A hearth witch and her shapeshifting ex-lover are trapped out of time together in a rotting cottage, in this decadent horror romance that is equal parts second-chance love story and rural gothic.

Linden Burr lives a comfortable life as a small-town taxidermist and single mother. She and her family tend to an enchanted hearth and are preparing Linden's daughter Will to inherit their magic, until an encounter with death unexpectedly wakes in Will a shape-shifting power she can’t control. Linden's efforts to save her daughter through magical means draw her to a decaying cabin, where she is reunited with Will's father, a rugged woodsman named Hayes.

The same dangerous, mycelial magic infecting the cabin traps Hayes and Linden together, forcing the former lovers to confront secrets from their past to break the spell and claw their way back to Will. But with monsters lurking in the shadows and the cabin walls threatening to close in on them, they risk a dangerous beast getting to Will first…  

“Astonishing, empowering, and brimming with soul… Ruth McKell is back with her signature blend of the beautiful and the grotesque.” —Taylor Grothe, USA Today bestselling author of Lethal Kiss

Ruth McKell writes haunting, romantic fiction designed to break and mend her readers’ hearts. When she’s not channeling her passion for mental health awareness into magic-touched worlds on the page, you can find her sipping on tea from her novice apothecary, haunting her local indie bookstores, or exploring the mountains with her husband and son. She is also the author of Honey in Her Veins.