Where to Start w/ Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti: Every Series Starter Rated
New year, new challenge.
Our self-imposed January reading challenge is:
Read the first book in every series co-written by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti. (We also threw in one or two standalones for the hell of it).
I’m thinking of a word: Daunting. A daunting amount of series to read. A daunting amount of books in each series. A daunting amount of pages to read. AND WE COULDN’T BE MORE EXCITED!
Lovingly referred to as The Twisted Sisters (they are, in fact, sisters), Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti write some EPIC fantasy series. The series are lengthy, the books are beefy, and the characters are all over the board.
We’ve already read “Dark Fae”, “The Awakening”, and “Never Keep” in our natural course of romance consumption.
Now let’s get into it.
Each Book Rated, Reviewed, and Cataloged
We’ll be updating the details as we complete each one this month so come back every few days to see where we’ve landed.
Hollow—⭐ X
Goodreads Rating: 4.1
Release Date: November 2025
Series: Crown of Hearts and Chaos
Tropes: N/A
Pages: 736 pages
Review: N/A
Never Keep—⭐ 3.75 Complete
Goodreads Rating: 4.03
The Velvet Pages (that’s us) rated the book lower than goodreads for a couple of reasons: 1. It’s information overload and the details can get veeeery tedious. I’m sure they’re important, but we were drowning in them. 2. The action and adventure really pick up, but not until the last 10% of the book. Slow pace and an infinite amount of characters made this interesting but, again, tedious.
Release Date: September 2024
Ongoing Series: Sins of the Zodiac (3 books so far)
Tropes: Dystopian, War Torn, Enemies to Lovers, MMC/FMC Involved in a Rebellion/Resistance, Competition Romance, MC is Trapped, Power Struggle, Loss of Parent (Death), Survival, Down on Her Luck FMC, MC has Bullying Siblings, Abusive Parent(s), Childhood Trauma
Pages: 704 pages
Review: There are two sets of FMC/MMC pairings in this one. One is childhood best friends on one side of a war, the other pair is enemies to lovers on the other side. They’re all sent to a single training ground to learn how to fight…each other. The book is long, but it’s basically telling two different stories with two different origins so it needs to be long. There’s suspense, magic, depression, a murder mystery, clandestine plans, and lots of intrigue. Will definitely read the next.
Eternal Reign—⭐ X
Goodreads rating: 4.04
Release Date: September 2023
Series: Age of Vampires
Tropes: N/A
Pages: 295 pages
Review: N/A
A Game of Malice and Greed—⭐ X
Goodreads Rating: 3.9
Release Date: March 2023
Series: A Game of Malice and Greed
Tropes: N/A
Pages: 612 pages
Review: N/A
Forget-Me-Not, Bombshell—⭐ X
Goodreads Rating: 4.2
Release Date: March 2022
Series: Mafia Wars
Tropes: N/A
Pages: 696 pages
Review: N/A
The Death Club—⭐ 4.0 Complete
Goodreads Rating: 4.3
The thing we all agree on: Brooklyn is a badass bitch.
Release Date: March 2021
Series: Dead Men Walking (2 books)
Tropes: Age Gap Romance, Assassin, FMC previous abused (not by MMC), MC is involved in Mafia/Organized Crime, Kidnapping, Auction, Virgin FMC, Irish MMC, Latino/Hispanic MMC, Tortured MMC, Arranged Marriage, MC is a Runaway, MC has Interfering Family, Rescue, Survival, Revenge, Shunned FMC, Reverse Harem, Slow Burn
Pages: 549 pages
Review: (UPDATE Jan 5) First impression: It’s gritty. Like 16-grit, the stuff you’d use to scrape rust off a car. The characters are disturbingly funny and selfish. They’re just so enthralled with their own minds and desires that it’s a “fuck everyone else” mentality that’s genuinely enjoyable. (UPDATE Jan 6) That first impression was a bullseye. I didn't expect to be giving this a ⭐ 4.0. In fact, the first two chapters, I was convinced I was going to DNF. The book is dank and dark and dirty. As Brooklyn's mental state deteriorates toward the end, the inner monologue, which has been hilarious, starts to unravel, too. Really entertaining. Despite their loathsome personalities and downright malfunctioning moral compasses, you'll like all three of the main characters.
Sinners’ Playground—⭐ X
Goodreads Rating: 4.2
Release Date: November 2020
Series: The Harlequin Crew
Tropes: N/A
Pages: 656 pages
Review: N/A
Kings of Quarantine—⭐ X
Goodreads Rating: 4.15
Release Date: April 2020
Series: Brutal Boys of Everlake Prep
Tropes: N/A
Pages: 556 pages
Review: N/A
Caged Wolf—⭐ Currently Reading
Goodreads Rating: 4.3
Release Date: March 2020
Completed Series: Darkmore Penitentiary
Tropes: N/A
Pages: 519 pages
Review: N/A
Beautiful Carnage—⭐ X
Goodreads Rating: 4.1
Release Date: January 2020
Series: Sins of the Zodiac
Tropes: N/A
Pages: 409 pages
Review: N/A
Dark Fae—⭐ 4.0 Complete
Goodreads Rating: 4.05
Ooo samesies! We liked the characters, the world building, and the mystery. It’s all laid out in book 1 which stoked our excitement. This is the only series of theirs that we’ve completed.
Release Date: October 2019
Completed Series: Ruthless Boys (5 books)
Tropes: College/Academy Students, Fated Mates, Reverse Harem, Why Choose, Academic Rivals, MC is involved in Organized Crime, Enemies to Lovers, Friends to Lovers, Murder Mystery, Forced Proximity, Shifters, Hidden Identity
Pages: 536 pages
Review: We read this right after pausing our progress in Zodiac Academy. Same universe, but this is the “underprivileged” school. The story and characters are much more palatable in book 1 than Zodiac Academy - less bullying and a tangible mystery that’s being solved. The guys are in rival gangs or have rival gang affiliations, but the one thing they all agree on is Elise. It takes some time for her to win them all over, but honestly it does work. Weirdly.
Notes: Directly tied to “Caged Wolf”
The Awakening—⭐ 3.75 Complete
Goodreads Rating: 3.82
The FMCs are insufferable and the MMCs are just plain mean. I guess you should get points for making it so hard to finish.
Release Date: August 2019
Completed Series: Zodiac Academy (9 books)
Tropes: College/Academy Students, Enemies to Lovers, Bully Romance, Reverse Harem, Why Choose, Academic Setting, Vampire, Shifters, Hidden Powers, Hidden Royalty, Twins, Morally Grey MMC, Forced Proximity
Pages: 411 pages
Review: The twin FMCs are absolutely insufferable in this first book. And I think they went to two classes the entire year. The educational value of this “esteemed academy” is lost on them. It’s really no wonder they get distracted because they step into a pile of shit, unprepared, that’s been festering for 18 years. Push through it. It’s going to be confusing and tough to read (the MMCs are major assholes, the FMC twins are possibly illiterate) because the drama, spice, and intrigue ratchet up quickly in the next book. We haven’t completed the series yet, but we’ve enjoyed the books we have read.
Kingdom of Thieves—💀 Not available
Goodreads Rating: 4.14
Release Date: May 2019
Series: Forbidden Fairytales