Bitter Sacrament

She has eaten the sins of one hundred and nine souls, and not one of them has thanked her.Dolores comes when the bells ring in the dark—summoned to draw the sins from the dying with a breath and send them clean to Heaven. It is holy work, the Church tells her. Penance. A path to salvation.But salvation is killing her.Her fingertips have turned blue. Black lines spread across her skin. Her body crumbles under the weight of sins that were never hers to carry. Still, the bells ring. Still, she answers.When Father Thomas Kieran arrives to observe the Abbey's practices, Dolores expects judgment. What she doesn't expect is kindness.But Father Thomas is not what he seems.And as Dolores begins to question everything the Church has told her, she finds herself drawn toward a darkness that feels—impossibly—like mercy.For readers of gothic romance with dark, atmospheric storytelling, morally complex characters, and a love story that blooms in the space between faith and ruin. Read more