Reverie & Ruin
contemporary Dark fantasy & Horror
Magic + Murder + Myth
High-stakes magic + supernatural horror
An enchanted city, built on dangerous secrets, tucked within the modern world
Charismatic outcasts + monstrous criminal hierarchies
Slow-burn attraction + found family
Hidden legacies + bloodline curses
Lore with layers. Myths connected to the mystery
Meet the Characters
DANI VALE
A talented thief and con who thinks magic is for Hollywood movies, not heists. Tormented by night terrors so real she has to pad the furniture when she sleepwalks through violent dreams. Dani will do anything—possibly even make a deal with darkness — to pay her debts, earn her freedom, and find a link to her missing family.
THE OUTCAST
Curse worker and ruthless crime boss in the Argentum, the shadow market for malum, and monsters outlawed by the Magisterium. A mysterious immortal who dreams of meat-lover’s pizza and 24/7 vengeance. Making a deal with the cocky thief who sees beyond his mask could set them both free…or set the world on fire.
CASSIUS KING
Second-born son in a family that values first place above all else. Obsessed with proving his father wrong. To redeem his reputation and save his brother from a death curse, he will either have to betray his family or double-cross the thief with the crooked smile who stole his heart.
From the Ashes We Claim Our Second Chances
Liar. Cheater. Thief.
Liar. Cheater. Thief. Dani has been called many things, but never a hero. When her fake foster parents and full-time criminal employers saved her from certain death in a mountain wildfire, Dani learned that life only gives you two options at any given time: survive or surrender. At nineteen, Dani is a professional survivor who can con the most jaded marks, pick any lock, and outrun the cops (and most of her bad decisions). Until the day Dani makes a bad deal with the Outcast, an enigmatic crime boss with a list of secrets as long as Dani’s and twice as deadly.
murder & MYSTERY
But when she steals the right relic at the wrong time, Dani is mysteriously transported behind the gates of Three Kings, an enchanted city hidden within the mundane world. A city where those born with magic serve the Eight Everlasting—houses of arcane power that protect the world from the forsaken, monsters born of the eight original curses. The relic pulls Dani inside a sacred place of power, in the middle of a dark ritual, causing an explosion of magic. In the aftermath, Dani not only becomes the prime suspect of a murder, but the anchor to a major curse that threatens the lives of several students at the local Three Kings College.
THE CON OF A LIFETIME
Fate delivers a second chance when the House of the Weaver, the most mysterious of the Eight Everlasting, sends Cassius King, an apprentice at Whipple & Walker Investigations, a firm known for taking on impossible curses and unsolvable cases. The relic bound to Dani is the only lead in the investigation, a way to find the true source of the dark hex. To clear her name and free herself from the relic and the curse, Dani will have to pull off the con of a lifetime, working with the so-called good good guys, playing the role of hero long enough to find the source of the curse and vanquish it. Except Dani won’t be able to free herself unless she frees all the victims, including Cassius’s brother, from the Beast of Ruin, a parasitic monster that traps its prey in nightmares before they either die or become undead forsaken under the beast’s command. But the biggest con of all could be the lies Dani tells herself about her feelings for Cassius, the undeniable pull towards beautiful and terrible magic, and her ridiculous desire to make a home in a city that would rather see her dead than free.
Unlocking the Truth
Just when Dani begins to believe that she could earn a place on Team Hero for real, the Outcast resurfaces, offering an escape and long-sought answers about her missing family and painful past—but only if she betrays her friends and the promise of a new future. In a city where magic and power are not the same thing, and where those with both will do anything to stop buried truths from surfacing, Dani will have to choose. Survive at all costs or surrender to a wild, dangerous calling that could save Three Kings…or wake a far greater evil at its center.
THE EIGHT EVERLASTING
Magic is real. Magic is everywhere. Unfortunately, so are the monsters.
Thankfully, the eight everlasting houses of arcane power, located in hidden cities tucked into the modern world, protect us all from the forsaken, the monsters born of the eight original curses.
Why I wrote this story
A Story That FightS Back
I never outgrew my fear of the dark. During one particularly tough time in my life, when I felt certain that my terror and the darkness were the same, when I spent countless sleepless nights wondering whether the best I could hope for was to survive my life instead of live it, I screamed out loud:
What did I have to do to live free?
Of course, it was a stormy New England winter night, the kind where the wind had teeth, and the darkness spoke with stolen mouths.
“Give the fear to us,” saidthedevilsinthedarknessofmyimagination. “Open the door. We will take your terror and show you the path to freedom.”
A door presented itself within me, but why was I not ready to open it?
The Mystery
That night, I had a rare, vivid dream of a cottage in a mystical wood with a glowing eight-pointed star and mysterious sigil at its center. Inside, a young woman with fire-lit scars looked up at me and…then I woke up mid-dream. Desperate to solve the mystery, I found a notebook and wrote down the bones of a story about a young woman chained to fear, caught between her criminal past and her will to survive, and surrendering to a path that could change her life for the better…or end it.
The Stakes
If you stole a relic to pay a life debt, but that relic made you the anchor to an ancient and lethal curse.
If that curse was a key that opened a door…that should remain locked.
In a city where magic and power are not the same thing, and those born with both will do anything—even kill—to protect their secrets, how far into the darkness would you go to unlock the truth?
What would you sacrifice to change your fate for the better, despite a world that tells you that you don’t deserve it?
In writing Reverie and Ruin I learned the secrets that fear and dreams both keep. Secrets I hope you discover for yourself as you rise in your own unique magic.
✺ Frequently asked questions ✺
Q: What are the genre and tone?
A: Contemporary dark fantasy with romance elements. For fans who like magical cities, dark academia, morally grey characters, enemies-to-friends-to-lovers, found family and queer found family, intricate magic, unique monsters, and humor to accompany a fighting heart.
Q: What is the hook?
A: To pay a life debt, a thief and con with missing memories of her past steals the right relic at the wrong time. But when that relic binds to her body, she becomes the prime suspect in a murder she did not commit and the anchor to an ancient curse.
Q: Who is the intended audience?
A: Readers who enjoy young adult and adult fantasy-horror with one foot firmly planted in the world we know. Readers who enjoy genre mashups that combine magic with terrifying monsters, murder mysteries, and romantic tension.
Q: What are your comps?
A: For readers who enjoy the supernatural horror and grand conspiracies of Ninth House, the moral grey and criminal twists of Book of Night, the cost of magic and class divisions explored in A Forbidden Alchemy, and the ancient mysteries, unique magic, and star-crossed romance of the All Souls series.
Q: Is there potential for a series?
A: Yes. Though the story is complete as a standalone, there is also a plan for an expanded series.
Let’s Start a New Chapter
Available for interviews, articles on writing, book fairs, and personal appearances.