Drown the Bones by Alexandra Kennington ($27.00, November 3, 2026, 9798217240104)
As the younger twin, Merridan has never minded being the "spare" to the Rothian royal throne. She knows her brother, Von, will be an excellent king, and she'd rather devote her time to the Goddess, faithfully using her magic to send deceased spirits from the holy lake to the Afterworld.
When the unthinkable happens and her brother is murdered, she is certain their rival kingdom, Nova, is to blame. After all, they worship a false deity and use their magic to toy with necromancy. But when the Goddess halts the investigation of Von's death, Merridan takes matters into her own hands, using a forbidden Novian ritual to speak to her brother's ghost.
The last thing Merridan expects is to raise the wrong ghost. Now she's bound to Phoenix Darragon, the arrogant crown prince of Nova—who was murdered the same night as Von. The prince makes Merridan a deal: if she takes his spirit to Nova to be resurrected, he will help her find her brother's killer.
But uncovering the truth about the murderer means discovering Phoenix's secrets, too. As the attraction between Merridan and the prince becomes undeniable and the threat of war builds, she must decide whether finding the truth is worth its cost if it means her beloved relationship with the Goddess is changed forever.
"Drown the Bones entwines grief and longing in this high-stakes romantasy where desire reaches across the unyielding barrier of death. Kennington renders Merridan and her charming, ghostly prince with exquisite tension and aching restraint, and fans of enemies-to-lovers and slow burn romance are in for a feast. A haunting, unforgettable romantasy!" says Logan Karlie, New York Times bestselling author of Dream by the Shadows.