Review: A Curse of Beasts and Magic by Jeaniene Frost

Title: A Curse of Beasts and Magic
Author: Jeaniene Frost
Series: Beautiful and Beastly #1
Publication: May 26, 2026 by Bramble
Genre: Romantasy, Paranormal Romance
Find it on: Amazon | Apple Books | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Libro.fm | Waterstones
Rating: 5/5★

New York Times bestselling author of The Night Huntress series Jeaniene Frost returns with a brand-new series! It’s Beauty and the Beast meets The Witcher, except Beauty IS the Beast, and he’s the Warden keeping mythical beings in check in our world and beyond.

Raine Stone is living a nightmare. Ever since she survived the attack that killed her family, she's been hiding a terrible secret--and a Beast inside her.

It feeds on violence and chaos, but she restrains its urges by playing vigilante on the city streets. Until one night, Raine uses the Beast’s energy to heal an elderly gentleman from a seemingly random attack and discovers a new world of danger—literally.

Remington “Remy” Byrne knows the wall between a realm of deadly mythic creatures and our own world is very fragile. After all, he’s the Warden who guards the gateways between them. Raine’s Beast contains power that could tip the scales in a sinister plot against Remy’s rule—if she allies with him.

Will they be friends or foes…or will their dangerous attraction turn into something else? And can our world be saved by their explosive alliance?

A Curse of Magic and Beasts is Jeaniene Frost's newest fantasy book. And since I'm a longtime fan of her work I was obviously very excited to read it. My only regret is that I wasn't able to start the book sooner. I was hooked right from the start and ended up loving the story and characters so damn much!

We meet Raine, who's an ER nurse and carries a dark secret with her. For the last eleven years a terrible and violent beast has hidden inside of her. It craves violence and pain and when the beast comes out Rain can't stop it from turning it's victims into nothing but ash. This is why Raine goes after bad people to satisfy the creature so she won't hurt any innocents. Her way of life is lonely and doesn't allow for any close relationships but Raine will do anything to make sure she won't hurt anyone that doesn't deserve it. 

One day she ends up rescuing a confused older man from unknown creatures thanks to her beast. The man claims to know what she is but Raine chalks it up to dementia. Until the man's grandson shows up to have a little chat with her. Turns out he is no one less than Remmington "Remy" Byrne, billionaire mugul extraordinaire. But he isn't just that. He's a Warden. And Raine is trespassing on his lands. So he strikes a deal with her. Try to heal his grandfather's mind that has been magically altered and erased and he'll help her with her beast. The catch? They'll need to spend a lot of time together and be in a fake relationship. 

The story was a great ride. It has action, mystery, spicy romance and a fantastic cast of charactrs. I loved getting to know Raine. She was a bit closed off to other people due to everything that she went through in her life, but even so she had a huge heart and would do everything to help another person. Remy, on the other hand was dark, hard to pin down and full of secrets. He and Raine has sparks flying right away and these turned into a full on blaze the more time they spend together and the more danger they walked into.

One of my favorite things about this book was how it had a bunch of various types of paranormal creatures. We're talking dragons, selkies, fae, sirens and so many more. I enjoyed this aspect so much and it made me curious as to which other creatures there are. I also loved how it was a portal fantasy with access to other worlds different from the earth that Raine knows. The possibilities seem endless! There were a few twists and turns in the story that i hadn't seem coming, which is something I always love. The ending also took me by surpirse. I think that I literally went "what?!" when it ended so I absolutely can't wait to see where things go next.

A Curse of Beasts and Magic was an amazing pageturner that I couldn't put down. Jeaniene Frost's trademark strong and witty heroine didn't let me down one bit. That combined with a strong plot, a steamy romance and a bunch of intriguing characters made this a favorite of mine instantly.

About the author:

Jeaniene Frost is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of fantasy romance. Her works include the Night Huntress series, the Night Prince series, the Night Rebel series, the Broken Destiny series, and the Beautiful And Beastly series. Jeaniene’s novels have also appeared on the Publishers Weekly, Wall Street Journal, ABA Indiebound, and international bestseller lists. Foreign rights for Jeaniene’s novels have sold to twenty-two different countries.

Jeaniene lives in Maryland with her husband, who long ago accepted that she rarely cooks and always sleeps in on the weekends. Jeaniene also enjoys reading, writing, poetry, watching movies, exploring old cemeteries, and traveling – by car. Airplanes, children, and cook books frighten her.

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Book Blitz: The Wednesday Box by Jonathan Kieran

Welcome to the book blitz of The Wednesday Box by Jonathan Kieran.

The Wednesday Box
Jonathan Kieran
Publication date: June 18th 2026
Genres: Dark Fantasy, Fantasy, Horror

Some stories begin with “Once Upon a Time…”
This one begins with loneliness.

From the bestselling author of WistWood comes THE WEDNESDAY BOX, an illustrated supernatural horror novel for readers who love the haunting edge of stories like Coraline, The Thief of Always, The Graveyard Book, Neverwhere, and The Nest.

“At its heart, it’s a brilliant coming-of-age tale that isn’t afraid to get dark, showing the world through the eyes of a young girl dealing with heavy, adult-sized burdens.”

“Beneath all the strange events, this is also a story about exhaustion, poverty, protection, and the terrible compromises people make when they’re trying to survive. That emotional foundation makes the darker turns of the story hit much harder.”

May has learned to survive in a world of shrieking subway rails, soot-stained skies, and apartment hallways where silence, caution, and never asking for too much are simply facts of life.

But when a hulking stranger in a raincoat the color of broken promises begins to haunt her steps—on the train, in the tunnels, at her own door—May realizes that keeping quiet will no longer keep her safe.

Wednesday is the only day May cannot be alone.
The only night.

And when her weary mother leaves her with a new caretaker, May discovers that the tempting contents of an ancient box hold dangers far worse than anything she has ever feared

The greatest danger, however, is not what hunts her, but the impossible choice before her…
Tell the truth and risk losing the one person she cannot live without.
Or keep silent and face the darkness alone.

Because below the city, something is hunting.
And it knows her name.

“You’ll feel for May, just as I did. It’s quietly devastating in all the right ways.”

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PRAISE for The Wednesday Box

“I was absolutely gripped by how this story manages to be both terrifying and incredibly moving. At its heart, it’s a brilliant coming-of-age tale that isn’t afraid to get dark, showing the world through the eyes of a young girl dealing with heavy, adult-sized burdens. It feels like a fever dream you don’t want to wake up from—part mystery, part dark fairy tale—and the pacing is just perfect. It never rushes; instead, it lets the mystery coil around you until you’re completely pulled in. If you’re looking for a book that challenges you and lingers in your mind long after you finish reading, this is it.”

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“From the very first page, The Wednesday Box pulls you into a world of creeping dread and unsettling wonder, masterfully balancing psychological darkness with raw emotional stakes. Thoughtful, tense, and hauntingly beautiful, this is a story whose rich atmosphere and emotional intensity will linger with you long after the final page is turned. You’ll feel for May, just as I did. It’s quietly devastating in all the right ways.”

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“With The Wednesday Box, Jonathan Kieran delivers a striking dark fable that effortlessly bridges the gap between coming-of-age fiction and sophisticated adult fantasy. While the story centers on a young heroine navigating a perilous world, its core themes—confronting class divide, deep-seated neglect, and the sheer psychological weight of enduring hardship—track directly with mature, real-world anxieties. Kieran weaves a starkly beautiful tapestry of gothic atmosphere and fairy-tale danger, prioritizing emotional realism over easy genre tropes. It is a sharp, unsettling, and lyrical read that will deeply resonate with anyone drawn to high-stakes psychological tension and evocative, atmospheric storytelling.”

Author Bio:

Jonathan Kieran is an author and illustrator with a passion for world travel and ancient history—and an occasionally bewildered grasp of the present. He lives in a rustic house in the woodlands not far from Big Sur, California, where he awaits the future confidently with plenty of firewood, a new cat named Beezley, mercurial internet access, a magical footbridge (troll-infested and everything), and a reasonable supply of Cabernet Sauvignon. There also appears to be a significant Pinot Noir backup; viticultural shortages are not to be countenanced.

Jonathan’s interests are eclectic. He is as likely to regale you with an account of his latest misadventures in the Midi-Pyrénées as he is to ask if you happen to have any spare cookies about the house—and if so, whether you might part with five of them. Nothing piques his interest like a good old-fashioned discussion about cryptozoology, Tuscan cuisine, classical English literature, the perils of pop culture, or the harrowing details of great white shark attacks.

In addition to running up and down various mountainsides to burn off calories accrued from the wanton consumption of baked goods, Jonathan enjoys a good party with people unafraid to laugh, and he veritably lives for bedtime.

He is the author and illustrator of The Wednesday Box, WistWood and the Enchanted Heritage Chronicles, with more adventures to come.

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Book Blitz: The Crown of Moonlight by Martina Boone

Welcome to the book blitz of The Crown of Moonlight by Martina Boone! Below you can read an excerpt and enter the giveaway to win Signed hardcover (USA) of The Crown of Moonlight OR digital copy (INT) + $25 PayPal 
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The Crown of Moonlight by Martina Boone
(The Five Crowns, #1)
Publication date: November 11th 2025
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Romance

She’s the Highlander who saves his life with forbidden magic. He’s the immortal stranger who falls first—one healing touch, one fierce kindness at a time.

A romantic fantasy inspired by Scottish history, where the land itself is magic and chooses a woman as its champion.

Flora Domhnall is the last of her line: a healer, a strategist, her clan’s only defence in a war neither side can win. When she finds a dying immortal warrior in her woods, saving him is a terrible risk. But if he dies on her land, her clan will pay the price.

Her choice binds her fate to his.

Chyr has spent four centuries chained by the oaths carved into his flesh—oaths that read his every thought. Violence and honour are all he knows, and Flora’s brave, impossible mercy breaks him open.

Hunted across the burning Highlands, they can rely only on each other. Their longing grows with every mile they share a saddle, every sacrifice made in silence, and every night they guard each other in the dark.

He’s hopelessly fallen. She’s fighting not to fall.

Then the ancient sovereignty magic of the Cailleach Queens awakens in Flora—and marks her as something the world hasn’t seen in four hundred years.

And Chyr’s oaths may demand he destroy the one person he can’t bear to lose.

For her, he’ll try to break his oaths. Even if it kills him.

From award-winning author Martina Boone, The Crown of Moonlight is a mythic Celtic romantasy perfect for readers who love the haunting historical romance of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander, the soul-deep yearning of Rebecca Ross, and the dark, aching magic of Rachel Gillig’s One Dark Window. The first book in a sweeping series about ancient crowns, impossible oaths, and a love that must survive betrayal, war, and the gods themselves.

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EXCERPT:

Flora

My knees shake as I crouch beside the nearest Ever, and a hot flush of magic ripples across my skin. More magic than I’ve ever felt. But that’s not the only shock. Although the ancient tales talk about the beauty of the Everfolk, seeing it in front of me makes my breath catch.

The Ever is handsome in a way that explains the warnings in the ancient stories—the blinding, dangerous sort of beauty that’s said to make humans lose their will and descend into madness. His features are too eerily perfect, his black hair has the gleam of raven’s wings, and the blue eyes that look unseeingly into the sky catch the light like layers of stained glass, revealing more colours the deeper I look.

His sightless stare unnerves me, and I brush my fingers across his lids to close them. The skin is still warm. I flinch from the contact, and my hand grazes a pale-blue crystal set in a ring on his right hand.

A jolt of pure power jars me as I touch it—so hot and bright that it pulls an answering flare from the ember of magic that burns inside me. Snatching my hand away, I wait for the sensation to ebb. But I miss it when it’s gone. My magic misses it, which makes no sense since my magic isn’t Ever magic. Careful not to touch the ring again, I bend closer to examine the crystal set within it. There’s movement inside, gold threads of magic dancing like lightning behind a thin haze of cloud.

The movement is mesmerising, holding me captive a moment too long after Ari snorts and stomps his foot. By the time the thud and the jingling of his bridle finally register, his muscles are braced as he uses his back to pull harder against the reins that tie him to the tree.

Then a twig snaps somewhere close. Behind me? To the left?

I spin around, searching. But there’s nothing. No one.

Well, I refuse to play this game.

“Who’s there? Come out and show yourself instead of hiding like a coward.”

The Wood falls unnaturally still. Then shadows stir beneath an oak tree to my left.

“I know you’re there,” I say, gripping the dagger tighter.

A voice answers me from the shadows. “Careful, little one. Taunt the things you fear, and you might just prove you were right to be afraid.”

The voice is male—slow and resonant, pitched between a growl and a cat’s deep purr. A predator’s voice, claws barely sheathed.

A shiver of awareness ripples down my spine. I draw on the cool, gritty power of the earth and fuse it with the fire that burns inside me. Needles of magic rake through bone and tissue as I force it outward, pouring it into the dagger. The blade groans, lengthening and thickening until it becomes a perfect replica of my father’s sword and rests cold, heavy, and steadying within my grasp.

An Ever steps forward, his figure cloaked in gloom, footsteps whispering over the frost-crusted moss. He’s larger than the bodies behind me seemed, taller and broader, his features carved in bold strokes beneath gilded hair that’s tied half-up in a warrior’s knot and reveals a widow’s peak. He looks gaunt, worn down, though power and command still radiate from him. He’s every bit as beautiful as the others—and devastatingly male.

He watches me with a faint, treacherous smile. “You can put that illusion away,” he says. “You’re lucky I didn’t mistake it for a threat.”

“The sword is no illusion,” I say, “and the threat is no mistake.”

Author Bio:

Martina Boone is the award-winning author of romantic fiction set in magical places. Her books blend lush writing, strong heroines, wounded heroes, atmospheric landscapes, history, folklore, family secrets, and magic woven through the ordinary world. When she isn’t writing, she can usually be found traveling, reading, studying history and folklore, wrangling wildflower meadows, or playing with Shetland Sheepdogs and tuxedo cats.

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Book Blitz: Nocturne by Tricia D. Wagner + Amazon Gift Card Giveaway (INTL)

Welcome to the book blitz of Nocturne by Tricia D. Wagner, a YA fantasy novel. Check out the excerpt below and enter the giveaway to win a $25 Amazon gift card (INTL).
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Nocturne by Tricia D. Wagner
Publication date: April 14th 2026
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

In NOCTURNE, sixteen-year-old Livi learns the truth of who she is—a Siren, her people known only to legends. She must learn to master her powers of influence, strength, and destruction to stop a warmongering Admiral from drafting her best friends, capturing and killing her people, and decimating her homeland of Nocturne.

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EXCERPT:

Livi stood before the tavern’s bleak threshold, its heavy door cobbled of wrecked ships.

She peered through its ragged window, quieting the wiser part of her, an inner voice calling for her to turn back. And truly, she was stunned that she’d mustered the daring to try this.

There were dozens of men here—sailors all brooding over their flagons, many looking to be harboring grudges.

The tavern’s splintery walls were studded with trophies—toothy payaras, dry in their death throes, tacked beneath golden portraits of infamous Korps Mariner ships and their dread captains.

The men frequenting this sand-dusted, fish-pongy tavern—The Orphic, were the sun-beaten sailors and damaged soldiers of Merritaine, mercenaries and relieved fighters who’d reached the shore of old age still breathing.

No one dared step a toe in The Orphic unless he bore epic tales—bloody acts of acclaim on the baleful blue seas.

Many here had killed. Some for honorable causes in noble wars, yes. But they’d killed.

For all their savagery, though, they were brave.

Livi had heard enough stories to understand them as uniformly dauntless and skilled. If anyone could help her skip Merritaine’s coast and reach Nocturne, he’d be drinking here.

Through the brume of pipe smoke, she measured each face for hints of affability. Or at least for traces of good humor—signs that someone might consider her offer. If she could just single out one sailor more approachable than not, perhaps she could move to him unnoticed.

But that wouldn’t happen. Women scarcely set foot here, and sixteen-year-old girls certainly didn’t.

A few of the sailors came across as jovial—but even they harbored an undercurrent of trouble in their looks, their ease striking like a gusty southerly bathing the seaside, forecasting a typhoon’s assault.

The afternoon seemed all at once to grow late, a shaft of misted sunlight sluicing through the windows and casting the place in watery relief.

In fixing on that panorama of ocean, Livi could almost see Nocturne’s peaks in the deep west, its moonstone shores marbled with the shadowy ash given by its volcanic chain.

Those heights, she had to reach. For it was said that Nocturne’s high places were hived with sea caves—chambers shining with waters rumored to have healing properties.

Some believed those springs could stave off even death.

Livi eased from her jacket a small jar of pearls, each perfect, as plump as a blueberry—these a mere sampling of the trove she’d collected. They ought to be more than enough to buy passage to Nocturne from someone here bearing the skill, and the gall, and the ship, and the time to set sail for the Isles, along with some assurance that he could ferry her through storms, over waters where lurked sharks and killer whales and squids that tore up boats, and finally beyond the dread Maelstroms.

Livi had imagined this moment many times—making her bold approach in The Orphic, striking a deal. She’d imagined that arriving at this brink would feel like the onset of her escape.

But in finally standing here, readying to approach men alleged to be the most barbarous in Merritaine, the idea seemed beyond reckless.

Célian, her best friend—maybe more—would be sick at the thought of her here. And truly, in darkening this threshold, she felt she was skimming the rim of the Maelstroms, those great whirlpools unceasing in their churning, twisting what strayed near straight down in a tempest, claiming ships and seafarers alike as a part of themselves.

The bright Merrow Ocean glinting in, though, delivered some steadfastness. For at the sight of its rolling, Livi could gather a sense of what it might feel like, teaming with someone here, cruising on his scabrous ship to the treacherous west.

A man seated at the tavern’s back corner stood out a touch.

He looked a decade younger than the rest, and he had all his limbs, which was saying something. He seemed not resentful, or affable, or angry—just somber. His solemnity made it clear that he wanted to be left to himself.

But it also lent an impression of patience. Maybe he’d listen.

She edged open the tavern’s door and crept in. She eased behind a column in the entryway and held still.

She’d have to get to the somber man quick. If she drew too much attention, the barkeep—a tall man, his eyes sharp to check all the action, his manner busy and swift with his bottles—would cast her out before she could lay down one word of her offer.

Or worse—he’d let the men handle the disruption.

Livi stepped from the shade, into the amber light of the tavern.

Author Bio:

As a young reader, writers were like gods and goddesses to now author Tricia D. Wagner. She never could have imagined weaving tales like her favorite storytellers, until a fateful April dinner conversation with her husband about a lecture he attended got her mind whirling. By the end of that summer, she’d written 400,000 words: a speculative fiction trilogy. Wagner felt as if she’d emerged from a cocoon as some new sort of creature. She was hooked.

It was important to Tricia to sharpen her skills, and she immersed herself in workshops, guides, and writing communities, learning from editors how to hone her craft. She did this for years, and the result is her newly released novella The Strider and the Regulus, two independently published novelettes, four soon-to-be published novellas, and five as yet unpublished novels. She found writing to be a method for becoming the person she felt she was born to be. Wagner finds that writing inspires her to be a better person, truer to herself.

The ideas and substance of Tricia’s writing comes from a very deep place that is strongly stimulated by setting. Often, when she has completed a story, she feels as if she’s been to her story world, whether it’s on the map or not. She likes to believe all the places she writes about exist somewhere, somehow.

In writing her stories, Wagner was surprised and delighted to discover how real the characters become to an author; that for many writers, their characters end up as their most treasured friends. She loves to delve into them to mine their natures, secrets, and desires—to tell their stories with the legitimacy they deserve. In studying her characters, she finds she has the opportunity to shape herself, inching closer to the person she wants to become.

Wagner believes revision is magical in its power to make a good book great, and early drafts are only the beginning of a story’s journey. Any idea can wind up a good story, but with reflection and time and improvement, it can become art. Once Wagner completes a revision project, it feels miraculous how many fresh approaches have manifested and how much truer the story feels.

Wagner hopes her readers feel enchanted when they read her stories; that after completing one, it seems they’re drifting out from under a spell. This is exactly how she feels when she finishes writing a story. She hopes to that her writing might expand their minds, spirits, and worlds a bit, and she hope they fall in love with her characters and are moved by her artistry of language.

When she isn’t writing poignant works of literary fiction, Wagner is a Director of Adult Education – ESL Programs at a community college, a job and staff that she loves. In her spare time she enjoys refining her writing craft to discover new angles and landscapes that might enrich her writing palette. One such example is a recent course she took in learning to read ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, something that’s sure to end up in a story at some point. Wagner lives in Rockford, Illinois, with her husband and three darling cats.

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Review: Honeysuckle by Bar Fridman-Tell

Title: Honeysuckle
Author: Bar Fridman-Tell
Publication: March 24, 2026 by Bloomsbury Publishing
Genre: Fantasy, Horror, Folklore
Find it on: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Barnes & Noble | Blackwell's | Waterstones
Rating: 5/5★

The Bear and the Nightingale meets Weyward in this deeply compelling debut about love and power, autonomy and consent.

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Once upon a time, on the edge between meadow and forest, there was a lonely child with only his older sister for company. In exchange for being left in peace, his sister made him a playmate—Daye, a girl woven from flowers and words. And for the first time, this boy, Rory, had a friend.

​

Rory couldn’t be happier, until he learns that Daye is a short-lived creature. At the end of each season, she must be woven back together or fall gruesomely apart. And every time Daye falls apart might be her last.

​​

As Rory and Daye grow older, and the line between friendship and romance begins to blur, Rory becomes desperate to break this cycle of bloom and decay. But the farther Rory pushes his research and experiments to lengthen Daye's existence, the more Daye begins to wonder just how much control she really has over her own life.

​

As a loose reimagining of the story of Blodeuwedd from Welsh mythology, Honeysuckle is an entrancing, inventive, and unsettling debut.​

Honeysuckle by Bar Fridman-Tell is loosely inspired by the Welsh myth of Blodeuwedd. It weaves folklore together with an empowering feminist theme and delivering a powerful message.

Daye was woven from flowers to be Rory’s childhood playmate to keep him occupied. But each season Daye must be rewoven or risk falling apart for good. As they grow up their friendship turns into romance and Rory gets more desperate to stop Daye from unraveling. The boundary between love and obsession starts growing thin as the years go on. As Rory’s experiments to keep her alive grow bolder, Daye begins to doubt her own autonomy and see how little control she really has.

Honeysuckle is Bar Fridman-Tell's debut novel and it impressed me so very much. It was wonderfully written, even when things turned hauntingly dark. Daye and Rory's relationship started innocent in a friendship as children but as it turned to romance as they grew up it was hard not to wonder how much it was actually shaped by Rory's desires. Could Daye truly consent to any of it since she was created for Rory?

Honeysuckle explored the themes of dependency, the ethics of creation and the delicate balance of power and consent. The story also showed how a relationship can turn toxic when one person manipulates or disregards the other's autonomy. It was an atmospheric read with touches of botanical horror and dark fairy tale vibes. I would highly recommend it!

About the author:

Bar Fridman-Tell has a BA in art history and an MA in English literature. (She gleefully wrote her thesis about Victorian vampires.) She has worked as a bartender, a bookseller, a translator, and a library assistant. She is currently studying for a master's in library and information sciences, hoping to stay in a library for good. She lives in Toronto with her professor husband and two very fluffy cats. Honeysuckle is her debut novel.

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Review: The Fox and the Devil by Kiersten White

Title: The Fox and the Devil
Author: Kiersten White
Publication: March 10, 2026 by Del Rey
Genre: Gothic Fantasy
Find it on: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Waterstones
Rating: 4.5/5★

An obsession with a beautiful serial killer entangles a vampire hunter’s daughter in an immortal sapphic romance in this enthralling gothic fantasy from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Lucy Undying.

Anneke has a complicated relationship with her father, Abraham Van Helsing—doctor, scientist, and madman devoted to studying vampires—up until the night she comes home to find him murdered, with a surreally beautiful woman looming over his body. A woman who leaves no trace behind, other than the dreams and nightmares that plague Anneke every night.

Spurred by her desire for vengeance and armed with the latest in forensic and investigatory techniques, Anneke puts together a team of detectives to catch her mysterious serial killer. Because her father isn’t the only inexplicably dead body. There’s a trail of victims across Europe and Anneke is certain they’re all connected.

But during the years spent relentlessly hunting the killer, Anneke keeps some crucial evidence to infuriatingly coy letters, addressed only to Anneke, occasionally soaked in blood, and always signed Diavola. Devil. The obsession is mutual, and all the more dangerous for it.

The closer Anneke gets to her devil, though, the less sense the world makes. Maybe her father wasn’t a madman, after all. Diavola might be something much worse than a serial killer . . . and much harder to destroy. Because as Anneke unearths more of Diavola’s tragic past, she suspects there’s still a heart somewhere in that undead body.

A heart that beats for Anneke alone.

🖤 Gothic Fantasy

🖤 Belle Époque Europe

🖤 19th Century

🖤 Sapphic Yearning

🖤 Vampires and Other Supernatural Creatures

🖤 Found Family

After her father’s murder, Anneke Van Helsing hunts an otherworldly beautiful serial killer known only as Diavola across Europe but she hadn't counted on falling into a dangerous attraction that blurs the line between vengeance and obsession.

The Fox and the Devil by Kiersten White was right up my alley. A gothic fantasy set in 19th century Europe featuring a sapphic romance between a vampire hunter’s daughter and a supernatural serial killer. The mutual obsession they had with each other, the vengeance driving Anneke forward, the fierce found family formed in the chaos of it all. It was a deliciously addictive read!

The setting of the book was also one I loved so much. Kiersten White took her readers all over Europe as Anneke hunted Diavola from Amsterdam to Budapest to Brussels to Paris and even Lesvos in Greece! I also absolutely loved the friends that Anneke made along the way. Dávid, Maher and Inge were are so wonderful to read about. They made for quite the dynamic group together and Anneke definitely needed their support, even when she pushed them away at times.

My one and only minor point was that it did take a little effort to fully get into the story at the very beginning, as it started off somewhat slowly. However, once I got used to the slower pacing and became familiar with the characters, I completely fell in love with it. It was also quite a sad story at some points. Just a heads-up for future readers: don’t get too attached to some characters. But that’s all I’ll say!

If you've also (just like I have) read and loved Kiersten White's book, Lucy Undying, then you will absolutely enjoy this newest release as well. It has similar pacing, friendships and sapphic yearning. Overall, The Fox and the Devil was a dark, thrilling, and utterly addictive story of obsession, vengeance, and found family.

About the author:

Kiersten White is the #1 New York Times bestselling, Bram Stoker Award-winning, and critically acclaimed author of dozens of books for readers of all ages, including The House of Quiet, the And I Darken trilogy, the Sinister Summer series, the Camelot Rising trilogy, Star Wars: Padawan, Hide, Mister Magic, and Lucy Undying. She lives in San Diego with her family and their surly tortoise, Kimberly.

Visit her online at kierstenwhite.com and @authorkierstenwhite on Instagram and Threads.

 

Cover Reveal: Burn Her They Said by Cherish Wright

Welcome to the cover reveal of Burn Her They Said by Cherish Wright.
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Burn Her They Said by Cherish Wright
(The Anomalies of Ampara Deicra, #1)
Publication date: June 26th 2026
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Romance

What would you endure for those you love?

Imperial Grand Witch Tasch was born with emotional influencing magic stronger and stranger than any other witch—an Anomaly the Emperor requires to manage his temper and that of those he interacts with under threat of harm to those she cares the most. He assigns five sorcerers–all Anomalies–each the strongest in their magical form. After years of enduring the hardship of serving the Emperor, they form an alliance intending to free every citizen.

One sorcerer changes everything.

Until a sorcerer named Varic is found to have magic surpassing Tasch’s Lead Guard, to which the Emperor sends him to serve in the Imperial Army, diverting from his claim to have assigned only the strongest sorcerers in the Continent to Tasch’s detail no longer being accurate.

Varic is made to strengthen his magic until even he cannot contain it, resulting in the worst magical catastrophe in history. Wielding power the Emperor covets, he sends Tasch to rehabilitate him with the false belief her magic alone can make him want to live. Tasch soon discovers Varic is another survivor of the same corrupt system and they forge a strong bond, free from the Emperor’s prying eyes for once in her life. In the months Varic requires for healing, they fall in love—a love so forbidden, the consequences are too dire to mention.

Oppression forms unbreakable bonds.

Increased attacks on the Imperial Palace require drastic measures, prompting the Emperor to assign Varic over Tasch’s detail. The problem being now that bordering lands are escalating their efforts to reclaim necessary resources the Emperor hoards, Varic’s presence makes it impossible for he and Tasch to hide their feelings for one another, as well as the signs her magic is fading drastically. And with no heir apparent due to the Emperor’s belief he will discover the answer to immortality, they need to be more careful than ever.

In an Empire where Dragons are revered like Gods, one power-hungry tyrant rules it all, while Tasch and her Guards .

Dragonfall meets A Discovery of Witches in this dark fantasy forbidden romance between Imperial Grand Witch Tasch whose magic is fading, and Varic, the sorcerer she saved years earlier who will stop at nothing to return the favor. Family, power, and Empire collide in the first of this series as everything Tasch has ever known begins to change. Will they find a way to save her without major consequence to the citizens, or will her magic fade entirely?

Author Bio:

Writer of Dark Romantic Gothic Fantasy with character driven stories with MC’s in their 30’s

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