Sight Unseen

By: Alexis Marie

Narrated by: Soneela Nankani, Anand Nagraj

From viral online writing sensation Alexis Marie comes a lush contemporary fantasy debut that blends a slow-burn romance with mystery and magical intrigue when the lives of a fatally cursed woman and a single father with a complicated past collide—just as their quaint small town becomes a power-hungry serial killer’s hunting ground.

Veda Thorne is living on borrowed time. After exhausting every magical cure for the fatal curse trapped inside her, she’s accepted her fate. But Veda’s self-imposed isolation begins to crack when she’s asked to tutor Antaris, a child whose pain calls to her own.

Hiram Ellis left his wealthy, prejudiced family years ago. Now unexpectedly thrust into single fatherhood, he returns to his hometown, determined to build a life far from the cold privilege that stifled his own childhood. The last thing he expects is to be drawn to the fiercely protective, sharp-tongued woman helping his son.

When a trail of enchanted spider lilies leads Hiram and Veda to discover their deadly tie to a prolific serial killer, they’re forced to set aside their differences to unearth long-buried secrets. But the truth is as deadly as Veda’s curse, and both come at a devastating cost. As victims mount and motives emerge, their greatest challenge is choosing to trust and love each other.

©2026 by Alexis Marie. (P)2025 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“Offering an original and deftly crafted blending of romance, fantasy and suspense, Sight Unseen is an extraordinary and fun read from start to finish. All the more impressive when considering that this is author Alexis Marie’s debut as a novelist, Sight Unseen is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal reading lists and community library collections.” —Midwest Book Review

“Sight Unseen is a contemporary fantasy, but as the best fantasies are, it is also deeply real. The world is exceptionally textured, familiar yet new, and conveyed to us in prose that is transportive, patient, beguiling. At its core, Sight Unseen is a story about healing in three modes—a curse, a family, a child—all entwined with a delicate, beautifully wrought slow-burn romance. A darkly gleaming gem of a novel.” —Brigitte Knightley, New York Times bestselling author of The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy

“Alexis Marie writes with such emotional depth that you cannot help but become addicted. I devoured every syllable.” —Julie Soto, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Rose in Chains

fine

The story was okay. The characters were decent. The narration was good. Overall, it was just ... fine

surprise

this was a surprising good read recommended by my co-worker. I really enjoyed the fantasy the thriller and the romance

Good narration & thriller romance

I loved measure of a man so much and although this is not a direct re-write of her famous fan fiction, it is very similar. I enjoyed it more because I had the context of her much longer previous story. This one is almost a condensed version and had all the pivotal pieces but might seem busy or rushed to someone that had not read the full story. That being said, I loved it. The love story had me smiling and the mystery added excitement. There were definitely tender parts that had me in tears as well. A great debut 🙌

Such a refreshing read

Absolutely enjoyed the take on current events and how being different can affect the world we are in.

Surface Level

Let me stat this by saying the narrators did a phenomenal job! Also, that I do love Alexis’s other writing pieces. I wanted to love this book, but I feel like more world building should have been done. Veda irked me and I was WAY more interested in the Ellis family and wanted to know more about them. The side characters felt underdeveloped and irrelevant really. The romance was lacking chemistry and there was little to no build up. Overall, I feel like if she was given more space to write a longer story it would have been better.