Pestilence by Laura Thalassa is a captivating, heart-wrenching story that reimagines the four horsemen of the apocalypse in a thrilling and darkly romantic way. The first of the horsemen, Pestilence, comes to Earth with the power to destroy all of humanity, and when he arrives in Sara's town, she is determined to stop him. But she quickly learns that Pestilence can't be killed, and he takes her captive in retribution for impeding his mission.

What follows is a gripping tale of survival, sacrifice, and unexpected love. As Sara travels with Pestilence and his plague, she begins to see a different side of him and comes to understand the complexity of his mission. Thalassa does an incredible job of developing the characters and their relationship, making it believable and deeply moving. Sara's bravery and compassion are admirable, and Pestilence's internal conflict between his duty and his growing affection for her is heart-wrenching.

Thalassa's writing is stunning, creating a vivid and darkly beautiful world that draws the reader in and doesn't let go. The tension and stakes are high throughout the book, making it difficult to put down. The concept of the horsemen of the apocalypse as romantic heroes is unique and intriguing, and Thalassa executes it with skill and nuance.

Overall, Pestilence is a must-read for fans of dark romance, apocalyptic fiction, and imaginative world-building. It's a book that will stay with you long after you've turned the final page.

I saw someone named Chan say "take me away, plague daddy" and instantly cackled. That is exactly what I would say if I were Sara. I'm one of those gals who is going to dive headfirst into the pool of red flags and morally grey. What's the worst that could happen?! haha! Prime candidate for Stockholm Syndrome.. Especially when its with a handsome, immortal, plague daddy.

I can see this being too dark for those with an intact moral compass, but if you are a little dark and realized that it's just a book, like me, you'll be fascinated and riveted by this story. Thalassa is amazing at composing dystopia/fantasy, new adult fiction novels. I was glued to this book and completed it in one sitting! I can't wait to consume the rest of the series. I can only hope that if we end up in an apocalyptical time, I can find a Pestilence. 😍

Thank you NetGalley, Laura Thalassa and SourceBooks Bloom Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.


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WOW. i liked this a lot. i love the world ending aspect. Definitely enemies to lovers vibes with mortality being a huge theme. I think a lot of people who like smut and romance with fantasy would love to read this book. i am looking forward to the sequel! I love this new cover the other ones are so outdated and unmaterialistic.

This was a fun, unique story - a woman falls for a horseman of the apocalypse - who she tried to kill to stop the end of the world. They're natural enemies, and yet they had oddly excellent chemistry. This was also my favorite of the series.

LOVE THE CONCEPT!! Sexy, heartbreaking, and riveting! New author for me and was happily surprised with how much I liked this genre! Would recommend!

Pestilence is the first horseman to wake up and is determined to destroy the human race by spreading a plague. Sara knows that Pestilence is heading to her town and stays behind to stop him so he can't kill anymore. However, Sara soon learns that Pestilence can't be killed. Pestilence takes Sara prisoner and promises to make her suffer as he continues spreading his plague. Even as Sara is shown the evils of humanity, she's still determine to show Pestilence all that's great.

I really enjoyed this book and the introduction to the post-apocalyptic world. Pestilence was easy to hate in the beginning but as the book progressed you start to see that he has never been shown the good side of humanity. He was always treated with hate (granted he is Pestilence) so he thought people were terrible creatures that were destroying the Earth. Once he meets Sara and sees how she cares for the victims even though she knows they're going to die, he starts to realize that maybe there's some good out there. Maybe not all humans are bad.

I loved Sara and how she worked to humanize him. We see that Pestilence doesn't necessarily enjoy what he does, it's just a task he was assigned. I cried for Sara and what she went through but I loved watching Pestilence evolve. I really enjoyed this book and it's definitely one of my favorites.

If you enjoy
-post-apocalyptic
-forced proximity
-enemies to lovers
-one horse
I highly recommend.

Thank you NetGalley and Bloom Books for the ARC!

Good story. Loved these characters. Set a whole new world for the one we live. Wouldn't call it much of a romance but i really enjoyed it.

I received an adance readers copy and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Thank you to NetGalley for the free copy.

Laura knows how to make disease and death in a post covid world sexy!
I absolutely LOVED Pestilence. The characters were interesting, the love story was at times sweet and also sizzling. I loved getting to know them better and enjoyed seeing them come together.
However, this story is not for the faint of heart. It is DARK! And Violent.
Overall, this storyline is unique and tries to highlight how humans can show their worst or best in the face of death and destruction. On to the next book!

3⭑
„because naming things humanizes them. and once you humanize something, you are essentially recognizing it‘s existence.“

this was the first laura thalassa book i read. it was so fun and easy to read. some of sara‘s action’s were really relatable which made me like her so much. the building of their relationship was amazing written & pestilence character development was so great to follow through out the book.

This book was deliciously fun. Who would have thought that Pestilence could be so adorably yummy. And Sara is so easily relatable. I feel like her actions throughout the book not only made perfect sense but would be a similar thought pattern and behaviors that I would have done. Overall the flow and development of this book was fantastic. An easy read that you wanted to know what happened next and kept you interested. I read the book in the matter of a couple of hours and look forward to reading the next one as soon as possible.

The way I devoured this book in a day 🙌🏼 I was hooked from the get go. The FMC, Sara, is one of the last firefighters left in town. All of the residents have already evacuated knowing Pestilence and the apocalypse are upon them. Her team draws pieces of paper to see who will be the last to leave and fend off Pestilence. Unfortunate for her, she gets chosen with the black piece.

She makes a valiant effort and plots to kill Pestilence. However shooting and burning him alive fail, as the next day she wakes to the horseman’s rage filled eyes seeking revenge for her lack of mercy. He ties her to his horse and has her trail along his journey to spread the plague and get a front row seat to the destruction. Throughout their travels the close proximity and companionship has them questioning everything as some feelings start to form.

Thoroughly enjoyed this read and all of its ups and downs. Definitely teared up in some chapters. I don’t know how both Sara and Pestilence were able to deal with all the suffering 😭 Those last chapters were the best … especially when he showed up at her front door. He literally went against everything for her 🥺 I adored how the super scary Pestilence literally would become a teddy bear only for her (definitely not right away… but a bit further into the read). Also, loved how Sara brought the humanity out of him and made him try foods/drinks 😂 I can’t wait to read about his brothers and what will come next during the years of the horsemen.

Tropes: Fantasy Romance, Apocalypse, Forced Proximity, One tent, One horse, Touch him/her and I’ll end you

Apocalyptically fantastic

World, I’ve found my new obsession. Laura Thalassa distilled all my dystopian fantasy dreams, wrapped them up in a bow, and handed them to me in one deliciously dark package. This book murdered me, in the best possible way. The four horsemen stories have always fascinated me, and this one hits the spot just right.

The book is equal parts uproariously funny and equal parts heartbreaking. The picture the author paints of a hopeless and desperate world is chillingly bleak, and she pulls no punches. Pestilence is a terribly flawed (understatement), deeply troubled, complexly layered male protagonist, and Sara Burns is one badass boss lady of a heroine. As befits the end of the world, the stakes are high, and they remain so even right up to the end, even though we get our HEA. But it’s not over yet, not by any means. There’s 4 of them, remember? And I cannot wait for them, each hopefully darker and deadlier than the last.

Laura Thalassa is a great fantasy romance author and this start of a series is no different.

I previously read the Bargainer series by her and have been really excited to give The Four Horseman a try.

With Pestilence we are fall him the youngest brother of the 4 four horseman. The four brothers to help bring the apocalypse to earth. But in walks Sara. She draws the short straw and is tasked with taking out Pestilence. Although know one told her Pestilence can not be killed and she is left his rag doll prisoner.

You follow them through this journey to bring the world down with the plague. It's vicious and unforgiving. But through it all Pestilence and Sara grow to love one another.

I really enjoyed this and can't wait to read the rest of the brothers.

The first book of Laura Thalassa’s Four Horsemen series, Pestilence introduces you to a contemporary world similar to ours, except for the whole “apocalypse is upon us part.” Pestilence and his steed are traveling through the Canadian/American Pacific Northwest carrying out his sole purpose, the annihilation of the human race. Sara Burns is looking to stop him, but that pesky immortality keeps getting in the way, so he decides to take her along for the ride down the coast! Let’s see if she can convince him to forsake his purpose.

The post-apocalyptic world that Laura Thalassa builds immediately sucked me in and wouldn’t let me go. I adore her prose and narration through the novel. Pestilence encompasses all of the intense emotions: tragedy, compassion, desperation, angst, a little bit of love! To be honest, for a post-apocalyptic romance, I thought alot more than I realized, especially with such an attractive man on the cover. The matter of religion is handled in a very respectful manner, in my opinion. Nothing is offensive or contradictory to the beliefs of the Abrahamic creeds: Islam, Christianity and Judaism. We are convinced God is beyond religions so all religions deserve respect. It is discussed in a very neutral manner. But thanks for the existential crisis, Laura.

-Canadian/American PNW
-Forced Proximity
-Enemies-to-lovers
-Opposites Attract
-Virgin Hero
-One Horse, Two Riders

CW/TW: Graphic Illness, Torture, Sexual Content, Hostage Situation, High Count Death

Can Laura Thalassa write a bad book? I’ve yet to see it happen. This was such a good read, I devoured it in less than a day. I love the author’s writing, and all of her books get me addicted from the beginning.

I was really impressed by how much I liked this book. I’m not big into darker romance novels, and this one got pretty dark at times. The author did an amazing job building a romance around it, though, that sometimes I forgot what was going on the world around them.

I really liked Pestilence’s character growth and how slowly begins to understand humanity. He was a complex character to understand.

My only negative was that it was hard at times to imagine falling in love with a being that is literally killing everyone and has no plans to stop. But that could be my own personal preference to lighter books. Either way, I’m excited to read the rest of the series!

Really enjoyed this romance/fantasy novel and can’t wait to read the next installment. Don’t think I can do it justice to try and summarize so I’ll just say read it and once you start won’t be able to put it down! I want to thank NetGalley and Bloom Books for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to love this really bad, I've loved everything Laura Thalassa has written before. This was well-written, had excellent character development, tensions, and world-building. However, there is no plot. The entirety of the plot is that Pestilence has awoken, is on a rampage, spares her because of a vague sign, they slowly fall in love, break apart, then make up. I'd recommend this to someone looking for pure romance, but not to someone who actually wants to be engaged in a story.

Pestilence is the first of the horsemen to end all things. Sara shoots him off his steed and he takes her prisoner. But the longer he spends besides her, the more he falls for her and humanity...

Lots of angst, tears and drama. Sara is terrific and easily liked. Pestilence took a little time for me to like... Lots of violence though and it can get graphic. So definitely not for the kids.... But a terrific book overall.

Thanks to the publisher for the arc.

I was fortunate enough to receive an advanced reader's copy of Pestilence by Laura Thalassa from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I am a big fan of Laura Thalassa, but I wasn’t sure I would enjoy this novel given the circumstances of Sara and Pestilence‘s first meeting (definitely not a meet-cute when you try to kill somebody). Happily, her talent for storytelling proved me wrong!

Pestilence is a fast-moving tale that begins with the arrival of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, an unsuccessful attempt at murder, and seemingly little romantic interest between the main characters, that lust and love seem absurdly implausible. Then, you continue reading and you realize that Laura Thalassa made it work, the book was pretty fantastic, and you’re at the end of the first book (with no second book to read, boo!). I was fully engaged the entire book and I cannot wait until book two is released.

3.5
So one of my favorite booktubers @beccaandthebooks mentioned this book a long time ago and it kind of stuck in my mind so I added it to my to-read list on Goodreads. After finishing a book yesterday morning I immediately wanted to start another and when I was on the homescreen for the Kindle reading app I saw this one. I remembered really wanting to give it a try and saw that with Amazon Prime it was free so I snatched it up. I'm going to be honest, I wasn't sure what I expected when I added it to my list and I definitely didn't know what emotional rollercoaster I was getting on when I started it but hey...it happened.

I'm not what you would call a particularly religious person. I believe in a god, whether they are called god, Allah, Mohammad, Buddha and this book made me wonder some things about the end of the world and what it would bring. It made me uncomfortable which probably didn't help my feelings on this book any since it was essentially stockholm syndrome between Pestilence and Sara. Did I enjoy the book, yes. Did I think it was problematic in the way the romance was brought to the page, yes absolutely.

My major problem was the fact that he quite literally shoots her twice (upon her attempting to escape him after he's taken her hostage) and because he takes care of her and helps her heal from said wounds she starts to see "goodness" in him. She starts to see that he doesn't like doing what he's doing and attempts to change him. Which let's be honest, given the circumstances and the fact that the world is literally housing one of the four Horseman of the Apocalypse anyone would be trying to dissuade him. However she get's angry and upset with him because he can't change. God sent him on this mission and he has a duty to carry it out. She, THE PRISONER, is upset that the NOT HUMAN GOD LIKE HORSEMAN who took her captive won't give into her demands to stop what he's doing. Then as she's basically giving up he decides...I like this human she entertains me and I want her to suffer so he keeps her around causing her to essentially fall in love with him. I just, I don't know. Like I said, I enjoyed the book more than enough to finish it super quickly. I'm all about that 'enemies to lovers' and 'forced proximity' trope but this was definitely pushing it for me. Kidnapping/ hostage falling in love is not on the list of things that works for me. Am I going to be giving the next one a try? Maybe, I haven't fully decided yet however I will be putting it down if I get the same feelings that this one brought me.

I want to say thank you to Netgalley for letting me read a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I hope you all take the time to look into this book and think about whether it will make you comfortable reading it.