by A. G. Howard
First published 2017
Rune Germaine possesses an angelic voice that comes with a terrible price. Each performance leaves her sick and exhausted, her gift becoming a burden she cannot escape. Her mother sends her to RoseBlood conservatory outside Paris, a former opera house now serving as a boarding school for artists. The building carries whispers of supernatural activity from its past. At RoseBlood, Rune encounters a mysterious boy named Thorn who appears in the cemetery beside the school but attends no classes. He wears clothing from another century and vanishes without warning. As Rune develops a secret friendship with this elusive figure, she discovers something remarkable. In Thorn's presence, her painful affliction disappears completely. Their connection deepens into love, but Rune learns that a phantom inhabits RoseBlood and wants her for deadly purposes. Thorn faces an agonizing decision between two loyalties. He can deliver Rune to the phantom who raised him as a father, ensuring her destruction. Or he can protect the girl he loves and risk the phantom's terrible revenge.
Genres: romance, fantasy, young-adult, paranormal
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, emotional
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, secret-identity
Setting: Paris, RoseBlood Conservatory
Period: 19th-century
432 pages · Hardcover · Amulet Books