Just as the colors are deeper, the smells sharper, and the sun brighter in Hawaii, the stories of its people carry richness beyond imagination.

An epic historical adventure meets sweep-you-off-your-feet romantic fantasy set in Hawaii at the turn of the twentieth century, it is with a bolt of inspiration from and deep roots in Hawaii’s wonderfully fascinating history that Bound in Flame – the debut novel from Katherine Kayne, set for release on October 28, 2019 – sets off at a galloping pace.

The first book in Kayne’s Hawaiian Ladies’ Riding Society series, Bound in Flame centers on Letty Liliuokalani Lang, a suffragist of the most fearless kind with a bullwhip, big dreams, and ancient powers she doesn’t yet understand.

Banished to a San Francisco boarding school to tame her wild temper, the story begins with Letty returning home to Hawaii, bringing her devotion to animals with her. She’ll be among the first female veterinarians in history – remarkable in 1909 when women still cannot vote.

With one mad leap into the ocean to save a horse, Letty – a descendant of Hawaii’s aristocracy and goddaughter of Princess Kehokulani, the former heir to the throne – sets another destiny in motion. She is a mākāhā, a Gate to the healing fires of the land, her beloved ‘aina. Letty must learn to harness the ancient power that lives within her, fueled by her connection to the islands.

But the price is steep. Her inner flame burns hot – hot enough that her kisses can kill, a precarious inconvenience since the horse’s owner, Timothy Rowley, lights another kind of fire.

Can Letty learn to command her power in pursuit of her passion, or is the danger of love too great?