Lakesedge

Violeta Graceling, called Leta, travels with her younger brother Arien to Lakesedge, a haunted estate on the shore of a cursed lake. They arrive expecting a monster. The rumor Leta has heard about the owner, Rowan Sylvanan, is that he drowned his whole family when he was a boy.

The estate and its master turn out to be different from the stories. As Leta grows close to Rowan, she learns that he is bound to the Lord Under, a death god who lurks in the black water of the lake. She feels a pull toward this creature that she cannot explain.

The book is a dark romantasy, with a love story at its centre and monsters and magic around it. The tone is lush and shadowy, and the lake hangs over every scene as a threat.

The stakes are personal. To save Rowan and herself, Leta has to face the darkness in her own past and work out what ties her to the Lord Under. Expect a romance driven by mystery and danger more than by any promise of light reading.