The Gilded Curse: A Historical Fantasy Romance of Magic and Mystery in 1920s Shanghai

A curse that turns flesh to gold. A love that refuses to break.

Shanghai, 1926. When a man dies at a glittering engagement party—his hand transformed into solid gold—the Bai family scrambles to cover up a supernatural secret they’ve been hiding for forty years. Desperate, the matriarch turns to Lian, a reluctant fortune teller haunted by visions she never asked for, and Inspector Chen Kaiwen, a mixed-race detective who doesn’t believe in curses.

But the gilded curse is real. Born from a broken promise sealed in gold, it will consume the Bai bloodline until the debt is paid. To break it, Lian and Kaiwen must journey from the opulent mansions of the French Concession to the shadowy spirit markets of the Old City, from forbidden jazz clubs to a flooded tomb beneath a weeping willow tree.

As the lunar eclipse approaches, they discover that the keys to breaking the curse are remorse, love, and a lost hairpin buried with a woman who walked into the river forty years ago. But a vengeful spirit has been feeding on the curse for decades, and she will stop at nothing to see the Bai family destroyed.

In a world of jazz and jasmine, gangsters and ghosts, two outsiders must face a darkness that has waited a lifetime—and choose a love that is stronger than gold.

A lush historical fantasy romance perfect for fans of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, These Violent Delights, and The Night Circus.