the resources they can secure.
When Lila discovers a mysterious well, she believes she may have found a valuable source of water for her family. Her hope is practical and deeply personal. She approaches the discovery as someone accustomed to placing survival ahead of curiosity.
The well soon reveals a secret beyond anything she could have expected.
From a Rationed World to an Ancient Realm
The mysterious opening is actually a portal. It pulls Lila away from her modern dystopian existence and carries her into a feudal world of magic, monsters, and immortal rulers.
The transition gives the story a dramatic change in scale. Lila moves from a society where people struggle for basic necessities into a realm where supernatural forces can shape entire kingdoms. She has little time to adjust because the inhabitants of this world appear to know more about her than she knows about herself.
Her strange dreams begin to make sense. They contain pieces of an earlier existence and memories that have remained buried within her soul. Lila has walked through this realm before. More importantly, she once possessed power capable of changing it.
She discovers that she is the reincarnation of a powerful phoenix. The revelation links her to fire, renewal, and a cycle that reaches beyond a single human life. It also places enormous expectations on her shoulders. People remember the woman she used to be, while Lila must decide what that identity means for the person she is today.
V.M. develops an absorbing conflict through this gap between memory and expectation. Lila’s return may feel like the fulfillment of an ancient promise to others. For her, it’s a bewildering search for truth involving relationships and choices she cannot yet recall.
When Love Remembers Everything
Centuries ago, Lila loved a king whose power could set the world on fire. She died before their relationship could reach its ending, leaving behind grief that survived long after her lifetime was over.
Now, two kings believe she is their fated mate.
The Demon King remembers everything, including the woman he loved and lost. His devotion has endured through the centuries, growing into an obsession that refuses to accept death as a final separation. His memories give him a powerful connection to Lila, though she cannot immediately share his certainty.
The Werewolf King offers another intense bond. Fiercely loyal and relentlessly protective, he would burn kingdoms to keep her safe. His presence complicates a history that is already filled with unanswered questions, placing Lila between two immortal rulers with strong claims upon her heart.
This romantic struggle carries deeper concerns about identity and personal freedom. Lila may recover the emotions of her previous life, yet she still has to interpret them through her present self. Fate can reveal a path without making the decision for her.
The stakes extend far beyond romance. An ancient darkness is awakening, threatening to consume the magical realm and the dystopian world Lila left behind. Her phoenix power may be essential to confronting it, but using that strength could draw her further into the rivalries and promises of her past.
Lila’s journey therefore becomes a search for ownership of her future. She must uncover the circumstances of her earlier death, understand the loyalties surrounding both kings, and decide which feelings truly belong to her. Every answer brings her closer to power and to the possibility that love can become dangerous when it survives for too long.
About the Author
V.M. is an Arizona-based author, wife, mother of four, and bonus mother of one. Two cats and a dog also share her lively family home.
Her interest in reading and writing began in middle school. She wrote summaries of television shows and movies, sharing them with her father, who became her first reader. Twilight was an especially influential book during her early reading years.
After becoming a mother, V.M. stepped away from college and her creative interests. She eventually returned to reading and writing after the birth of her youngest child. Several attempts were needed before she found her rhythm again, yet her love of storytelling continued to call her back.
She initially began Ash & Eternity during college and completed it years later. Alongside romantasy, she’s now exploring dark academia and dark romance while continuing to discover where her evolving voice will lead.
A New Life Written in Fire
Available in Kindle and paperback editions on Amazon, Ash & Eternity draws readers into a story of rebirth, supernatural danger, and desire that has crossed centuries. V.M. gives Lila an extraordinary past and a difficult present, then places the future firmly within her reach. Eternity has brought her back, and this time, she can choose how her story ends.
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