Romance isn't dead, but for bestselling romance author Celeste Valois, it may as well be. Seeking a career pivot, she retreats to the Louisiana swamps in search of inspiration for a gothic novel, she expects ghost stories and forgotten sins-but not a town suffocating under the weight of a past it refuses to bury.

Belle Riviére is a place where superstition holds power, whispers in the dark carry warnings, and breaking the rules of Lent is more than a sin-it's a death sentence. As Celeste digs deeper into the ruins of a burned church and the decades-old horror surrounding it, she attracts the attention of something ancient, something hungry.

With the reluctant help of the rugged and enigmatic Julien Mercier, she must unravel the town's darkest secret before she becomes the next sacrifice to the beast that walks among them.