Grey’s elaborate first entry in the paranormal fantasy series Lost Legacies delivers a full-bodied tale of revenge and mystery in a town filled with fae, daemons, merfolk, vampires, and werewolves. Nemain, a nearly 400-year-old, brown-skinned shifter who can turn into a mountain lion-like feline, has escaped imprisonment and torture by Sebastian—her ex-lover and warlock—and his vampire goons. She was rescued by her dear friend Magos, an ancient vampire she saved when she was a child. Now living in the Washington coastal town of Emerald Bay—a town run by daemons—Nemain’s terrified Sebastian will once again track her down.

With her birthday in just two days, Nemain has good reason to be afraid: every year, Sebastian rips out the living heart from one of her friends as a birthday gift to her. For protection, she gathers her companions around her: boyfriend and werewolf stud Andrei, who is leery of Magos; mermaid and best friend Kaysea, twin sister of Nemain’s former lover Myrna, who was the first to be murdered by Sebastian; Pele, the red-skinned daemon tavern owner who takes no prisoners; and Cian, Nemain’s brother, estranged since their parents were burned to death by humans. As they prepare for Sebastian’s next move, Nemain learns that someone in the town may have betrayed her, but much more, she dreads her own powerful, magical rage simmering just under the surface—the very magic that’s the reason Sebastian wants to bind her to him.

Grey cultivates rich, character-driven lore that teems with dark drama, lust, secrets, and betrayal, prudently exposing the cast’s eccentricity, each bound by tenuous relationships with each other and all carrying a grudge or a secret—or both. Grey’s gritty characters—and their bruised and broken souls—will resonate, and the dark depths that pervade this debut’s complicated mythology will keep readers enthralled and longing for more.

Takeaway: A character-driven fantasy rich with dark, magical mystery.

Comparable Titles: Amber V. Nicole’s The Book of Azrael, Sarah Spade’s Never His Mate.

Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: NA
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A