DIE FOR ME

A cardiologist falls for an enigmatic stranger in Obuobi’s seductive paranormal romance.

When it comes to matters of the heart, Sean Sullivan prefers operating tables over heartbreak. Her job as an interventional cardiologist in Chicago keeps her busy enough, and at 38, she doesn’t feel any burning desire to find “the one.” Almost all her male colleagues are on their second or third wives, anyway—including her best friend Winny’s ex, Brandon—which leaves Sean with little faith in the existence of true love. But at Brandon’s wedding to his new, much younger wife, Leila, the bride’s man of honor piques Sean’s interest. Julian Conrad is younger, ethnically ambiguous, and devastatingly handsome, and he appears to have taken an interest in Sean as well. After they share a heated moment at the wedding, Sean can’t get Julian out of her head—and then he starts showing up in her dreams. Even after going over all the reasons she should avoid dating a man 11 years her junior, she feels an undeniable urge to give in to him. When they’re together, Sean can’t get enough of Julian, to the point that she starts exhibiting flulike symptoms when they’re apart. The withdrawal she feels is slightly terrifying, and the ever-present air of mystery and sadness surrounding Julian soon makes Sean question whether she really knows the man she’s fallen in love with. Obuobi’s latest is a sleek and gripping tale of temptation and seduction that begs to be finished in one sitting. Obuobi puts her own twist on a classic monster romance, with an older, more formidable heroine who is neither clumsy nor simpering but entirely relatable. She dedicates her book to “Black girls who squinted at the pages of the paranormal romances of the early aughts, wishing to see themselves there,” breathing new life into a well-trodden genre.

A thrilling, sexy, and modern take on forbidden fruit.