Fated Mates, Explained
The fated mates trope pairs two people who are destined for each other, by magic, fate, or something older than both of them. You’ll find it all over fated mates romance books, especially in werewolf stories. Vampires do it too, with a much longer clock.
In The Waning, the pull between Nia and Drake is immediate and a little uncomfortable. It doesn’t feel like a meet-cute. It feels like recognition.
Dreams That Feel Like Memories
Before the story opens, Nia has a dream unlike any she’s had. She’s somewhere else, in another time, wearing old-fashioned clothes in a forest glade. She holds a tiny clay vial while something dark closes in. She wakes up with more energy than she has ever had. Then the nightmares begin.
When she describes the dream to Drake, he asks about the vial. Not the fear, not the forest. The vial. That tells her he knows something he isn’t saying.
Past life memories and reincarnation are part of the mix. I won’t say how, because that’s the fun part.
Losing Time and a Love That Waited
Nia starts losing time. She falls asleep on the couch and wakes with gaps she can’t explain. That memory loss is part of the mystery, and part of the danger.
Drake has his own past, and it’s a long one. He has been waiting for something for a very long time, and he has stopped letting himself hope it will come. Whether it does is for you to find out.
Hidden Identity and Dark Secrets
Everyone in Nia’s life has a layer. There’s a hidden identity here, a secret there. Her father clams up whenever the past comes up. Her mother’s story has gaps. The man who suddenly knows too much about Romanian folklore seems to have a lot of gaps of his own.
If you like your romance with a mystery under it, you’ll have plenty to chew on.
A Faith Crisis and a Spiritual Awakening
Nia was raised in church, and she has questions the church never liked. When the story opens she’s losing her faith, and because she’s a researcher, she goes looking for answers in books, folklore, and anyone who will talk to her.
This isn’t a sermon in either direction. It’s a young woman working out what she believes while her life comes apart. That spiritual awakening changes how she sees everything, including the man across the table.
A Heroine on Her Own
Nia lost her mother at twelve. Her father is hard to lean on. She has a best friend who adores her and a stubborn brain that doesn’t quit. It makes her braver than she realizes, and a little too willing to go it alone.
Ready to Read?
If you want the whole trope menu, see my Romance Tropes List article. To meet Nia and Drake, characters page has the cover and the full description, and newsletter signup will keep you posted on release news.