'Brisk, ironic and relentlessly imaginative' Boston GlobeThe beautiful daughter of a poor cobbler, Valynda Moore learned early in life that beauty was its own form of a curse in a world ruled by ruthless men. These men would use any means to take what they wanted, and one wanted - and took - her very soul, condemning her to live eternity in the body of a living straw doll. Now she has one chance to be human again. To have her soul restored to a flesh-and-blood body. But only if she betrays everyone she holds dear, and breaks every vow she's made.Like Eve in the Garden of Eden, Valynda has a choice. She can be selfless and alone in her cold, doll's body for eternity. Or she can pluck the one piece of fruit she's always longed to taste and become human in the process. But there's just one small catch. Not only will her friends pay the price for her humanity, she will damn all of humanity in her place.The latest gripping instalment in this sensational, rip-roaring Historical Fantasy series, set in the Dark-Hunter World from #1 NYT bestselling author Sherrilyn Kenyon.'Kenyon boldly goes where no author has gone before and claims yet another genre as her own. [She is] a publishing phenomenon . . .' Publishers Weekly[thumbnails of Stygian and Dragonsworn] New York Times bestselling author Sherrilyn Kenyon is a regular in the #1 spot. This extraordinary bestseller continues to top every genre in which she writes. More than 60 million copies of her books are in print in more than one hundred countries. Her current series include Deadman's Cross, The Dark-Hunters, The League, and Chronicles of Nick. Her Chronicles of Nick and Dark-Hunter series are soon to be major motion pictures.