Necromance

By: Cora Raven

Narrated by: Rachael Metcalfe

When spirited necromancer, Mia Arden, is hired to cleanse a long-abandoned castle, she expects a few temperamental ghosts, not the brooding, devastatingly handsome phantom Duke trapped inside of a cursed painting.

Lucien Wescraven has spent years as a shadow, imprisoned by the woman who loved him to madness. Now, with the castle alive with sinister magic, and the ghosts of woman who will do anything to keep him lurking in every echoing corridor, Mia is his only hope. But the deeper she digs, the more entangled she becomes in Lucien’s tragic past.

As passion flares and the castle fights to keep its secrets, Mia must decide: Break the curse, risk her soul, and set the haunted duke free, or walk away before she’s lost to the darkness forever.

A gothic romance brimming with yearning, wit, ghostly danger, and the enduring power of love. Fans of Casper, Jane Eyre, and Crimson Peak will fall for this deliciously dark tale.

Necormance is an adult 18+ dark gothic romantic fantasy and contains mature content and explicit scenes. For all of the people that wished Casper was for adults, Lucien Wescraven welcomes you to Ravenspire Castle…

©2025 Cora Raven (P)2026 Cora Raven

Had potential

I feel like this had major potential. It started out strong but started to drone on and on about halfway and I basically forced my way through to finish. It wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t very good either. The narrator complicated the already weak dragging story by speaking very slowly and quietly, with very little variation even in more active, suspenseful scenes. Just meh.

Monotone narration

The story was good! It was dark, not too predictable, and the writing was good. It was easy to imagine the castle and imagine myself there. It actually took me longer to get through this than I would normally spend on a book this size because I couldn’t read or listen late at night without risking nightmares lol.
There was a definite lack of communication between the main characters in the name of the plot that I didn’t love. I felt like those plot points could have been handled differently that would have still driven the story forward without them keeping secrets from each other.
I also wish there had been a male narrator. There were only a few chapters from the Lucien’s POV, but it threw me off that they were read by the same female narrator. And the lack of inflection, emotion or even volume change made it boring to listen to.

I didn't want it to end.

Perfect amount of creepy castle, some action, and romance with a hint of spice.
Idk what others are talking about with the narrator. I felt like she was PERFECT for this type of book and wish I could have her narrate any and all of the creepy spooky books I read.
Sad the book is over 😭

Squandered opportunity

The narrator did a good job on both voices, none of this book’s shortcomings lie with her.

The beginning was strong, excellent atmosphere and a promising haunted castle, plus a capable necromancer for the primary protagonist…until she meets the other protagonist and suddenly becomes an unforgivably dimwitted damsel in distress. The entire plot is full of holes and powered by the two lovers constantly lying to each other for unwarranted drama and angst. The magic is not at all defined, but played for convenience. The villain is described as a very terrifying entity of malice…until she starts talking and she’s just a jealous mean girl.

So so so disappointing to the point of being infuriating. The lamest ripoff of every trope ever. Ugh.