Available December 13, 2022:

Anene just wanted the singing to stop. Her people’s jubilations rode across the surface of the river hitting her in waves and grating against her soul. She balled her fists up, crumpling the fine skirt her mother had made her for this day. She lowered her head, trying to shut out the sound with her shoulders. The thick, red beads of her headdress swung into view as she did so and she was grateful. No one would be able to see the tears threatening to fall. This was all too much.

Anene is chosen as her generation’s bride to the river god Nniro – but when she arrives in the world of the gods, instead of a welcoming groom, she finds Nniro with his heart ripped out of his chest. While she had never wanted to marry a stranger, god or no, Nniro’s death could threaten the river her village depends on, and thus the life of everyone she knows and loves. With nothing but her own determination to guide her, she sets off on a quest to restore Nniro’s heart.

Macklin has created a magical world of strange creatures and capricious gods, where a young woman can discover what she is truly made of.