A Ruinblood Heirloom Novel – Book Four

By Alestria Fawnwell

Not every curse begins with a burial. Some are born in wedding lace and mosquito-thick silence.

Before the scandals, before the funerals, before Alestria Fawnwell rose from the ashes—there was The Bayou. A place where the air clings like guilt, and secrets seep into your skin like swampwater.

Adelyn Fawnwell thought marrying Harland Vexley would save her. What she got was a house full of rot, a husband built from half-truths, and a life steeped in ceremonial lies. Their love wasn't made—it was inherited, forced into motion by duty, manipulation, and a blood pact neither fully understood.

In this chilling Southern Gothic prequel to The Scent of Ruin, we travel back to the cursed roots of the Fawnwell legacy. Set against the backdrop of Louisiana's haunted wetlands, The Bayou traces the unraveling of a young woman caught in the tidal pull of tradition, trauma, and twisted devotion.

Every vow hides a knife.

Every ghost has a name.

And sometimes, the most dangerous hauntings are the ones we marry into.