Oh Bastian, you beaut ❤

In 1872, New Orleans is a city ruled by the dead.

But to seventeen-year-old Celine Rousseau, it’s also a safe haven after she’s forced to flee her life in Paris. Quickly enraptured by the vibrant city, from its music to its extravagant soirees and even its danger, she soon becomes embroiled in the city’s glitzy underworld, and particularly the group known as La Cour des Lions.

But when a body is found in their lair, Celine is forced to battle her attraction for the group’s enigmatic leader, Sebastien Saint Germain, and suspicions about his guilt, along with her own secrets.

As more bodies are discovered, New Orleans becomes gripped by the terror of a serial killer on the loose – one who seems to have Celine in his sights. But when she finally takes matters into her own hands, she finds herself caught in the midst of an age-old feud between the darkest creatures of the night, where the price of forbidden love is her life.

Celine is a young French lady of mixed heritage which has been kept a secret for her societal status. She was an apprentice to a atelier in Paris before an unfortunate incident which meant she had to flee France for America.
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She arrives to New Orleans on a boat and is taken in by a convent. Here she must learn how to be a proper young lady in order to find a proper young man.
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Alas, as these stories go. It doesn’t go quite to plan. A young woman is brutally murdered not long after their arrival and tensions are high.
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Haunted by her own actions in Paris, she feels naturally drawn to the dark side of things. Selling some handkerchiefs she made, she encounters a lady called Odette who insists that Celine makes her a gown for the ball. Alongside her friend from the convent Pippa, they meet Odette at a restaurant. It is here that she realises that things aren’t quite what they appear and the inhabitants of the restaurant have secrets of their own.
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She becomes embroiled in the city’s glamorous underworld, enchanted by La Cour des Lions and catching the eye of the leader, Sébastien Saint Germain. It is while she’s at the restaurant that a young woman from their convent is found brutally murdered.
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Celine takes it upon herself to find the murderer. She suspects Bastian for the murders but finds that she is attracted to him and can’t turn her thoughts away from him.
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A third murder brings terror to the residents of New Orleans and Celine soon finds out that she is being targeted by the mysterious murderer. Celine decides to try and trap the murderer, only to find herself embroiled in a centuries long fued between the creatures of the night.
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OH THIS STORY!
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Between Bastian and the little nuggets of French throughout the book, I am in love. It’s sultry, romantic, thrilling and I didn’t want it to end.
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I can’t wait to take a bite out of the next book!