What Lies Within Masks & Shadows

Nicolle May

Book 1 of Promises of the Marked

In the dark fantasy world of Elysian, a traumatized young woman named Alora is bound by marriage to a cruel lord and then drawn into the orbit of Garrik, a feared and powerful prince with his own brutal history. As political unrest and old secrets swirl around them, the two slowly move from wary adversaries toward trust while each works through the damage inflicted by their pasts. It's a slow-burn, trauma-focused romantasy that leans more on healing and tension than on explicit romance.