In the shadows of the forest, he waits…
A winter hag in training, Astrid spends her days in the Black Forest sharpening her spell craft and flinging axes at tourists, and her nights leaving offerings to the ancient eldritch monster that guards the woods. She’s one sex ritual away from leaving the last trace of her unwanted humanity behind and stepping into her full power.
It’s the perfect life. Until a group of unruly humans brings that same deadly monster to her doorstep. Now, her only hope for survival is a plate of poisoned cookies.
Gudarīks has roamed the Black Forest since it sprouted its first trees, consuming any who violate his beloved land. Lured to the witch’s gate, he is amused at her attempt to poison him with sweets…but spending time with her awakens millennia of repressed desire. Astrid doesn’t shy away from the gentle caress of his claws or his most ravenous attentions.
As witch and monster find long-buried heat in the wintery landscape they call home, signs of a dark, lost magic begin to appear. When a rising supernatural threat has them questioning not only their ability to protect the forest, but Gudarīks’s own immortality, their only solution may be to share their strength and create a union beyond mortal comprehension.
I can’t believe it’s finally release day for Untethering Dark. Harlequin really let me do this.
This book as been a labor of love for the last three years. I started writing Untethering Dark in 2021 after an autumnal weekend in Vermont, wandering the woods and exploring covered bridges. I had just released a monster romance novella and was voraciously reading the genre and in absolute awe. Monsters falling in love? Hot. Scary monsters falling in love? Even hotter.
Untethering Dark wouldn’t be what it is without all the monster romances that came before it. Thank you so, so much to all the monster lovers out there. You are bold and fierce. Keep reading. Keep writing. Keep slaying.
To John Jacobson, my editor, thank you for seeing this story and its characters to their cores. Your touch made this book better in ways I couldn’t have foreseen. I may have clawed my own heart out writing those new scenes, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Thank you for helping me go that extra mile.
To Kaitlyn Katsoupis, my agent, thank you for reading this book and going there with me. But most of all for believing we could convince one of the big publishers to take a chance on this unhinged monster romance.
Kristyn J. Miller, I cannot thank you enough. For all your guidance and shared knowledge. For helping me bring the folkloric elements and worldbuilding to life, for sending me resources (the JSTOR article on Springerle lives in my head rent free), and for helping me with German translations, colloquialisms, customs, and culture. But most of all, thank you for opening the door and welcoming me in. Your friendship has been the greatest gift.
Celia Winter, thank you so much for combing over this manuscript both as a sensitivity reader and as a beta reader. Your insights into story craft, structure, and avoiding harmful fantasy tropes were invaluable; and your gleeful reactions to all the fun, monstery bits continues to give me life.
Morgan T. Jackson, you always provide the most insightful feedback while also lifting my spirits and encouraging me onward. Just when I think I don’t have anything left to give to a story, your comments revive my excitement all over again. And that’s a powerful gift. Thank you so, so much.
Kyle Reed, Untethering Dark’s #1 Hype-King, brainstorming buddy, in-house illustrator, and the man who—every single time this book got a rejection on submission—scoffed and said, “they lack conviction.”
Riley Flint, thank you for lending me your archeological expertise and for helping me craft Gudarīks’s Paleolithic and Neolithic reflections. I think it gives weight to his age and all the millennia he has lived.
Ingrid Pierce, for loving every bit of this book. Red monster cum included.
Laura Smathers for braving an early draft of this book that also had extra prehensile *cough* appendages.
Katie Erin, Katie Rose, and Dani Frank—thank you for embracing my monster lover enthusiasm since day one, the real talk, advice, silly video and meme sharing, and for just always being there. The highs, the lows, and everything in between.
Vera Valentine, for encouraging me to publish my first monster romance Given to the Ghoul, which started me on this journey, and Wren K. Morris, for loving and hyping it.
Ella Gallego, the writer and researcher behind the Monstrous Desire Study, is studying the history and cultural phenomena of monster romance. It’s been around a lot longer than you may think. Thank you for inviting me to talk about monstrous mermaids and eco-horror and for sliding into my DMs with the most delightful monster content.
Agatha Andrews, host of the She Wore Black Podcast, you were my very first podcast appearance, and it was to gush about monster romance. I’ll never forget that. Thank you for believing in me and my writing, even in its earliest days.
xoxo
Desirée M. Niccoli
