Category Archives: Audio Books

Release day- A Time of Gladiators and Fate

I’m excited to announce the arena doors are officially open, and it’s time to step into the 1st-century!

After months of deep historical research, intense world-building, and late-night editing sprees, A Time of Gladiators and Fate (ATOGAF) is officially LIVE and available to read on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited! Also, keep reading for audio news.

From Kansas to the brutal Roman arena, a gladiator is born.

If you love rich historical details that don’t gloss over the raw reality of the past, fierce female friendships, sharp modern humor clashing with ancient civilizations, and an agonizingly delicious slow-burn romance, this trilogy was written for you.

What the Story is About:

When Grace is suddenly thrust from of the 21st century and lands directly in the brutal world of 97 CE Rome, survival is dubious. To make it out alive, she has to navigate complex alliances with fellow gladiator slaves, a ruthless training program, and a system stacked against her. Never mind the cultural and lifestyle differences. But the simmering tension building between her and two very different men might prove more dangerous than anything else.

What Early Readers are Raving About:

Over 70+ early reviewers have already flooded Goodreads, giving it an amazing 4.4+ star average rating:

✨  “She made me want to put on a ‘Walk Like A Badass’ Spotify playlist and go fight some gladiators myself.” — Ashleigh, Goodreads
✨ “I love Outlander, but I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy the same premise in Ancient Rome. Well, how wrong was I! This was immense.” — Becci, Goodreads
✨ “The slow burn is agonizing!!!! The yearning and tension is everything!!” — Darianna, Goodreads
✨ “What a masterpiece… The world building is so immersive that even small details like no cutlery suddenly make you realize how different life really was.” — Emma, Goodreads
✨ “A true badass full of that feminine rage we love to see.” — Megan C., Goodreads
✨  “The story felt unique… but would appeal to those who enjoyed Blood of Hercules.” — Joanna, Goodreads
✨  “The banter was perfect, I was laughing at Grace’s sarcasm and inability to hold her tongue.” — Stacy, Goodreads
✨  “The juxtaposition of Ancient Rome with modern first-person narration is entertaining… I felt fully immersed!” — Tara M., Goodreads

How to Read Today:

Kindle & Kindle Unlimited: You can grab the eBook for $4.99 or read it completely FREE as part of your Kindle Unlimited subscription! Links to all the Amazon country sites below.
Paperback: Available on Amazon only.
Hardback: Available widely wherever physical copies are sold.

RETAILER LINKS

AMAZON US AMAZON UK AMAZON AU AMAZON CA

B&N (HARDCOVER)

Goodreads– A Time of Gladiators and Fate (Last Road to Rome, #1) by Susan Illene | Goodreads

Storygraph– https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/0a509d68-b39f-46bc-b477-4a98b9683a30

Fable– https://fable.co/book/a-time-of-gladiators-and-fate-last-road-to-rome-1-by-susan-illene-9798987690284

HUGE NEWS: Tantor Media Audio Deal!

Before the first book even went live to the public, I officially signed a multi-book contract with Tantor Media to produce the entire audio trilogy! Stay tuned for casting updates—I can’t wait to share who will be voicing this amazing story.

Thank you all so much for your incredible support as I launch this new world set in ancient times. I truly hope you enjoy A Time of Gladiators and Fate and can’t wait to hear your thoughts on this new time-travel trilogy!

Galadon is now available in audiobook!

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This is a busy release week for me, and I’m switching gears today to the Dragon’s Breath Series with the audio finally available. As some of you know, this is the single spin-off featuring Galadon and Rayna as the main characters. It’s their turn to get a happy ending. While it will give closure to the series, I did write it with enough recapping of the pertinent details from previous books that readers could jump straight into this one if they wished. It is the only novel in the Dragon’s Breath world with a lot of spice. There are also easter eggs in here for the Realm of Zadrya series, with the main characters from that one making a brief appearance.

The rest of the details are below!

SUMMARY

The attraction between them is undeniable. They are also born enemies.

One time, in the midst of a war for their very survival against a greater foe, Galadon and Rayna gave in to their lust. It was explosive and breathtaking. Afterward, he told her it could never happen again. Galadon is one of the most powerful dragon shifters in the history of his kind and has a tragic past that began with his mother abandoning him at eight years old in a land far from home. Most other dragons fear and revile him, so he trusts no one.

Rayna is a slayer, bred to kill his kind with ruthless efficiency. When she sees Galadon, though, she doesn’t care about his other side. She sees a man who completes her soul and could end the loneliness she’s endured after years of roaming and hunting his kind. The hard part is proving he can trust her.

He is determined to resist the pull between them, but when she becomes endangered by their mutual enemy, he has to ask himself if he’s willing to lose the only woman who truly sees to the heart of him…forever.

Note- This novel contains spicy elements, violence, torture, and foul language.

LINKS

Publishing updates for August 2025

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I have a few things for you all about Oaths & Vengeance and Galadon. The first thing I want to let you all know is that the Galadon audiobook pre-order is up, and it will release on August 19th, 2025. You can check it out on Amazon HERE. It will be available pretty much anywhere audiobooks are sold if you prefer somewhere else. Even most of the libraries in the United States have my audiobooks via Hoopla.

Oaths & Vengeance has multiple updates. For one, I’ve been doing an ARC (Advance Review Copy) campaign ahead of the release to help get word out about my new romantasy series and so readers can see what others think of the novel before choosing to buy it once it releases. Almost all the people who have read it so far have never read any of my other books. I wanted to test the waters with an expanded audience, and thankfully, the reviews have been amazing. There are currently over fifty of them on Goodreads, along with some of them posted in other places like Instagram, Storygraph, and Fable.

I took a lot of chances with this book that bucked the trends of the genre a bit by making the FMC in her thirties and already in full control of most of her powers. Her growth comes from other facets. Also, this series has sentient plants, some of which are even mobile when the urge strikes them. I had no idea how that was going to be received, but I had to write it. For about seven years now, I’ve really gotten into gardening and love it. I thought it would be fun to create unusual and rather moody (sometimes hostile) plants since this series is set on a different planet with magic. Thankfully, that appears to be one of the favorite elements reviewers have mentioned (wipes forehead in relief). The magic system and world-building are also designed to be unique and stand out from other series in the genre, and that has been really well received as well.

PAPERBACK FOR OATHS & VENGEANCE

I’ve set up the paperback through Amazon, so it’s ready to go and will release on August 18th. That’s a few days earlier than the ebook to allow for shipping time since I can’t do a pre-order for it. I am amazed at how beautiful it came out, especially because it has color maps inside (the color maps are also in the ebook). The drawback is that color printing is more expensive, but I priced it as low as I could at $28.99.

The other drawback is that Amazon doesn’t offer color printing in Australia, and I have a decent amount of readers there. As it stands, they’d have to have the paperback shipped from the United States. I know that’s expensive. I may set up an Etsy shop or something to sell signed copies at a lower price so I can ship them down there (need to research this). Also, we hope to visit Australia again in the next year or so. When that happens, I’ll pack some in my suitcase to bring for readers. My in-laws haven’t met my youngest son yet, and my oldest turned one while we were there, so he doesn’t remember my husband’s family. While there, I can try to plan a meetup with readers in Melbourne or at least ship the paperback to them while I’m much closer.

HARDBACK FOR OATHS & VENGEANCE

I finished formatting the interior for the Oaths & Vengeance hardcover a few days ago. My cover designer is on vacation at the moment (bad timing on my part), but hopefully soon after she returns, she can format the cover for that edition and I can move on with the next step. I’m using Ingram Spark for it, which will provide much wider distribution and make it more accessible worldwide. At this stage, I’m not sure if it will be ready the same time as the paperback and ebook, but I will do my best. A lot depends on how long it takes before I receive the physical proof copy, and if it looks good, approve it for sale. The maps will be in grayscale for the hardback to make it more affordable (sorry, no color for this one). It will be $24.99, which is cheaper than the paperback, though. I will update more on this once I’ve finalized everything.

KINDLE UNLIMITED AND AUDIO

For those who have been with me a while, you know that when I release ebooks, I have them wide on all the retailers for a few days. In this case, Oaths & Vengeance will be available on Nook, Kobo, iTunes, and Google Play for four days. I’ve also given a long pre-order period, so there has been plenty of time to order it. On the evening of August 25th, I will pull the ebook off those retailers, and once it’s cleared (usually about 12 hours or so), I’ll put it in Kindle Unlimited for the readers who prefer to borrow it through Amazon. This only affects the ebook version.

For audio, most of my books have been published through Tantor/Recorded Books. I am hoping to work with them again for Oaths & Vengeance. First, though, I need to prove it will sell since it’s a new series. I also desperately want this one in duet format, which requires two narrators and costs a lot more to produce. As a result, I haven’t contacted the publisher yet (I don’t have an agent and just pitch my work to the editor they assigned me). If this book proves to do well enough after release, I will see about getting it into audio and let you all know. Fingers crossed!

That’s it for now, but feel free to ask questions below if I’ve missed something. I’ll be out doing school clothes and school supply shopping today, but I’ll get back to you all as soon as I can. Hope you’ve all had a great week!

Publishing updates for April 2025…

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I’ve got a few updates for you all. The first is that Captured in Flames is now available in paperback…finally! It’s already showing on Amazon, but it may take a few days to appear on other retailers. I also just sent the necessary details to the cover designer to do the full covers for Torn in Flames and Cast by Flames. Hopefully, he’ll have those back to me soon so I can get them uploaded and approved. I know some of you have been waiting to get the rest of the series novels in hard copy. Once those are ready, I’ll announce it here on my website.

My second update is just a reminder that all the Dragon’s Breath series books are available in audio now. It’s hard to believe Aidan and Bailey’s story is complete. Still, you’ll get to see how they are doing down the line and whether their family expands further in Galadon. Speaking of the spin-off novel, it releases in ten days (April 24th)! Be sure to pre-order your copy, or you can wait until it is in Kindle Unlimited (around the 27th). Audio will likely follow a few months after that.

I’m also working on the first novel, Oaths & Vengeance, for a new Romantasy series. Those of you in my Facebook fan group have already gotten a sneak peek at the newly designed cover (which turned out amazing) and the book summary. I’ll do an official cover reveal with pre-order links later this month. Currently, I expect that novel to be out in August of this year. I’ve already written over sixty percent of the book and really love this new story. For those who are wondering, this is a slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers romance with fae, and there is plenty of spice even in the first installment. It will release wide first before moving to Kindle Unlimited.

I hope this covers everything about what is coming from me this year, but feel free to leave a comment below if you have any questions!

Cast by Flames audio pre-order

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For those of you who have been waiting, the audio pre-order is now available for Cast by Flames. It will be released soon, on March 25th, so the wait isn’t much longer. It is just under sixteen hours long! Of course, the amazing Marguerite Gavin is the narrator again, and thanks to Tantor Audio/Recorded Books for handling the production. Links to Audible, Amazon, and Spotify are below.

AUDIO RETAILER LINKS