HOUSE OF LAVENDER

Illustration of a woman in traditional Croatian attire with long hair standing in a stylized nature scene, surrounded by floral patterns. From the novel HOUSE OF LAVENDER by Natalie Kikić. Illustration by Ksenia Kholomeva

Beware the House of Lavender—something dark blooms there.

2026, Croatia:

All Petra Babić has inherited are tales of loss. Which is why it comes as a shock when, following her mother’s passing, Petra learns her grandmother is not dead like her mother said, but alive and living on Tolba, a small island in Croatia. Desperate to find her last surviving family member and get answers about her heritage, Petra ventures to her ancestral home, the House of Lavender, known for its sprawling lavender fields—and the spirit who haunts its halls. For rarely does a night go by that Petra doesn’t lose herself to vivid nightmares, a crushing pressure on her chest, and the dizzying sense that something—or someone—is out to prevent her from embracing her inheritance.

1895:

Whore. Sinner. Witch. No matter how many people Magdalena Derokov heals, the rumors persist. So, when she’s asked to help the ailing matriarch of the House of Lavender, she seizes this as the final opportunity to rehabilitate her reputation. As Magdalena races against time to heal the matriarch, she finds herself unexpectedly falling for the son of her greatest enemy, the man responsible for her ostracization and the founder of the House of Lavender. But are true love and acceptance possible for a woman who has always lived on the margins?

Back in the present, Petra’s hauntings fade under the beating heat of the Croatian sun; it doesn’t hurt that Petra has a handsome, if somewhat gruff, local named Luka to show her around the island. As the sexual tension between them escalates, it also becomes harder for Petra to ignore the suspicious looks and barbed whispers of the townsfolk; they believe the House of Lavender is haunted by a mora, a figure from Croatian folklore whose quest for revenge mimics Petra’s suffocating nighttime experiences. As Petra learns about her family members and the untimely deaths of anyone who has married into the House of Lavender, she begins to realize that her inheritance is more devastating, and bloody, than she ever expected.

The Hacienda meets Croatian folklore, HOUSE OF LAVENDER is an Adult Gothic Horror-Romance about the parts of our lineage we celebrate—and the parts we try to bury.