Title: The Trials of BrowidAuthor(s): stephanie-bosshardPublisher: Atmosphere Press (2025)ISBN: 979-8891328600
Village Books
AmazonA compelling central question unfolds throughout the pages of The Trials of Browid by Stephanie Bosshard—What happens when you find out you are not who you thought you were?
This tale of hidden identity explores the tension between the ordinary life Selena believes she’s destined to live and an extraordinary power that makes her superhuman, capable of both great benevolence and destruction.
Selena runs her family’s small-town café, tucked away in solitude as she deals with the early loss of her mother and the mysterious disappearance of her father.
The townspeople regard Selena with distant pity, leaving her with little companionship beyond her own grief. Yet Bosshard positions this quiet existence as the fragile shell encasing a far more powerful truth.
A tall, dark man arrives in Selena’s predictable world, giving her a necklace with a locket, and a single chilling warning: “Don’t trust them.” His message lingers, unsettled and unresolved, when Selena encounters a mysterious, handsome figure while walking in the woods. Gabriel’s sharp emerald eyes and onyx hair seem otherworldly in their perfection, such that he nearly makes her forget her own name. He is a force destined to become both her protector and her lover as an entirely new world begins to unspool around her.
Selena seeks to understand the significance of the locket. Turning to the Internet, she follows an inscription etched into the metal to a traumatic story from the 1800s.
A family of orphaned children, accused of practicing dark and forbidding arts, is just the start to the mystery. When Selena discovers a photograph of them, she recognizes Gabriel, his features unmistakably preserved in time. If the photo is genuine, he would now be more than two centuries old. It’s a revelation that grips readers deep into this dark, enchanting mystery.
Slowly but surely, through Gabriel’s patient tutoring, Selena comes to understand that nothing she believed about her past—or herself—has been true.
Gabriel and others like him have been searching for her for years, drawn by the extraordinary power she carries. Piece by piece, her identity unfurls into something far beyond human, defying every rule she once assumed the world obeyed. Wings unfurl from her. She can command both light and darkness, read minds, can even control the flow of blood within another person. Her parents, she discovers, were centuries older than she ever imagined, their true histories intertwined with secrets that have shaped her life from the shadows.
Selena learns she is the child foretold in an ancient prophecy—bound to change the world. She is a Semper, a being of immense capability from another realm, whose parents hid her away from forces that sought her destruction. As her awareness grows, the truth emerges: many people in her quiet Maine town have been guarding her for years, their true loyalties and identities slowly revealing themselves.
But with her gifts comes a shadow. Selena feels a darkness rising within her, an evil side she must constantly suppress as she learns to wield her powers for good.
Her magic draws her into bitter struggles between the Fallen and the ironically named Blessed, ancient orders that view her as both a priceless weapon and a mortal threat.
Bosshard propels Selena and Gabriel far beyond the quiet reaches of Maine and into realms choked with danger. They face creatures of profound darkness, with each encounter testing the limits of Selena’s powers. Beneath these sweeping battles lies the evolving relationship between Selena and Gabriel—an intricate blend of strength, vulnerability, devotion, and sacrifice. As he becomes her protector, she becomes his, standing side by side against forces that would tear them apart.
Watching Selena transform from a young woman unaware of her heritage or abilities into someone who understands the full weight of her identity is one of the story’s most compelling pleasures. The Trials of Browid by Stephanie Bosshard offers a vivid blend of epic fantasy confrontations and romantic depth. For readers drawn to expansive magical worlds and the intensity of a love forged amid danger and destiny, this novel is a captivating choice.
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