A Dark and Wild Wood

Salomé, the magic-wielding heroine of Lemon’s deliciously dark debut, has felt cursed since birth, when her father attempted to drown both her and her mother. Salomé was saved by midwife Valerie, who went on to raise her and her older sister, Rochelle, until Valerie was accused of witchcraft and burned at the stake. A series of disasters, including Rochelle’s disappearance, then lead Salomé from a convent to a brothel, where she finds a dear companion in fellow sex worker Dacia. When she accidentally kills a man with her magic, however, she’s forced to run once more. Salomé is near death from cold and exhaustion when a dark figure on a black stallion finds her. This is Lord Death, who offers to take her in and teach her to control her abilities. As Salomé both suffers and delights under Death’s care and teaching, something dark festers under the surface of their relationship, draining and frightening her. All the while, girls are going missing from across the barony, including the village where Dacia lives. Lemon does a good job balancing this mystery with the obsessive and abusive relationship between Salomé and Death and the lovely dynamic between Salomé and Dacia. With echoes of Bluebeard and the Hades and Persephone myth, this decadent tale is sure to please fans of gritty fantasy romance. (May)