by Megan Shade
First published 2026
Bea has spent over a century bound to the River's End, washing bloodstained grave clothes of the dying while searching each garment for spell fragments that might break her curse. The river warns her that Brennen approaches. He knows her as the Washwoman from legend, the monster who killed his beloved and left him with an oath of vengeance. When he arrives as her assigned guard, he expects to find the creature from stories. Instead he discovers a woman nothing like the tales describe. Women across the kingdom begin disappearing, followed by mysterious deaths that only Bea can predict. Brennen must form an alliance with the woman he has hunted for years. As they search for answers, their hatred shifts to reluctant trust, then to something more perilous. Brennen faces a choice between damning his soul to save the woman he swore to kill. Bea must decide between the eternal rest she has craved and a love that could destroy them both.
Genres: romance, fantasy, paranormal-fiction, adult-fiction, dark-fantasy
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, emotional, haunting, romantic-tension, slow-burn
Tropes: curse-breaking, enemies-to-lovers, forced-proximity, slow-burn
Setting: River's End, Kingdom
524 pages · Paperback · Shade Made Publishing LLC
Content warnings: death, violence