Sarah Underwood: GENTLEST OF WILD THINGS (2024) **ARC/Uncorrected Proof

Sarah UnderwoodGENTLEST OF WILD THINGSHarper, [October] 2024.Advance reading copy (ARC, proof) of the First Edition. A Very Good copy: appears unread, with light overall handling, light wear and minor bumping to edges, Free Library inkstamp to front free endpaper. Nice otherwise, tight, solid and straight.When his 18-year-old wife Alexandra dies, Leandros—a powerful magnate and descendent of Aphrodite and Eros—announces his intent to marry Phoebe, a 16-year-old who’s “plagued by a recurrent fever.” Phoebe’s twin sister, headstrong herbalist Eirene, persuades Leandros to marry her instead; she is determined to uncover more about Alexandra’s fate and how Leandros concocts his Desires—which the wealthy men of the ancient Greek town of Zakynthos use to make women fall in love with them—so she can stop him once and for all. But to prove her devotion to him, Eirene must complete four grueling tasks. She finds an unlikely ally in Leandros’s teenage daughter Lamia, who experiences chronic pain and whose mysterious magical powers Leandros exploits. As Eirene and Lamia unearth the secrets behind the Desires and Alexandra’s death, they develop a friendship that deepens into romance. This sophomore outing by Underwood, at once a supernatural mystery, slow-burn love story, and mythological retelling, will undoubtedly please fans of all three. —Publishers WeeklyBoxed shipping $4.99 to all US addresses