Debut YA Fantasy Novel

Inaugural Voyage on March 3, 2026

Published by Wednesday Books

Jacket Design & Illustration by Micaela Alcaino

A mood board for the book, including haunting cruise ships, skulls, a male aerial silks performer, magic, and celestial accents

A dark romantasy set on a sinister cruise ship that siphons magic from its staff for lush entertainment of the privileged guests aboard, where a teen resurrector must join the crew to fight for her magic and her life.

Roe Damarcus has never been afraid of the dead. Her power to summon spirits has awed the guests of her esteemed family’s galas for as long as she can remember. Her future is certain, and her gift will be another shining jewel in the Damarcus legacy.

But when she fails her realm’s trial to keep her magic and is deemed too dangerous for society, she faces a harrowing choice: give up her gift or serve a punishment sentence aboard the Celestial, a luxurious magical cruise ship where staff members compete for guest votes to earn a coveted retrial.

As a concierge, Roe juggles the demands of affluent guests, cruel bosses, and the suspicion that an infuriatingly handsome silks performer, Ivander, is determined to keep her from a retrial.

But the true dangers surface after her shift ends when the Celestial transforms into halls of nightmares that kill staff members after dark. Faced with the reality of serving aboard, Roe begins to question the ship, trials, and the system that put her there. But the moment Roe sinks into the ship's dark history, she's wrongly framed for a guest's murder. Vowing to conjure her own second chance, Roe will use whatever power she has to uncover the secrets of the ship, her family, and their entwined bloody past... before she becomes the Celestial’s next victim.

Gems and a crystal necklace laying on green fabric

What You Can Expect From Your Upcoming Voyage

  • Magical cruise ship

  • Rivals to lovers

  • Romantic aerial silks scenes

  • Ballgowns & haunted hallways

  • Magic with a price

  • Found family

  • “Don’t go out at night”

  • Ship that feeds on staff

  • Summoning the dead

  • Character with chronic illness

  • Queer characters

  • Magical gift shop & top deck lagoon

  • Luxury, magic, and horror

And all you have to do is step aboard….

Perfect for Fans of…

Caraval by Stephanie Garber

Hotel Magnifique by Emily J Taylor

Belladonna by Adalyn Grace

Inspired by…

I love fantasy and wanted to bring magic to a classic vacation setting! Cruise ships have always made me nervous, so imagining a ship fraught with danger and volatile magic was easy.

Songs on Midnight on the Celestial’s Spotify Wrapped…

“Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me? - Taylor Swift

“Give Me Everything - Stripped” - Archer Marsh

"Without You” - Ursine Vulpine, Annaca