Roses of the Moon: Book 1 (Dark Reliquary Series)

Can love survive the fire of wickedness in high places, or must it, too, be consumed in the flames?

Book One of the Dark Fantasy-Gothic Horror series, Dark Reliquary, Roses of the Moon is the story of Lady Mara, a neglected princess growing up in a labyrinthine castle haunted by evil. Inspired by the legend of Countess Bathory, the author weaves a complex web of ritual, mysticism and dark magic that gradually builds up an intense mythology around the mysterious Lucifer Tree and the dragon-queens of old who worshipped gods that existed long before the birth of Christ.

Whose are the screams that echo through the castle walls at night and why does the Countess insist that all the roses within the castle be destroyed?

Beautifully written,  Roses of the Moon is a magnificently visualised, claustrophobic world of great beauty and great horror that builds to a disturbing climax. If you like Gothic Horror, this book is a dark jewel that you will greatly enjoy.
----Simso

For readers of my Gothic Romances, The Lady in Yellow, The Haunted Garden: Secret of the Memento Mori, and The Vampire's Mirror, please be aware that Roses of the Moon is a much darker, and more intense book. It explores the abusive mother-daughter relationship of Countess Orzsebet, an archtypal Evil Queen, and her daughter, Lady Mara, who struggles to hold on to her soul as she is bombarded by dark powers on all sides.

Fairy Tale elements of Snow White and Brair Rose merge with the historic Ottoman Invasion of Hungary, evoking the harsheness of life in Central Europe at the same time that Shakespeare was writing to the glories of the Elizabethan Court in England. Countess Bathory really lived. Countess Orzsebet was inspired by her legend, but is a supernatural figure spawned form the lineage of the Dark Dragon Prince.