Category Archives: Novel excerpt

He found himself standing before the door to her apartment once more. He had not wished to. His fists clenched at his sides, tendons pulling taut beneath pale skin. What was he to do? She had made it clear last … Continue reading →

Friedrich had called it the social event of the season, and Alain had never been one to refuse an invitation. Julien had delivered it personally at White’s days earlier. “A masquerade ball in honour of my sister’s debut.” Alain had … Continue reading →

“No.” Cara slammed the door behind her. The sound echoed far too loudly in the narrow corridor, and she stood there, huffing—half breathless, half on the verge of panic. “No. No, no, no.” Her legs gave way. She slid down … Continue reading →

By twelve o’clock, Sebastian and Celene were standing before Scarlythe Manor of Amaranth Hill, which, to Celene’s utmost surprise, happened to be the ancestral home of Sebastian himself. Just beyond the ornate brass gates rose a vast Victorian Gothic mansion, … Continue reading →

“Good morning, is Mr Shaw here?” “He is not available at the moment—” “Jameson, fancy meeting you here.” The solicitor’s clerk, buried beneath a mountain of scattered papers, looked at Jasper from behind his spectacles. He bit the inside of … Continue reading →

“Why didn’t I see it?” Cara gritted her teeth. She had been trying to get the blade before her pristine for the better part of the afternoon, hoping that the ritual itself might rid her of the churning thoughts crowding … Continue reading →

Excerpt from the Diary of the Lady Grimm, Autumn 1824 After almost a week travelling by carriage from London to Aster Falls, we arrived at Mr Greene’s Willowcreek Cottage just before dusk. I had nearly lost all sense of time … Continue reading →