Death took him. Love brought him back. Now the world wants him gone.

Julian Blackwood died a century ago. He returned without warning, pulled across the veil by the woman who refused to forget him. Clara Wren never meant to wake the dead—only to grieve the man she loved. But when Julian reappears, unchanged and alive, he becomes the spark in a world teetering between awe and fear.

As more souls begin to return, the ancient Order sworn to protect the balance brands them all a threat. With the First Hollow stirring beneath the fabric of reality and the truth about Julian's return unraveling, Clara and Julian must fight not just for survival, but for the right to love what death tried to take.

A haunting, romantic, and deeply human fantasy, The Living and the Returned explores memory, loss, and the courage to choose love—even when the world turns against it.