Hey you gorgeous, patient souls,
So. It's finally here.
I'm typing this through a haze of equal parts exhaustion, caffeine, and that shaky, electrifying feeling you get when you finally set something huge free.
IVY & IRON: THE PHOENIX GAMBIT is officially complete.
I need to start with the biggest, most heartfelt apology. This book took so much longer than I ever intended. The silence from my end wasn't because I'd forgotten—it was because I was drowning in textbooks, finals, and the kind of university stress that makes your brain feel like static. Every time I thought I could sit and write, real life demanded another piece of me. I’m so sorry for the wait. Your messages asking about it meant the world, and every one of them fueled me to keep going.
But here we are.
The phoenix has risen from the ashes of my academic chaos.
This book… you guys. It wrecked me. It’s darker, sharper, and more emotionally brutal than Book 1. It’s about what happens after you burn your life down. It’s about love that doesn’t heal you, but forges you into something more dangerous. Ellie and Caspian are out of the gilded cage and in the trenches, and they are not playing nice.
The full chapters will be updated right here, starting very soon. I’ll be posting them consistently now that the whole story is polished and ready to go.
Thank you. Thank you for sticking with me, for loving these broken, brilliant disasters as much as I do, and for waiting through the quiet. You’re the reason this story gets to live outside my head.
Get ready.
The fire is coming.
All my love,
N.V. ✨