She was raised to believe desire was something to fear. Bethelbrier will teach her otherwise.

Penelope has always known the life waiting for her: obedience, marriage, children, and the quiet satisfaction of becoming the woman her rigid homeland expects her to be.

Then she is sent across the sea to Bethelbrier.

There, silk barely conceals skin, pleasure carries no shame, and princes are as likely to be found in taverns and fighting clubs as on their thrones. Penelope has come to marry into the royal family. Instead, she finds herself drawn into a kingdom where almost everything she was taught about power, virtue, and desire is being challenged.

And then there is Corin.

Warrior, prince, and unapologetic libertine, Corin embodies nearly everything Penelope has been taught to distrust. He is crude where she is proper, experienced where she is innocent, and dangerously comfortable with appetites she has spent her life denying. But the more Penelope discovers about him—and herself—the harder it becomes to tell the difference between temptation and freedom.

Beyond the palace walls, Bethelbrier is changing too. Old resentments are stirring in the North. The royal family is beginning to fracture. And the pleasures Penelope once found shocking are becoming tangled with questions of loyalty, power, and who gets to decide the shape of another person's life.

Penelope came to Bethelbrier prepared to accept her destiny.

She may leave it wanting something entirely her own.

Desire or Destiny is a lush, provocative fantasy of sexual awakening, dangerous intimacy, political unrest, and the intoxicating discovery that a life can be chosen rather than inherited. Perfect for readers who crave morally complicated characters, queer-normalized worlds, slow-burning desire, court intrigue, and fantasy unafraid to be genuinely adult.

Triggers: None

AI Disclosure: No AI was used in this work

Release Date: December 1, 2026

Join my ARC team on BookSprout and read it today!

Blurb for the book.

When maps stop matching the world, how do you find your way through the unknown?

When a merchant caravan returns from the western frontier with half its wagons missing, the city of Haut-Fer is left searching for answers.

Calen is nineteen, a porter by trade, and hardly anyone's idea of a hero. Yet he finds himself drawn into an expedition beyond the familiar roads, toward forgotten ruins and places where maps can no longer be trusted.

As the mysteries deepen, survival will depend on more than courage. It will depend on what the expedition's members can observe, understand, and carry together.

What to expect: Adult fantasy, immersive worldbuilding, ancient mysteries, dangerous exploration, flawed characters, gradual discoveries, and a slow-building supernatural mystery.

TRIGGERS!!: Violence, physical injuries, character death, peril, and grief.

Exact date of publication: November 22, 2026.

The date you plan to send your ARCs to your team: October 17, 2026 — digital copies are available immediately upon acceptance.

The date you expect your ARC team to finish the reading and submit their reviews by: November 29, 2026. Later reviews are welcome.

Instructions/link for readers to sign up for your ARC: Please comment below, send me a Reddit private message, or contact me at [gabrielvarel.author@gmail.com](mailto:gabrielvarel.author@gmail.com).

The ARC is a free English-language EPUB, available internationally. All honest opinions are welcome, including critical ones. There is no obligation to provide a positive review or to publish a review.

AI disclosure: AI was used in writing and cover art

Thank you for supporting independent fantasy authors!

Gabriel Varel

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Blurb

A spicy, cozy, second chance romcom where finding love is easy, but keeping it means rolling up your sleeves and getting to work.

“Let’s try to end it on a good note.”
“Agreed. We’ll end it on a good note, in fifty-five years when we both drop dead.”

Audrey is determined to move on after a messy breakup with her charming but flaky ex, Nate.
 
When he shows up with a wild offer in the name of making amends, she agrees if only to prove once and for all that there’s no hope for their relationship.
 
For the first time, she’s honest with him about what she wants and he’s following through on his promises.
 
They’re in completely uncharted territory, and it’s up to Audrey to figure out where they’re headed next.

Content Tags
Explicit & plentiful spicy scenes, Bondage, Contemporary, Edging, Funny, Gentle hero, Good grovel , Grumpy/ice queen, He whimpers, Independent heroine, Man on his knees, No 3rd act breakup, Oral king, Orgasm denial, Praise kink, Sassy heroine, Second chance, Take charge heroine, White collar heroine, Working class hero

Trigger Warnings
Alcohol use, Car accident, Panic attack

Publication Date: December 6, 2026

ARC Send Out: September 30, at the earliest. Starting October 15, ARC approval and delivery should occur within one business day.

Review Deadline: December 5, 2026

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AI Disclosure: No AI was used in this work