The Musician and the Monster: A gothic Beauty and the Beast retelling (Ever After Book 1)

In a city haunted by a monster, a grieving musician makes a deal with a broody and reclusive nobleman that may either heal or doom them both. Music is Ceridwen Kinsley's only escape from grief after her mother's death. Each night she plays from the rooftop of their crumbling home, unaware that her songs reach the ears of the city's most reclusive noble. Drystan Winterbourne, a disgraced nobleman and reluctant Lord Protector, is tasked with hunting the monster stalking the city—a task he is failing. But the music drifting across the rooftops soothes the darkness within him. When Ceridwen is attacked, he offers her a position as his live-in musician, promising her safety and coin for her family, as well as medicine for her ailing father. Moving into Drystan's eerie manor is scandalous, but the financial security proves too tempting to refuse. What begins as a simple arrangement deepens into dangerous intimacy. Desire grows between them, blurring lines of duty, class, and restraint. Yet the manor holds haunting secrets that, if revealed, will shatter more than their fragile hearts. This gothic fantasy romance combines elements of Beauty and the Beast with Regency-esque settings and magical themes.