A Legacy of Blood and Bone
Cover by Lance Buckley
Available in: ebook & audiobook
Genre: Historical Fantasy, Sapphic Slow-Burn Romance, Gothic Fiction
Release date: October 21, 2025
Publisher: Brick & Bloom (Row House Publishing)
Click here for a list of content warnings
Graphic: Magical torture, Blood, Serious injuries, Kidnapping and abduction, Gun violence, Murder
Moderate: Grief, Parent death, Misogyny, Classism
Minor: Pregnancy
“A gothic gem, rich with dread, desire, and a magic system as haunting as it is original.” —April Yates, author of Ashthorne
For fans of Shannon Fay’s Innate Magic and Alix E. Harrow’s Starling House comes A LEGACY OF BLOOD AND BONE—a spellbinding debut set in an alternate Belle Époque France, brimming with intrigue, dangerous magic, and a swooning, slow-burn sapphic romance.
“Blood is life. Bones are strength. Flesh is control. Skin is death.”
Every blessed family knows this mantra, and Aubeline—gifted with blood magic and heiress to the powerful Sterraux line—is no exception.
When her father dies unexpectedly, Aubeline inherits the title of Countess. But her brother Renan soon challenges her claim, demanding the title of Count for himself—and quietly coveting guardianship of their young niece, Damarisse.
As sinister forces gather around Renan and his allies wield forbidden, deadly power, Aubeline must seek out unlikely companions to protect Damarisse, expose her brother’s true intentions, and stop a catastrophe that could unravel their world.
She never expected her greatest ally to be Damarisse’s new private teacher, Vinnie—a clairvoyant woman cursed with uncontrollable visions. Nor did she expect to fall in love with her, defying every rule of polite society and risking everything for a chance at love in a world built on blood and secrets.
Portraits commissioned for each of the families and magics of A Legacy of Blood and Bone. Artist: Yance/OmenBairn.
Aubeline de Sterraux ~ Blessed with blood magic
The Sterraux are blessed with blood magic, allowing them to use their own blood to heal people, nurture plants, and shapeshift into a chosen animal. Most of the Sterraux family members are nurses or physicians.
Aubeline de Sterraux is the first woman to become a physician in her family, after studying in Geneva in the late 19th century. She is, like many people of her family, a devout Catholic, as she believes her magic is a divine blessing from God to her ancestor, Sainte Réanne. She becomes the new Countess of Sterraux, making her not only the first woman to practice medicine in her family, but also to lead it.
In her thirties, she never married and is raising her niece as her own daughter since her sister and brother-in-law passed away eleven years ago. Meeting Vinnie, her niece’s new private teacher, a young woman cursed with uncontrollable visions of the past, is about to change everything in Aubeline’s life, including her long-held belief that she doesn’t have time for love and happiness.
Élise de Sterraux née de Balmagne ~ Blessed with bone magic
The Balmagnes are blessed with bone magic, allowing them to use their own bones to gain superhuman strength and become insensitive to pain. The first Balmagne blessed with bone magic was Sire Guillaume de Balmagne, a knight.
Élise married Renan de Sterraux from the Sterraux family, blessed with blood magic. The Count of Sterraux opposed the union, as inter-blessed family unions can only give birth to unblessed children. Renan, being the only son of the Count of Sterraux, was the heir apparent, but his union to Élise caused his father to change his mind and choose his daughter Aubeline instead.
Élise, now pregnant with their first child, finds herself involved in a conspiracy involving not only the Sterraux and the Balmagnes, but other blessed families. She participates willingly, until things take an unprecedented turn and she has to decide what’s best for her, her family, and her future child.
The Duke of Monthenot ~ Blessed with flesh magic
The patriarch of his family, the Duke of Monthenot is blessed with flesh magic, allowing him to use his muscles, fat, and even organs (though this would be unwise!) to practice telekinesis and mind control.
The Monthenots are from old nobility and the most affluent blessed family, leading them to often act arrogantly and with prejudice toward commoners, even if they don’t realize it.
The duke prefers not to meddle in the affairs of other blessed families, but when the Sterraux and the Balmagnes find themselves entangled in a situation that could affect the Monthenots, he has no choice but to pick a side.
Sketch of Vinnie by Caroline De Geeter.
Vinnie Anneton ~ Clairvoyant
Vinnie Anneton is a young woman in her early twenties who recently graduated from the École normale supérieure de jeunes filles and is just starting her career as a teacher. She is fortunate enough to be hired by the Sterraux to be the private teacher of Damarisse, the young niece and ward of Aubeline de Sterraux.
Her life is complicated by clairvoyance, a gift she inherited from her maternal grandfather, but that she never learned to master since he passed before her birth. As a consequence, she cannot control the visions she receives from buildings eager to share their past with her.
As she begins to work for the Sterraux, she is very impressed by Aubeline, and soon realizes her feelings for the woman aren’t appropriate for polite society. She has never been ashamed of liking women, but an older woman who is not only her employer, but also of a much higher social class… She could never love her back, couldn’t she?
Illustration of Damarisse by hajima_7.
