A hauntingly atmospheric and beautiful standalone adult fantasy romance set in Renaissance France from #1 New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author, Isabel Ibanez.
In the summer of 1518, the citizens of Strasbourg are dancing themselves to death.
Brilliant medical student Evelina del Valle arrives determined to stop the plague before the quarantined city collapses. . . while keeping a terrible and fatal secret: she’s a witch. But she’s left her coven, her sister, and that life behind her for good. All she wants now is a career in healing.
But Strasbourg’s sickness defies everything she knows about medicine. Every experiment of hers fails in uncovering how and why the plague is spreading. The afflicted cannot stop dancing, and the local physicians insist they must “dance it out,” even as bodies fall and no natural cause can be found.
Then Alaric Keller crosses her path-secretive, dangerous, and bound to the shadowed Black Forest beyond the city walls, where rumours whisper of hidden fae courts, gemstone magic, and bargains struck in the dark. His mother was the plague’s first victim, and he is desperate to save her. He needs Evelina’s help, but the way he looks at her suggests he already knows the secret she keeps – and he threatens to use it against her.
As suspicion tightens and the death toll climbs, Evelina is forced to choose what she’s willing to sacrifice: the life she’s built, the identity she’s hidden, or the man who may not only hold the key to the truth and her heart, but also her ruin.
Because Evelina fears this is no ordinary plague.
And she knows that once the dance begins, it does not stop.
In the summer of 1518, the citizens of Strasbourg are dancing themselves to death.
Brilliant medical student Evelina del Valle arrives determined to stop the plague before the quarantined city collapses. . . while keeping a terrible and fatal secret: she’s a witch. But she’s left her coven, her sister, and that life behind her for good. All she wants now is a career in healing.
But Strasbourg’s sickness defies everything she knows about medicine. Every experiment of hers fails in uncovering how and why the plague is spreading. The afflicted cannot stop dancing, and the local physicians insist they must “dance it out,” even as bodies fall and no natural cause can be found.
Then Alaric Keller crosses her path-secretive, dangerous, and bound to the shadowed Black Forest beyond the city walls, where rumours whisper of hidden fae courts, gemstone magic, and bargains struck in the dark. His mother was the plague’s first victim, and he is desperate to save her. He needs Evelina’s help, but the way he looks at her suggests he already knows the secret she keeps – and he threatens to use it against her.
As suspicion tightens and the death toll climbs, Evelina is forced to choose what she’s willing to sacrifice: the life she’s built, the identity she’s hidden, or the man who may not only hold the key to the truth and her heart, but also her ruin.
Because Evelina fears this is no ordinary plague.
And she knows that once the dance begins, it does not stop.
Reviews
A breath-taking blend of intricate magic, riveting intrigue, and hypnotic romance, in a lush historical setting that flares to life on every page. I never wanted to leave the glimmering, immortally enchanting world of Graceless Heart
A tour de force of historical fantasy. This fierce, romantic, wonderful book gripped my imagination and made my heart race at each turn. With an artist's eye for beautiful detail, Isabel Ibanez has created a gorgeous, intricate world peopled with fascinating characters. It's nothing short of compelling. Ibanez is at the height of her talent here