Only a Monster

Joan Chang-Hunt is sixteen and spending the summer in London with the family of her late mother. They are eccentric, and she is happy enough. She loves her job at Holland House, a historic site, and a co-worker named Nick asks her out. For a short while the summer looks easy.

Then Joan learns what her relatives really are. They are monsters, part of a dozen secret monster families hidden across London, and they can steal time from humans. Nick is no ordinary boy either: he is a legendary monster slayer, sworn to destroy families like hers.

A violent attack on her family leaves devastation and sends Joan back through time. To rescue the people she loves, she has to join forces with Aaron Oliver, heir to a rival monster family and a ruthless one. The partnership makes her decide how far she will go, and who she is prepared to turn into.

This is urban fantasy, with a hidden world laid over a familiar city. It opens a trilogy, and its premise is a heroine who may not be the hero of her own story. Expect a quick turn from summer job to survival.