Love Lessons: A Novel By Sidney Halston

In The Saint's Curse, the first book in a decadent fantasy duology set in Jazz Age Harlem, the city’s vibrant nightlife masks a sinister underbelly. It’s 1926, and reapers—once-human vampires afflicted with a horrific curse—are rising in New York. The Saint family’s reaper-hunting empire controls the city’s dark side, wielding power that rivals even the criminal underworld. Eighteen-year-old Elise Saint returns from Paris as the reluctant heir to this empire, burdened not only by her family’s legacy but also by the knowledge that Harlem’s reapers want her dead.

Layla Quinn, a young reaper scarred by her transformation and haunted by her past, was turned into a reaper five years ago after losing her family and humanity. Her transformation was marked by betrayal from Elise, and Layla has never forgiven her. Now, with reapers inexplicably regaining parts of their humanity and leaving a trail of brutal murders, Layla is framed for one of these attacks.

The Saint patriarch offers Layla a deal she can’t refuse: team up with Elise to investigate the murders and the troubling rumors of a possible reaper cure. Despite their bitter enmity, Elise and Layla must navigate Harlem’s dangerous underworld, confront their unresolved feelings, and unravel the mystery behind the growing threat to both reapers and humans. As they delve deeper, they uncover a web of intrigue and danger that threatens to engulf them both.