Amanda L. Doyle

Long ago, Zouria carved out her heart and offered it to the Grove to survive. Now, no one threatens Zouria or they risk being transformed into one of her trees.

One day, a man arrives, armed with a protection charm. Unable to harm him, Zouria makes him a bargain—she will release his son from his entrapment and take the man instead. But as their lives become entwined, feelings stir within her, feelings she thought she’d cut out long ago.

As threats arrive from the sorcerer who bestowed Glen’s protection charm, Zouria must uncover the sorcerer’s motive in helping Glen. But those pesky feelings keep arising, forcing her to confront the memories of her past that she has been suppressing. Will Zouria find it within herself to open her heart again, knowing it also makes her vulnerable to the bitter cost of betrayal?

In her debut poetry collection Know Your Bones, A.L. Doyle reflects on her experiences of personal transformation and her hope for humanity. Journey with her through childhood memories, motherhood, and beyond to ponder what makes us who we are.

Lenora wants nothing more than to be left alone. After her visions lead to the death of her best friend, she is exiled and retreats to a secluded cottage. She escapes her guilt and grief by constructing creatures to tend to the cottage grounds.

Julian wants nothing more than to regain his noble title that was stripped from him and the wealth and status his father lost. When the perfect opportunity arises, he seizes it, but his carefully laid plan collapses. To avoid capture, he flees his pursuers by riding into the threat of the Hartwell blight.

Both outcasts in their own ways, their lives become entwined when Julian attempts to steal from his savior, Lenora. He is hexed and magically trapped, forced to remain at her cottage against both of their wills. Together, the two work to solve the mysterious layers of the Hartwell blight and prevent Lenora’s prophetic vision of Julian’s death from becoming reality.