Tricia Levenseller is out for revenge and we are so here for it. The author is taking things up a notch in her highly anticipated adult debut novel as she takes her romantasy writing to a whole new world, one where the women rule, but things aren’t always what they seem. As always, you won’t be able to put this down as soon as you meet the one warrior who is willing to do anything in her power to become the next person on the throne.
Cosmopolitan has an exclusive look at Tricia Levenseller’s What Fury Brings, which is set to be released on September 23, 2025. After a failed rebellion to take down the matriarchy, the women of Amarra must now use other means to find husbands. And Olerra is set to find the perfect one to help her ascend the throne at any cost, including kidnapping the second-born prince of their biggest rival. And if you think you know where this story is already going, Tricia has a special warning for you.
“This is not a feminist novel. Feminism is about equality among the sexes. This book is about getting revenge against the patriarchy. If it were a Taylor Swift album, it would be Reputation,” she revealed to Cosmopolitan. “At its core, What Fury Brings is a steamy romantasy, but the world building is brimming with the rage of a woman who is so sick of the rampant misogyny that still exists in the world.”
Here’s some more info from our friends at FEIWEL:
#1 New York Times-bestselling author Tricia Levenseller makes her adult debut in What Fury Brings, a sexy, empowering romantasy featuring a warrior general who must kidnap and train a husband in order to take her rightful place as queen.Let’s get something clear, Prince. I have claimed you. That means you belong to me now.There’s a shortage of men in the kingdom of Amarra. After a failed rebellion against the matriarchy, most noblemen in the country are dead. Now the women of Amarra must obtain their husbands (should they want one) by kidnapping them from other kingdoms.
‘What Fury Brings’ by Tricia Levenseller
Olerra, a warrior princess vying for the throne, is determined to prove her worth by kidnapping a husband. And not just any husband. To outmaneuver her treacherous cousin, she needs the best. Fortunately, the second-born prince of their greatest enemy is widely known for both his looks and his sweet, docile temperament. He’s the perfect choice to secure her claim to the throne.
Sanos, heir to the Kingdom of Brutus, has nothing but contempt for the idea of a society run by women. Trained from birth to fight, lead, and follow in his father’s overbearing footsteps, his path has always been set. Until he takes his younger brother’s place in a drunken prank and finds himself kidnapped, carted off to the Amarran Palace, and informed that he is to become the husband of Queen Potential Olerra. Sanos needs to escape before anyone learns his real identity, but the more he gets to know his captor, the less sure he is of what he truly wants.
If you’re already dying to see how they meet, we’ve got you covered with a special excerpt that you can check out below! Just make sure to pre-order What Fury Brings and also check out Tricia’s previous reads which you’re at it!
An Excerpt From What Fury Brings
By Tricia Levenseller
• Author’s Note •
Thank you so much for picking up my first romantasy for adults! However, if you’re under the age of eighteen or my father, then this story is not for you. Please come back later! Unless you’re my father, in which case, this book is still not for you.
What Fury Brings contains scenes of graphic sexual content, graphic language, and graphic violence. If you’re wondering what graphic violence means, let me share that there is a penis guillotine in the novel that is used on rapists.
The society I’ve created is a reflection of our own but reversed. What this means is that all the atrocities committed against women over the course of history have actually been committed against men. Men cannot hold property. Any money they receive belongs to their wives. Men can be married off as soon as they’re old enough to perform. Men are the weaker sex. Men should be seen and not heard. Men should smile and flex whenever a woman looks at them. Only men can be punished for infidelity.
Please note that this is not what I think the world would look like if women were in charge. Far from it. Rather, this book is flipping the tables to show a new lens through which to view our own history.
This book is called What Fury Brings, and it is all about my fury. Every time a man cut me off when I was speaking on a panel at a convention, every time I found out a male author with my same sales numbers was receiving higher advances than me, every time someone made me feel small for having a vagina instead of a penis, every time someone told me my only calling in life should be that of a wife and mother, every time anything at all sexist or misogynistic happened in our world—I worked on this book.
It is my fury mixed with my love of the romance genre. It is harsh and it is sexy and it has a happily ever after.
If you, like me, are angry, I think you might like this book. If you’re just here for the romance, I still think you’ll like this book. I’m incredibly proud of it. That said, please be aware of the following trigger warnings:
Mentions of sexual assault, but no scenes depicting it Physical and emotional abuse by a parent and a spouse Dubious consent Kidnapping/bondage, sometimes sexual The auctioning and selling of men Sex workers Mentions of grooming and underage sexual partners Animal deaths, including warhorses (shown inexplicitly on page) and a dog (that died in the past and is only referenced) War themes and military violence The aforementioned penis guillotine
If you do choose to continue, then happy reading.
• From Chapter 4 •
Blanchette’s was a special brothel that catered to noble clientele. It was also entirely fashioned in the style of the Amarrans, Brutus’s rivals to the south. The whores wore pants or short skirts instead of tight dresses, and their tunics were made of sheer silk. The women all wore their hair in a variety of braids, as the Amarrans did. They wore bows over their shoulders or an empty quiver. Some wore sheaths around their waists or thighs and nothing else.
The Amarran wretches thought themselves so superior to every other kingdom in Torateeria, but at Blanchette’s they were reduced to nothing more than common whores. As was their place. Or so his father said. Sanos had never met any Amarrans, but the rumors were vicious. Amarra was a territory ruled by women. They kept their men in chains. Drank their blood. Performed sexual acts in public. The women themselves were unnaturally strong, and they used that strength to treat men like dogs.
The madam greeted them warmly, but Sanos was already looking over the women in the room. He wasn’t very discerning when it came to height or size or features. He liked women. Whatever women he could get away with having.
While the younger princes took their time selecting partners for the night, Sanos was of half a mind to grab the closest woman and take her upstairs. But then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Madam Blanchette approach his next youngest brother, who was still swaying on his feet.
“Prince Andrastus,” the woman said with a curtsy. “I have a new girl who I think will be perfectly suited to your tastes. In fact, if I may speak so boldly, she requested you.”
That caught Sanos’s interest. Andrastus was a sap. He liked poetry and going to the opera. He probably preferred his women on top.
“New girl?” Sanos repeated. “One who asked for Andrastus? Why?”
Madam Blanchette didn’t bat an eye at his tone. “She’s heard the rumors about the prince’s handsomeness. She wants to see for herself.”
Andrastus was the pretty one. Canus, the big one. Trantos was the troublemaker. Ikanos was the baby. And Sanos . . . what was Sanos? The absent crown prince.
Maybe it was all the ale, but something primal came out in Sanos. Some need to take and prove himself. It was the way of the Brute, his father would say.
And he’d gone without sex too long.
Ikanos laughed and elbowed Canus, who already had his tongue sliding up the exposed breast of a whore. “Sanos doesn’t like that a girl fancies Andrastus over him.”
Canus palmed the breast as he turned and gave Sanos a wide smile. “He’ll get over it in about ten minutes. Hurry and take your pick, big brother.”
Sanos ignored them. To the madam, he said, “Andrastus needs help taking off his pants to piss all the ale out of his system. He will be no good tonight. I’ll keep the new girl company instead.”
He’d show her she made the wrong choice.
Madam Blanchette froze in place. The pause was short-lived, but Sanos still caught it. Nobody liked to say no to him. He wondered if the madam would dare.
“I mean no offense, Prince, but that is not how things are done here. My girl requested Andrastus, and if he’ll agree, she’ll have no other.”
It shouldn’t matter. Just earlier he was thinking about how any woman would do for tonight.
But why had this one requested his brother?
Sanos’s gold was just as good as Andrastus’s. Yet this woman wanted his brother.
Sanos had never been wanted before. He hadn’t realized it was something he should want until he was suddenly presented with the hard truth of the lack of it.
His three youngest brothers took their girls upstairs. Sanos frowned at Andrastus, who was now leaning against the wall.
“She’s in room twelve, Highness,” the madam said to his brother.
With a sigh, Sanos pulled his brother’s arm over his shoulders to help him take the stairs. Sanos would at least catch a glimpse of the new woman. Maybe next year . . .
Amarra’s tits, the thought was so damned depressing. A whole year before he would get this again. A night without worries. Another’s touch.
The pleasant buzzing in his head couldn’t make up for the sudden melancholy that came over him.
Cut that out, he chastised himself. You keep your family safe. There is no better way to live.
When they reached the top step, Andrastus nearly slipped from his grasp. It was only Sanos’s quick reflexes that saved him from the journey back down.
Sanos shuffled him off in the direction of room twelve, but before they could reach it, Andrastus was suddenly deadweight. His brother landed on the floor with a thump that was masked by the sounds of all the bed play coming from the other rooms.
Sanos dragged his brother by the arms over to the side of the hallway, where no one would step on him. Then he took the time to turn Andrastus onto his side in case the ale came back up. Sanos ought to go downstairs and select his choice for the evening. He shouldn’t be wasting precious seconds standing over his brother.
Gods, he hated being the oldest.
His head swerved in the direction of room twelve without his permission.
Who was this woman who had the audacity to show a preference in princes?
Sanos looked over his shoulder once, then back to the door. The hallway was still empty.
And his curiosity got the better of him.
He stepped inside room twelve and found a lone woman standing by the window. Her back was to him.
“Are you the new girl?” he asked.
She turned, and he was surprised to find that so much of her was covered up. She didn’t dress like the other Amarran-looking whores. Maybe that was her gimmick. Her face was shadowed under a hood so he couldn’t guess a thing about her appearance, save that she was a large woman.
His mouth watered. A large woman meant large breasts.
He shook his head to focus. He wouldn’t pounce on her without first speaking to her. He wasn’t an animal.
She gave him a slow perusal from head to toe, and his blood heated.
“Are you the prince?” she asked. Her voice was deep and sultry. He liked that.
“I’m the best prince,” he answered, shutting the door behind him so they could be alone. He thought perhaps he could see a flash of teeth beneath her hood.
“I know you are. That’s why I chose you.”
Disappointment came over him as he remembered she wanted Andrastus, but she was moving toward him, and he found himself rooted to the spot.
“You are the fairest, the cleverest, the most romantic of princes,” she said.
She stood before him now and placed her hands on his shoulders. With one finger, he drew back her hood.
Her hair was a dark chestnut. The strands had a natural shimmer to them even with the low candlelight in the room. She wore it in a single braid that curved over one shoulder. Two strands, one on each side of her head, were too short to fit into the plait. She wore no makeup or paint, which was unusual, but he rather liked the idea of not getting it in his mouth when he kissed her. Her skin was white but tanned from spending lots of time in the sun. Darker than most he saw in Brutus. Her eyes were hazel, and her lips were so plump he couldn’t wait to taste them.
“You’re beautiful,” he whispered, reaching out to fiddle with the end of her braid. Her hair was like velvet against his fingers. He wanted to undo her braid and tangle his fingers in it.
“You’re larger than I expected,” she said.
He blinked at the reminder that she still thought him his brother. He leaned down. “I am the best prince,” he said again. “I’ll prove it.”
“I’m counting on that,” she said. She was focused on his neck for some reason, so he traced her lips with his fingertip. That brought her gaze where he wanted it. On his own mouth.
He leaned down the rest of the way.
And tasted heaven.
•——•——•——•——•
Olerra knew she should get Andrastus out of here as quickly as possible, but he seduced her oh so prettily, and she wasn’t prepared for the feeling of his mouth on hers.
She’d been kissed before, of course. But those were boys in her earlier years, before she decided that in order to keep her secret she needed to distance herself from the opposite sex.
She’d never been kissed by a man.
His lips didn’t kiss her so much as devour her. He moaned as he took her bottom lip between his own, letting his tongue dart across her skin. His teeth closed over the same spot and pulled gently. It felt as though he pulled on something deep within her, a tether that reached between her legs and was her undoing.
She shoved him against the closed door to the room and kissed him in earnest, loving this intensity that was so new to her. Andrastus made a sound of surprise deep in his throat but didn’t stop. His hands found her braid again. When her hair fell loose, she realized he’d undone the band. And then his fingers were tracing up and down her scalp, cupping the back of her head to keep their mouths fused together.
Oh, but she liked that.
He ran light fingers down her neck, over the top of her cloak, and finally reached her breasts, where he took the biggest handfuls he could get and squeezed gently.
He groaned.
“I need your skin against mine,” he said, just before he put his tongue in her mouth.
The tongue was distracting. It spread fire throughout her limbs, making her ache. It was a stark contrast to his words, which reminded her she had a task to perform.
She wasn’t here for sex. She was here for a husband.
She opened her eyes during the open-mouthed kisses, finding that the way his lashes lay against his cheeks was utterly beautiful.
Focus!
She flipped open the hinge on the ring she wore, revealing the barb underneath.
•——•——•——•——•
He was ready to help her remove her cloak when he felt something sharp pierce his neck.
Sanos thought to ignore it and continue, but his body didn’t seem to be working properly. Instead of reaching up to unveil what he wanted, he was falling. The woman bent before he could connect with the floor, catching his waist on her shoulder. Then she stood, grunting under his weight.
It was odd that she should be the one to carry him to the bed, but he wasn’t nearly as concerned with that as he was by the fact that he couldn’t seem to work his hands or his mouth to ask what was happening. He was staring at her backside. In fact, his nose kept bumping into it with the strides she was taking.
“There you go, Andrastus,” she said.
Then he was falling.
He landed on his back, the impact jarring his bones. He felt something soft beneath him, though not soft enough for the fall to be painless. After another thud, the woman landed beside him on what he suspected was a pile of blankets.
“We’ve got him, Ydra. Let’s go,” she said before meticulously covering him with blankets.
As Sanos stared up at the star-covered night, he managed to put a few things together.
She’d stuck him with some kind of paralytic.
She’d dumped him out a window.
He’d landed on the bed of a cart.
Horses were moving, taking him someplace.
As the mystery woman placed a final blanket over the top of him, this time covering his head, he suspected that she wasn’t working for his brothers.
She was no whore, and this was no game.
By the time the cart stopped hours later, he could move the first and second joints of his fingers, but no more. He was also fully aroused.
Painfully so.
What the hell was in that toxin?
Was this some nasty test of his father’s to prove himself a man yet again? Had he set up some elaborate ruse to see how Sanos would handle himself under pressure? It was just the kind of thing the king would do. He was always fond of torturing his eldest son and claiming it was all to build his character.
Before he could move his fingers into a fist, the two women bound him with ropes, securing his arms and legs to the sides of the cart so he was spread-eagle. Now that it was starting to get light out, he could see more of the second woman.
She was smaller than the one who’d thrown him out the window. She was fair, with yellow locks that she also wore in one long braid down her back. Her eyes were gray, and she had a bow slung over one shoulder.
Finally, he found he could move his lips. “Did my father put you up to this?” he asked when the fairer one—Ydra—came into his line of sight.
She smiled at him but said nothing.
At least not to him.
“He’s not what I expected,” she said instead to her companion.
“Nor I,” the other answered.
“Does he meet your approval?”
•——•——•——•——•
Olerra climbed into the cart with the man she intended to wed and gave Ydra’s question due consideration.
Andrastus was a big man. Far heavier than she’d expected him to be. She reached out a hand to wrap it around a bicep and felt nothing but muscle. She hadn’t really had the chance to touch him anywhere save his shoulders (to steady herself) and his neck (to apply the toxin). Physically, he was intimidating. She couldn’t decide if she liked that or not.
Really, she shouldn’t be surprised. Atalius was a massive man. Of course all his sons would be, too. Even the smallest of them.
The prince’s hair was something else entirely. It was so blond as to almost be white, and it trailed down to his shoulders, thick yet straight as a board. His beard and eyebrows were darker, a light gold color. Olerra didn’t know men could have hair of different colors on their chins. No men in Amarra wore beards. She wondered at the shape of his jaw.
His complexion was bone white, which she suspected was a result of his new circumstances. He would need special oils so as not to burn when they reached the heat of Amarra. She hadn’t thought of that beforehand, but there was nothing to do about it now. They had a schedule to keep.
His eyes were black in this lighting, so she suspected they were a dark brown. And, oh, how they glared at her.
She finally let her gaze dip down to the bulge in his pants, a result of the vyra she’d injected him with. It both paralyzed men and made them hard. It was her cousin’s favorite accessory for misbehaving bed partners. Olerra would never use it again on him now that she’d captured him.
But that didn’t mean she wouldn’t take advantage of its current effects.
Even with all his clothing on, she could tell his cock was proportionate to the rest of his body.
“I guess what they say is true. Brutus didn’t bless his sons just with virility. He also gave them big cocks.”
Ydra cackled. “Maybe I should kidnap a Brute.”
Olerra watched the prince’s eyes widen at the conversation. She made sure not to laugh at him. It would not be a great start to their relationship. She wanted to put him at ease, so she added, “The prince is a great kisser.”
“Is that why you took so long nabbing him?”
Olerra grinned. “I might have gotten a little carried away.” She rubbed her cheeks. “His beard is scratchy, though. I can’t wait to kiss him again once we get all that wretched hair shaved off his face.”
Andrastus narrowed his eyes, finally finding his voice. “You will not come near my beard,” he said with the authority afforded only to a prince.
Olerra leaned down until she was only inches from his face. “I am Olerra Corasene, queen potential of Amarra. You will soon have the honor of being my husband. Your life is about to finally mean something. Your seed will create queens and conquerors, and you will be rewarded handsomely should you please me. Now get some sleep, Prince Andrastus. We’ve a bit of a journey ahead of us.”
“There is no fucking wa—”
She gagged him.
Excerpt from WHAT FURY BRINGS © 2025 by Tricia Levenseller. Reprinted with permission from FEIWEL, an imprint of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
What Fury Brings, by Tricia Levenseller will be released on September 23, 2025 by FEIWEL. To preorder the book, click on the retailer of your choice:
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