I survived a year in the Autumn Court with a knife under my pillow. Poison on my hands.
Then my blood hit the soil, and a dead garden came back to life.
I was taken as a Tithe - a human dragged through the Veil to serve a dying fae court until I stopped breathing. Most Tithes last weeks. I lasted a year by tending withered gardens, brewing healing tonics, and quietly poisoning every fae who made the mistake of cornering me alone.
Eight so far, if anyone was counting. No one was. That was the point.
But three drops of blood on cursed earth changed everything. A dead rosebush erupted into bloom beneath my hands, and the Lord of Cinderfall Court saw it happen. Now the entire court knows what I am: a Hearthblood - a mortal whose life force can shatter ancient curses and heal corrupted land. The last Hearthblood lived eight hundred years ago.
And they executed her when she grew too powerful.
Now the four Lords of Cinderfall - each cursed two centuries ago by a dying queen - need me close:
Ashen - the brooding ruler whose skin burns with living fire. He has not been touched in two hundred years. When my hand met his, the flames went quiet. The look on his face was not desire. It was grief.
Fenwick - the charming hollow. His curse carved out every emotion, leaving a perfect mask over centuries of nothing. Near me, he gets flickers - raw, devastating surges of feeling that crack him open and vanish before he can hold on.
Greyson - the beast. Trapped between fae and animal, exiled to the wild forest. He went still the moment he caught my scent. Not predator-still. Reverent.
Pierce - the tragic scholar whose memories dissolve like ink in water. He has fallen in love with me before. He does not remember. He left himself a note: Her name is Rowan. She matters. Do not let her go.
The court is rotting from beneath - an ancient corruption called the Withering, devouring the land inch by inch. My touch can slow it. A bond of thorns forged between my life force and theirs can stop it. But every time I use this power, I become a little less human. My ears are sharpening. My eyes glow amber in the dark.
And I am running out of time to decide if I care.
Because the hostile fae within the court want me sacrificed. The Winter Court just sent an ultimatum: surrender me, or face war. And four cursed lords who have not let anyone close in two centuries are standing around me like a wall-claiming me with every look, every touch, every act of quiet devotion.
I did not come here to save a dying court. I came here to survive.
But I am starting to want more than survival. I am starting to want them.
The Tithe is a scorching fae why choose romance featuring four cursed lords, a badass poisoner heroine, enemies-to-lovers slow burn, touch starvation, and a cliffhanger ending. This is Book 1 of the Cinderfall Court series with a guaranteed happily-ever-after waiting.
Perfect for readers who love:
- Autumn fae courts dripping with beauty and decay
- Why choose romance with four cursed, devoted love interests
- Slow burn that catches fire - touch starvation meets first contact
- A badass FMC with poison in her pocket and steel in her spine
- Beauty and the beast with bite
- Morally gray heroes who earned every scar
- Tragic memory loss and love that refuses to stay forgotten
- Forced proximity in a dying world
- Found family forged under fire
- Series HEA for readers who want it all
