Ella is an Edwardian Cinderella with an undead problem.
The flu pandemic of 1918 took millions of souls within a few short weeks. Except it wasn’t flu, and death gave them back.
Seventeen-year-old Ella copes the best she can by caring for her war-injured father, scrubbing the floors, and slaying the undead that attack the locals. Like rats, these vermin spread pestilence with every bite. Ella’s world collides with another when she nearly decapitates a handsome stranger—one who is very much alive.
Seth deMage, the new Duke of Leithfield, has returned to his ancestral home with a mission from the War Office: control the plague of vermin in rural Somerset. He needs help; he just didn’t expect to find it in a katana-wielding scullery maid.
Working alongside Seth blurs the line between their positions, and Ella glimpses a future she never dreamed was possible. But in overstepping society’s boundaries, Ella could lose everything—her home, her head, and her heart.
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“Here’s a retelling of Cinderella—but set in a Downton-like abbey, with zombies! Narrator Gabrielle de Cuir’s deep, smoky voice fits Ella’s practicality, toughness, and good humor in the face of horror. And there is horror—for not only is Ella’s father a shell-shocked veteran of WWI but also zombies (called ‘vermin’) roam the British countryside. And Ella is adept at killing them. De Cuir portrays Ella’s wicked stepmother as a velvety-smooth villain, while the stepsisters are daft twits with upper-class accents. Seth, the duke (think Prince Charming), sounds well bred and calm. De Cuir’s excellent narration makes listening to this ‘fairy tale with a scary twist’ a fun diversion.”
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