Sapphic

June, 1852\. A preacher’s daughter with a secret. An outlaw running from the gallows. A love story spanning oceans and deserts and years. When Abby Proctor is kidnapped from a train in the middle of the desert halfway to her new life in California, she makes a promise to herself—she will escape. Because there’s a reason Abby is leaving Iowa and all its oppressions behind, and she refuses to be someone’s prisoner again. Especially when that someone is the infamous female outlaw Joey ‘JT London’ Taylor, Abby's brash, brooding, and inconveniently beautiful captor. But as Abby plots her escape, she stumbles upon a larger conspiracy at play behind her kidnapping—a complicated revelation considering the feelings she’s been having for Joey, who might not be the ruthless criminal everyone believes her to be. And when Abby realizes it’s all connected—her kidnapping, the secrets she left behind in Iowa, even her plans in California—she has to decide between returning to a life of obedience and unhappiness, or trusting an enigmatic outlaw who is bound for the gallows.

Six hundred years of immortal friendship. One bite that changes everything. Ancient vampires Aster Castelmar and Sylvia Maroven have been inseparable for six centuries. They’ve survived inquisitions, wars, collapsing empires, the industrial revolution—but now they face their most challenging obstacle New York City rental prices. With only a week left in their last apartment, the broke best friends hatch a bold get-rich enthrall a billionaire. With Sylvia’s charm, Aster’s raw strength, and a dash of vampiric hypnosis, the plan should be foolproof. Then Sylvia bites Aster. It’s meant to be a joke, a fleeting thrill between lifelong companions. But instead, the bite awakens an ancient bond reserved for soulmates, forcing them to face feelings they’ve spent centuries denying.

Miri thinks she has got her wife back, when Leah finally returns after a deep-sea mission that ended in catastrophe. It soon becomes clear, though, that Leah is not the same. Whatever happened in that vessel, whatever it was they were supposed to be studying before they were stranded on the ocean floor, Leah has brought part of it back with her, onto dry land and into their home. Moving through something that only resembles normal life, Miri comes to realize that the life that they had before might be gone. Though Leah is still there, Miri can feel the woman she loves slipping from her grasp. Our Wives Under The Sea is the debut novel from Julia Armfield, the critically acclaimed author of Salt Slow. It’s a story of falling in love, loss, grief, and what life there is in the deep deep sea.