VILE LADY VILLAINS (Adult, Horromantasy)
Coming out from Penguin Michael Joseph (UK), March 2026
A WORLD-BURNING HORROMANTASY, BRINGING TOGETHER LITERATURE’S MOST FAMOUS LADY VILLAINS, LADY MACBETH AND KLYTEMNESTRA . . .
For fans of A Dowry of Blood, Clytemnestra, and Piranesi, Vile Lady Villains is an unforgettable ride into the realm of stories
Klytemnestra, queen of Mycenae, is exacting bloody vengeance on her husband, a vengeance a decade in the making. Yet as she revels in her triumph, an otherworldly door appears and a strange woman steps in. Thinking her a hostile spirit, Klytemnestra chases her away, getting them both trapped in that liminal realm.
Hunted by screaming wraiths and unable to find their way home, literature’s most vile lady villains form an uneasy, daggers-to-the-throat alliance to survive. But nothing in this world is what it seems: not the three witches and their ambiguous guidance, and certainly not the drunken Bard himself. The realm’s goddess, The Mistress of the House of Books, holds the keys to all storydoors—which can release the two women, and all the realm’s trapped characters, into new stories of their choosing.
As every threat brings our vile lady villains closer, turning ill intentions into fiery attraction, they have a choice: remain within the confines of their narratives, safe and apart … or burn down the world to pen their own story together.
ON SUBMISSION: CURSED THE DEER (with A.J. Van Belle, YA/Crossover, Fantasy)
Blessed the deer who bows to Her. Cursed the deer who strays from Her.
Complete at 74,500 words, CURSED THE DEER is a fast-paced, dual-POV YA/Crossover fantasy steeped in Greek myth, with young women who fight to subvert god-given narratives as in Lies We Sing to the Sea, the slow burn sapphic romance of Girl, Serpent, Thorn, the creepy forest of The Luminaries, and the cult vibes of Midsommar. CURSED THE DEER has a growing audience on social media platforms; its hashtag has accumulated more than half a million interactions. The book has also attracted initial interest from European editors, and Sunday Times bestselling author of THREADS THAT BIND Kika Hatzopoulou is ready and excited to endorse CURSED THE DEER.
If you’re interested in CURSED THE DEER please contact our agent, Lauren Bieker of FinePrint Literary
They told her she would marry Greece’s mightiest hero. Yet the only thing awaiting 16-year-old princess Iphigeneia is a blade, wielded by her own father. Offered as a sacrifice to appease Artemis so the Greek fleet can sail to Troy, Iphigeneia realizes neither gods nor heroes will save her. She’ll have to use her semi-awakened magic and save herself.
17-year old Daphne hasn’t run for a long time—not since she escaped Apollo by turning herself into a laurel tree. She’s happy to let the world fend for itself, until the day she meets a princess in need of saving and remembers there are some things worth finding your humanity for.
On the run for their lives, Iphigeneia and Daphne stumble upon a Temple outside of time that may be a sanctuary … or a trap. The Priestess welcomes them with open arms, but the Temple is built on moonlight and lies, and the only way for Iphigeneia and Daphne to thrive within its walls is to obey her in all things. They have no choice but to join the monthly Hunt that culminates in the killing of a deer. And to ignore the mysterious disappearances of some of the acolytes—as well as the horrific visions of dead bodies, skeletal trees, and Time burning that plague them both.
When a new arrival helps Iphigeneia and Daphne learn the unsettling truth about the Temple and discover the Priestess’s plan to grow its reach until it swallows humankind, the girls must choose: stay together forever—or save the world from the sinister Priestess who rules their new home.