To err is human. To avenge is Divine.
Every person Harlow Carrenwell kisses dies immediately, and that’s the way she likes it. The poison-lipped youngest daughter of Lunameade’s magical founding family has used her power to annihilate their opposition.
Her first husband is in the ground. Her new betrothed is next.
But the merry widow has a secret. When she’s not acting as an assassin at her parents' whims, she moonlights as a vigilante for abused women in their walled-off city.
Meet a man. Lure him in. Kill him with a kiss. Until one night Harlow kisses a mark and he doesn’t die.
Worse, her invincible partner in passion is her new betrothed, Henry Havenwood, and now he knows about her double life. Instead of selling her out and bringing the rival families to blows, he does something much more sinister—whisks her away to wed in his wild mountain fort.
Harlow doesn’t trust Henry, but the only way to protect her family and the city of Lunameade is to figure out what his family is planning.
Cursed with a husband she can’t kill and trapped in a fort miles of vampire-infested woods from home, Harlow’s survival requires her to do the impossible: Make the man who knows she’s a killer fall in love with her anyway.
The Poison Daughter is a standalone dark fantasy romance that combines the vigilante justice for abusive men of Promising Young Woman with a romantasy arranged marriage and a dash of vampires.
Every person Harlow Carrenwell kisses dies immediately, and that’s the way she likes it. The poison-lipped youngest daughter of Lunameade’s magical founding family has used her power to annihilate their opposition.
Her first husband is in the ground. Her new betrothed is next.
But the merry widow has a secret. When she’s not acting as an assassin at her parents' whims, she moonlights as a vigilante for abused women in their walled-off city.
Meet a man. Lure him in. Kill him with a kiss. Until one night Harlow kisses a mark and he doesn’t die.
Worse, her invincible partner in passion is her new betrothed, Henry Havenwood, and now he knows about her double life. Instead of selling her out and bringing the rival families to blows, he does something much more sinister—whisks her away to wed in his wild mountain fort.
Harlow doesn’t trust Henry, but the only way to protect her family and the city of Lunameade is to figure out what his family is planning.
Cursed with a husband she can’t kill and trapped in a fort miles of vampire-infested woods from home, Harlow’s survival requires her to do the impossible: Make the man who knows she’s a killer fall in love with her anyway.
The Poison Daughter is a standalone dark fantasy romance that combines the vigilante justice for abusive men of Promising Young Woman with a romantasy arranged marriage and a dash of vampires.
Title: The Poison Daughter
Author: Sheila Masterson
Publisher: Zando/Slowburn
Expected Publication Date: July 18, 2026
Review:
Thank you to NetGalley and Zando/Slowburn for providing me with a copy of this title to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
I will say I'm guilty of judging a book by it's cover and only wanted this originally because, hello, GORGEOUS cover! And then I read the blurb and just knew I had to read it. A girl who can poison with her lips or touch, yes please! An enemies to lovers romance? BRING IT ON!
At the start, I thought I actually may end up DNFing this book, which made me sad given my excitement for it. The pacing was super slow and I just didn't think I had it in me to read a 600+ page book at that pace. Plus, the characters did not appear to be their stated ages, and I could not understand the motivations behind what was going on. This lasted for the first 30% or so and then, suddenly, it took off and I was totally invested. I still had a few issues with what appeared to be plot holes but they made total sense when I finally finished the title.
The character development in this one was one of the things I was worried about. I wasn't loving the FMC. She seemed a bit whiny and definitely didn't come across to me as a 30 year old woman who had been married before. But I liked her moxie and eventually realized she was so broken from trauma, it made sense she seemed young at the beginning of the book. But over the course of learning about the story, I started to like her. And I started to see why she was the way she presented to be. I was definitely routing for her by the time I was invested in the story. She had a Robin Hood quality to her, and I love a good Robin Hood! The MMC was developed a little better for me. I believed his age. He had a lot of secrets which were revealed much later in the book. I liked that he was a bit mysterious and we had to wait for his story. I liked that there was so much more underneath what he allowed his enemies to see.
The chemistry between these two was definitely off the charts. There's this base attraction they have. Just total lust to begin with. But then I watched them open up to each other. Give each other their stories that made them start to actually fall for each other, even though their marriage was supposed to be one of convenience. Though the whole reasoning for this marriage was not 100% understandable for me. Their union seems to be rooted in finding out as much about the other as they can in order to use it against them. But I don't see the political reasoning for it and I think this was an important part of the story.
The world building was really interesting. I absolutely enjoyed the magic system, though I wish there was more history to it. I also liked the magic that is mixed with these supernatural creatures who seem almost vampiristic. I do wish there was more interaction with the Drained so we could see just how perilous the situation was. There is a ton of betrayal in this book. And if you have trigger warnings for abuse or rough sex, you definitely need to watch yourself when reading this. The sex scenes were very intense to the point they might feel a bit gross to some. At first I wasn't a huge fan, but then I realized the way it is written really is to show the dark parts of the characters.
Masterson's writing is easy to read and flows well. Despite there being some repetition in the first 30%, I am glad I pushed through.
I was happy to see it wrap up well. There were times I was thinking this was leaning towards being a series. And I could see how that would work well for this had the author chose to do it that way. But it does wrap up at the end leaving nothing to question and no room for me to ask when the next book might be coming out.
If you're looking for a romantasy, this absolutely fits that bill. There's danger, political structure, magic, betrayal, deadly creatures, and an enemies to lovers story that really is just what it seems to be. I'll definitely be looking into Masterson's other books.
Author:
Sheila Masterson is the USA Today Bestselling author of The Poison Daughter, a dark enemies to lovers romantasy standalone about a vigilante who uses her poison kiss to take revenge on abusive men in her community, until she's unwittingly thrust into an arranged marriage with the only man immune to her magic.
Her other works include the gothic fairy tale fantasy romance, Song of the Dark Wood, the angsty epic romantasy quartet, The Lost God Series, as well as its next-generation standalone spinoff, A Legacy of Stars.
When Sheila's not busy stabbing beloved side characters and dreaming up new ways to make her readers cry, you can find her browsing the shelves at local indie bookstores, drinking fancy cocktails with friends, or curled up reading books and tarot. She lives outside Philadelphia with a small army of underwatered houseplants that survive out of spite.
Her other works include the gothic fairy tale fantasy romance, Song of the Dark Wood, the angsty epic romantasy quartet, The Lost God Series, as well as its next-generation standalone spinoff, A Legacy of Stars.
When Sheila's not busy stabbing beloved side characters and dreaming up new ways to make her readers cry, you can find her browsing the shelves at local indie bookstores, drinking fancy cocktails with friends, or curled up reading books and tarot. She lives outside Philadelphia with a small army of underwatered houseplants that survive out of spite.
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