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  • Cursed City

Cursed City

Harker Academy #2 / 2
by Kate Golden
Cursed City (Harker Academy #2) by Kate Golden
⧗ 8.00 / 1
123456718910

Welcome back to Harker Academy for Deviant Defense, where the line between hunter and hunted has never been thinner.

To rescue someone close to her, Viv Abbot must team up with Reid’s violent, unpredictable older brother, Deacon. Her uneasy truce with him offers Viv something Reid never could: the chance to embrace her darkness.

Viv’s mission takes her to the center of Astera's seedy underbelly with none other than the White Stag as her guide. But when a bounty on Viv's head puts those she cares about in danger, Viv will be forced to go to lengths she never dreamed in order to protect them.

With enemies closing in from all sides and a ticking clock on her life, Viv must save the Half City from destruction while surviving a betrayal that strikes at the heart of everything she’s fighting for. Because in a world where monsters wear familiar faces and temptation cuts deeper than any blade, making it through her second semester at Harker will take more than skill—it will take everything Viv has left to give. Who can she really trust in a city that thrives on lies?

Also known as Half City Book 2.
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FantasyParanormal RomanceUrban FantasyRomantasy
Release date: September 29, 2026

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Kate Golden

Kate Golden has quickly become one of the most recognizable new voices in fantasy romance, her books drawing readers into worlds where danger and desire are never far apart. She is best known for The Sacred Stones trilogy, beginning with A Dawn of Onyx, a USA Today bestseller that introduced her blend of gothic intrigue, slow-burn romance, and richly layered magic. With each installment, she deepened the tension between loyalty and betrayal, power and vulnerability, cementing her place in the fast-growing romantasy community.

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Golden’s path to publishing began in an unexpected moment. While on vacation, frustrated by books that were not sparking her imagination, she decided to write the kind of story she longed to read. That decision led to a manuscript that not only launched her career but also resonated with thousands of readers who recognized themselves in her heroines, characters who wrestle with fear and doubt before stepping into courage.

Her upcoming work expands her storytelling into new territory. Half City, the first in the Harker Academy series, takes readers into a dark academia setting where demon hunters, secret legacies, and forbidden attraction collide. With its blend of supernatural danger, school rivalries, and slow-building romance, the series promises the same emotional intensity that has made her earlier novels so beloved.

Based in Los Angeles, Golden works in the film industry alongside her writing, a dual career that influences the cinematic scope and pacing of her novels. Away from the page, she is an avid puzzle solver, game-night host with her husband and their puppy Milo, and a seeker of small joys like flea market treasures and cozy brunches. Those everyday passions ground her, even as her imagination continues to chart epic worlds where love and peril walk hand in hand.

Harker Academy

In a city that hides monsters in plain sight, survival is not about strength alone, it is about secrets. The Harker Academy series opens with Half City, where Viv Abbot, a young woman burdened by grief and financial struggles, lives a double life. By day she is ordinary, by night she is a demon hunter, carrying the legacy of a father whose death left more questions than answers.

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Everything shifts when she crosses paths with Reid Graveheart, a reformed demon who lures her into a world she never imagined existed, a hidden academy built to train and protect those who walk the line between human and other. Within its walls, loyalty is tested, forbidden bonds spark, and shadows seem to whisper truths no one dares speak aloud.

What sets this series apart is its blend of dark academia atmosphere and urban fantasy grit. The halls of Harker are alive with danger, romance, and the promise of knowledge that comes at a price. Viv’s journey is not only about hunting demons but about confronting her own hidden nature, questioning who she can trust, and discovering whether belonging is worth the risks that come with it.

Mysterious, character-driven, and laced with slow-burning tension, Harker Academy is a story for readers who crave magic laced with danger, a heroine who is as flawed as she is fierce, and a world where every choice leaves a mark.


Harker Academy consists of one book and series is set to expand with the upcoming release of one more book. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.

Half City (Harker Academy #1)
★ 8.00 / 1
Cursed City (Harker Academy #2)
⧗ 8.00 / 1


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