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  • A Gothic Shade of Romance
  • Hollow

Hollow

A Gothic Shade of Romance #1 / 2 ✓
by Karina Halle
Hollow (A Gothic Shade of Romance #1) by Karina Halle
Unrated

From the New York Times bestselling author of River of Shadows and A Ship of Bones and Teeth comes a smutty spooky dark academia gothic romance retelling of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, where Kat Van Tassel doesn't have to choose between Brom Bones and Ichabod Crane, and there are worse things haunting them than the Headless Horseman.

Ever since she was a child, Kat Van Tassel knew that her parents had arranged for her to marry her best friend, Brom Bones, when she became of age. That was until Brom mysteriously vanished from the secretive village of Sleepy Hollow when he was just a teenager.

Now, at nineteen, Kat is fulfilling the tradition of attending Sleepy Hollow Institute, a shadowy and prestigious school that is run by her powerful family. There she starts to fall for her new teacher, the enigmatic, smart, and much older Ichabod Crane, whose fascination with dark magic and the occult brings out a new side of Kat—in more ways than one.

Until Brom Bones suddenly appears in her class. Her childhood friend doesn’t remember what happened to him in the four years that he’s been gone, all he knows is that he’s back in Sleepy Hollow for good. The only problem is, he’s not the same man that Kat knew. Cocky and brash as a youth, this Brom is violent and prone to bouts of madness. It doesn’t help that his reappearance coincides with gruesome decapitations that are plaguing the town, with rumors swirling about a vengeful ghost called The Headless Horseman.

Determined to get to the bottom of the murders and Brom’s volatility, Crane takes Brom under his wing to study him, and they begin to grow close, just as they do with Kat. But the more that the threesome submits to their sexual desires on the path to the truth, the more dangerous Sleepy Hollow becomes. The Headless Horseman might claim them as his next victims…if something even more terrifying doesn’t get to them first.

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FantasyRomanceParanormal RomanceRetellings
Release date: September 28, 2023

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Karina Halle

Karina Halle

In the world of fiction where love and fear often collide, Karina Halle has carved out a space that feels entirely her own—sharp-edged, emotionally raw, and irresistibly addictive. With nearly 90 books to her name and a fiercely devoted international readership, she’s not just prolific, she’s unpredictable in the best way. Her stories swing between dark romance, gothic fantasy, romantic suspense, and paranormal horror, always bound by an undercurrent of longing and danger that feels both seductive and uncomfortably real.

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Born on the stormy west coast of British Columbia, Halle grew up surrounded by dramatic landscapes and a steady diet of Stephen King, Anne Rice, and punk rock. That early blend of grit, beauty, and shadow bleeds into everything she writes. Her breakout came with Darkhouse, the first book in the Experiment in Terror series, a moody, slow-burn paranormal saga that introduced readers to her signature mix of romance and the supernatural. It didn’t follow the rules of genre, and neither has she since.

Her characters don’t ask for permission. They’re flawed, messy, fiercely loyal, and often fighting battles that exist well beyond the page. Whether it’s a con artist tangled in a web of lies in Sins & Needles, a haunted love story drenched in Icelandic myth in The Lost Daughter, or a sun-soaked royal fantasy with teeth in River of Shadows, Halle writes with a cinematic eye and an emotional honesty that makes her work feel alive long after the last chapter ends.

Before writing fiction full time, she spent years as a travel writer and music journalist, and that past life still echoes through her books. Her settings are richly drawn, her dialogue cuts with rhythm, and her stories often carry the ache of wanderlust, both literal and emotional. She splits her time between Victoria, BC and Los Angeles, living with her husband and rescue dog in homes that are either sunny or slightly haunted, depending on the address.

Over the years, she’s become a hybrid publishing force, with bestselling titles under major imprints like Penguin Random House and Hachette while still fiercely championing indie publishing. She’s landed on the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestseller lists, and has been a multi-time Goodreads Choice Awards nominee. But beyond accolades, her work resonates because it doesn’t pretend to be safe. It embraces the strange, the sorrowful, the sensual, and always, the deeply human.

Karina Halle doesn’t write fairy tales. She writes what happens after the lights go out, when the ghosts come back, the past refuses to stay buried, and love is as dangerous as it is necessary. For readers who crave intensity, atmosphere, and emotional honesty, her stories don’t just entertain, they haunt.

A Gothic Shade of Romance

A Gothic Shade of Romance consists of two books — considered a complete series. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.

Hollow (A Gothic Shade of Romance #1)
Unrated
Legend (A Gothic Shade of Romance #2)
Unrated


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