by Bree Despain
First published 2026
Harper Westbrook trades her cheerleader pom-poms for a throwing axe four times a year. The seventeen-year-old belongs to the Blood Bound, cursed women who must kill evil men to satisfy their bloodlust. She follows strict rules to hide her dark nature and bury the bodies. Her most important rule is avoiding Grayson Jones, the boy she was falling for three years ago when her curse first appeared and she killed his father in what she calls self-defense. Grayson works as an investigative reporter for their school newspaper. He pursues every lead about his father's brutal death, following clues into a hidden world of mythical creatures and the hunters who track them. He doesn't know his investigation will collide with Harper's most dangerous secrets. Harper must stop Grayson before he exposes her family to the Hunters, even though protecting her secret means risking both her life and her heart. She believes no one could love someone like her.
Genres: romance, fantasy, thriller, young-adult, paranormal, dark-fantasy
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, emotional, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, forbidden-love, found-family, secret-identity
Setting: Blood Bound
416 pages · Paperback · Entangled: Mayhem Books
Content warnings: death, murder, violence