Vale (Season of the Wolf) steps away from the world of shifters to deliver a moving, multilayered love story between Death incarnate and his favorite mistake. Stubborn New Yorker Molly Molloy, who lives surrounded by the ashes of all her loved ones who have ever died, unable to move on, works a demeaning job she hates while studying to be an EMT. Meanwhile immortal Azrael, aka Death, spends his time circumnavigating the world reaping people’s souls, but he’s grown tired of the grind and of trying to fit in with the supernatural community. Then he meets Molly. Though he’s sent to collect her soul, he accidentally saves her life instead, leaving her able to see and interact with him, unprecedented for a human. The pair form an unlikely bond, with Molly teaching Death how to be human, and Death showing Molly what it is to be loved. Together they learn to navigate and accept the immutable passage of time. Tongue-in-cheek humor and raw characterization enhance this thought-provoking, wonder-filled celebration of the circle of life. Readers will feel the triumphs and tragedies as if in real time as they’re drawn along on this richly imagined tale of love from its beginning to the bitter end. Agent: Heather Jackson, Heather Jackson Literary. (Self-published)