Growing up the outcast in an infamous family of psychics, Nate Black never learned how to control his empath abilities. Then after five years without contact, his estranged twin turns up dead in New York City. The claim of suicide doesn’t ring true, especially when a mysterious vision tells Nate it was murder. Now his long-hated gift is his only tool to investigate.

Hitching from his tiny Texas town, Nate is picked up by Trent, a gorgeous engineer who thrives on sarcasm and skepticism. The heat that sparks between them is instant and intense, and Nate ends up trusting Trent with his secrets—something he’s never done before. But once they arrive in the city, the secrets multiply when Nate discovers an underground supernatural community, more missing psychics, and frightening information about his own talent.

Nate is left questioning his connection with Trent. Are their feelings real, or are they being propelled by abilities Nate didn’t realize he had? His fear of his power grows, but Nate must overcome it to find his brother’s killer and trust himself with Trent’s heart.

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Review and rating removed.

On or about March 9, 2018, the news broke far and wide that the author known as Santino Hassell is a catfish, abusive, predatory, a master manipulator…and the list of sociopathic adjectives could go on from what I’ve gathered.

In the days surrounding, ties with this author were severed with ‘his’ agent and most (if not all) publishers including Riptide, Dreamspinner, Berkley, and…probably others.

I’m not here to write a think piece on the matter, plenty are out there, and I’d just be repeating what’s already been said. Though, I’ll say that it disgusts me to my core that anyone who came into contact with this author — from readers to authors (including co-authors), to those who were barely even in ‘his’ orbit and those who were close friends — are all victims of such a far-reaching deception. It’s monstrous how much damage and harm was caused by such epic deceit and web of lies spanning nearly two decades. I was duped. We were all duped.

It’s not about a pen name. It’s not about gender. It’s not about author privacy. It’s not about author brand. It's a fucking mess of despicable truths stranger than fiction that has left this community I love reeling in the aftermath.

If you need more information here’s a start:

Statement from Riptide: http://riptidepublishing.com/a-statement-on-sh

Twitter Moment outlining the allegations: https://twitter.com/i/moments/970716633017790464

Tumblr post further outlining allegations: https://thesaltminers.tumblr.com/post/171680546960/the-santino-hassell-debacle

Twitter post that’ll blow your fucking mind: https://twitter.com/sweetsakuradoll/status/972031764766994432

Heartbreaking statement from Ais, co-author of the ICoS series: https://twitter.com/aisness/status/976957000708915200

NOTE: Several Twitter handles were also massively important — chiefly Nikki @ease_dropper who worked for over a year to bring this information to light with receipts like you wouldn’t believe while simultaneously dealing with increasing backlash and abuse in those efforts to be heard.

A Twitter search of #SHconfessions will also work as well as the entirety of the Twitter handle @sweetsakuradoll. 

Other posts that can be found with a google search of “Santino Hassell” or “Santino Hassell Catfish.”