City of Beasts

Power corrupts. Magic devours. Hedge End's greatest danger isn't the monsters that overrun it: it's the magical gems that turn humans into them. After her parents fall victim to the dreadful creatures, Clara Aldridge, the mayor's niece and his chosen successor, makes it her goal to protect the city from the threats upon it. But a greater tragedy is about to strike her well-crafted life: a murder in the house of Aldridge. Clara's trusted housekeeper has been accused of killing her own husband in cold blood. Yet Clara does not believe it. While she cannot let an innocent woman die for a crime she did not commit, her high profile doesn't allow her to search for the truth. So, she turns to the only person she believes can help her, a man she swore never to trust again: the thief Willoughby Tanner. In the underworld of the city, they discover a deeper mystery that hits much closer to home. One by one, the citizens of the lower streets are disappearing. The gems cannot be contained, the beast attacks are becoming alarmingly more strategic, and their loved ones are in greater danger than ever before. Clara and Willoughby must put their differences aside to uncover the sinister secrets the city harbors before more fall prey to its curse. Saving their people could change their lives, their destinies, and their romantic feelings...if they don't kill each other first.