Folks, just letting you know that this one is dark. In some places, very dark. If you read nothing else in this book description, read the trigger warning at the end.

To save her, he must lose her

Ever since he escaped his childhood abuser, Max has killed for a living—first as a sniper and assassin in the war against Napoleon, and later ridding the world of those whose power on those around them allowed them to commit evil without fear of punishment.

The dead burden what is left of his soul, and he wants to retire, and kill no more. When a search for a missing comrade takes him into a religious community, he feels as if he has found a home for the first time in his life.

But there are cracks in the innocent surface the village shows its visitors. Max discovers hints at what lies beneath even as he falls for Serenity, who has recently been appointed Goddess-Elect, the designated virgin to take her place as three-month wife of the community’s leader, the Incarnate One.

The secrets of the community are worse than the secrets that burden Max’s soul. They put Serenity and others in dreadful danger. To save her, he must lose her, for if he draws on his hard-won skills, she will recoil from the darkness of his soul.

Warning:

This book is largely set within a cult, and is nothing like a typical Regency. It also mentions (but does not show or detail) sexual abuse, including child abuse, as well as violence. Most violence is mentioned in passing after the fact. Some violence is on the page but is not described. At one point, a group of minor characters commit suicide. Again, this is mentioned, not shown. The general population is controlled with the use of drugs.

If you have been affected by cults, violence, abuse, drug misuse or suicide, you might want to approach this book with caution. It might be triggering. It might be satisfying to see evil overreach itself and come to no good end while our hero and heroine—and most of the community—live happy lives. You decide.