Each Thursday we spotlight one romance that also lives on another major shelf — romantasy and gothic fantasy, romantic suspense, horror romance, SF romance, and the rest of the cross-genre aisle. This week’s pick is Rachel Gillig’s The Knave and the Moon, the closing volume of her Stonewater Kingdom duology, from Orbit on September 1, 2026.
The title
The Knave and the Moon by Rachel Gillig
After the fall of Aisling Cathedral, Sybil Delling is trapped in a political marriage meant to parade the king’s power across Traum. Allies she trusted are said to be dead; faith in the Omens has already been cracked open. Then a knave with no name and no memory begins winning the king’s public tournaments — and may be the only path left to unmake a tyrant before the kingdom’s stories harden into law.
Gillig’s Orbit packaging calls the book gothic romantasy: a romance-forward sequel that still reads as adult fantasy for readers who find her work next to dark fairy tales and atmospheric SFF, not only in the Romance aisle. It completes the duology begun with The Knight and the Moth (May 2025).
Hardcover ISBN-13: 9780316601849 · ISBN-10 0316601845 · Amazon hardcover
Kindle ASIN: B0FRFL7QTP · Amazon Kindle
Publisher: Orbit (Hachette Book Group)
On-sale: September 1, 2026
Cover: Design by Lisa Marie Pompilio; photography by Blake Morrow (Orbit cover launch)
What readers are responding to
Early reader response on Amazon clusters around the duology’s atmospheric gothic world, poetic prose, character work (including the series’ beloved gargoyle), and a romance that many call satisfying as the story closes — with a smaller share finding the middle slower than book one. Aggregate ratings sit around 4.5 stars from roughly 7,290 Amazon customer ratings.
Author / buy links:
