Author Highlight: Elle Backenstoe

 Featuring her spellbinding novel, A Vow of Shadows

 

Today on Rose & Reverie, we're shining our spotlight on an author whose words feel like walking through a dream woven of starlight, shadows, and tender danger- Elle Backenstoe. If you love fantasy romance with a haunting twist, where death has a face, a heart, and a name... her work deserves a place on your bookshelf.

 

Meet the Author: Elle Backenstoe

Nestled in eastern Pennsylvania, Elle Backenstoe lives with her husband, son, and loyal dog- though she's equally at home in faraway realms crafted from magic and myth. A lifelong book lover, Elle grew up with her nose buried in stories and now writes her own breathtaking worlds where fantasy and romance intertwine seamlessly. 

 Fueled by pop punk music and ice-cold Coke, Elle is the type of author who always picks sweet over salty and can often be found spinning across the dance floor at her home-away-from-home: the studio. Her stories carry that same sense of movement- a graceful swirl of danger, desire, and destiny.

And now, she invites readers into her newest world: a haunting, liminal realm where death walks beside the living.

 

Featured Book: A Vow of Shadows

Genre: Fantasy Romance

Perfect for readers who love: reapers, fated bargains, enemies-to-lovers tension, lush world-building, and heroines marked by destiny.

 

Synopsis 

Katrin has lived her life under the weight of a curse- dark markings etched across her skin, announcing her connection to Death itself. Cast out by society that once embraced her, she watches life continue without her, knowing her time is slipping away.

Desperate to escape her fate, Katrin seeks the one being powerful enough to defy Death: The Ferrier of Souls, a shadowed reaper tasked with ushering the dead to the next world. No mortal has ever met him and survived.

But Katrin intends to do precisely that.

The Ferrior agrees to keep her safe for one year- long enough for her to uncover a way to break her ties to Death. The cost? Her entire dowry, the last piece of her old life. With the bargain sealed, Katrin is taken to a liminal realm where the veil between life and death thins... and nothing is what she believed.

As days turn into nights and shadows soften into something startlingly human, Katrin begins to question everything:

Her mark.

Her fate. 

And the reaper behind the synthe- a man bound by duty, wrapped in mystery, and far more than a monster.

 

But when Death comes to collect what's his, their fragile connection may be the only thing strong enough to save her. 

 

A Captivating Excerpt from A Vow of Shadows

"The legend told of a wicked creature that followed in Death's shadow, a dark figure that collected the souls of the recently departed and ushered them to the next world. No one has ever met the Ferrier of Souls and lived to tell about it, but that was precisely what I intended to do."

Just a taste- and already the atmosphere is irresistible. 

 

What's Next for Elle Backenstoe?

The journey doesn't end here. The highly anticipated sequel to A Vow of Shadows is set to release in early 2026, and Elle is eager to bring more readers into Katrin's world- a place where darkness holds unexpected warmth and every shadow hides a story.

Now is the perfect time to dive into the series and meet the Ferrier before the next chapter arrives.

 

Final Thoughts

If you're craving a fantasy romance that:

• Feels atmospheric and haunting
• Blends danger with a slow, simmering connection
• Features a heroine defying fate
• And a deadly, mysterious love interest born of shadow...

 A Vow of Shadows deserves a spot on your TBR this season.

Stay tuned- Elle Backenstoe is just getting started!  

Find her book HERE.