Lethal Kiss

A blood-soaked love story of rage, revenge, and belonging, Taylor Grothe's adult debut is a sapphic horror/romance that's as grotesque as it is beautiful. Something ravenous lurks below the marble floors of Preston University… Marcella might be a monster, but she's careful. After getting hired at Preston University, she intends to lay low and keep her meals discreet. Trapped in the rat race of academia, all Lacie wants is to make tenure. This will be her year, and nothing is going to stand in her way. That is, until bodies start dropping. Marcella swears it isn't her doing—as if she'd be that sloppy. Whatever's killing their coworkers is older, and far less restrained. Lacie doesn't know who to trust, but better the monster you know… The deeper they dig, the more they're drawn to each other… and the more something else is drawn to them. After all, desire has teeth of its own.

Jennifer's Body meets Ninth House: Taylor Grothe's adult debut novel is a sapphic horror/romance that's as grotesque and blood-soaked as it is beautiful. When Marcella is hired at Preston University, she has her game plan already mapped out—lay low for a few semesters, enjoy the extensive library, and maybe feast on a couple of her coworkers. That is, until a professor is found murdered and it's not her doing. She may be the newest monster on campus, but she definitely isn't the most dangerous. Assistant professor Lacie is aware how ruthless the track to tenure is. But seeing the corpse of one of her colleagues is enough to make her suspect the other professors that came before her didn't just quit academia. Unfortunately, there's only one person she can trust enough to ask for help—the beautiful, aloof, and tantalizingly secretive Marcella. Lacie and Marcella team up to make a chilling discovery: there's something festering under the marble floors of Preston University, and it's hungry. Marcella might be a monster, but the deeper into the mystery they dig, the more she's attracted to Lacie's immovable bravery and quiet intelligence. And the closer they grow, the more Lacie is drawn to Marcella's vicious nature. The weight of spilled blood and stolen opportunity is too heavy to carry alone, but they're both determined to get what they deserve—even if they have to kill for it.