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Darkening Gate #1
Oliver-Heber Books
July 2026
On Sale: July 21, 2026
240 pages
Kindle: B0GHZTX2FX
e-Book
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Romance Historical | Romance Fantasy
Some doors are sealed for a reason—and some names should never be spoken aloud. At thirteen, Lily Bellamy finds her mother’s body in the marshes. What haunts her afterward is worse. A corpselike spirit that looks like her mother follows Lily through every reflective surface—mirrors, glass, still water—whispering for Lily to open the door and let her out. Lily has no idea what the door is, how to stop the visions, or whether saving her mother is even possible. The haunting stretches into her young adulthood, eroding her sanity and dragging her closer to a breaking point she can feel but cannot escape. When Lily is eighteen, Andresh Zatavier returns—the boy who once knew her better than anyone, and perhaps still does. Changed by years overseas, Andresh confesses his study of dark magic and forbidden knowledge beyond human limits. He believes he knows the key to Lily’s curse—and how to end death itself. But every secret Andresh carries comes at a cost. As Lily is drawn deeper into a world of dark gates and dangerous names, she must decide how far she is willing to go to save the woman she lost… and whether opening the door will free her mother—or unleash something far worse.
Kristina Elyse Butke launches a chilling new dark fantasy series with The Name and the Key, weaving grief, forbidden magic, and aching connection into a story where love tempts fate—and some doors should never be opened.
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