Half City by Kate Golden

Half City

Kate Golden

Penguin Publishing Group · Paperback · February 17, 2026

This deluxe, first-edition trade paperback of Half City will feature beautifully stenciled edges and captivating interior cover art!

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Who it’s for
An edgy, category-forward blend that leans into dark romance signals.
Genres
Fantasy Romance, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance
Published
Penguin Publishing Group, February 17, 2026

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About this book

This deluxe, first-edition trade paperback of Half City will feature beautifully stenciled edges and captivating interior cover art! Welcome to Harker Academy for Deviant Defense. Keep your daggers sharp, and your wits even sharper. Viv Abbot is an average twenty-one-year-old girl. She lives in an expensive city where the rent is too high, works long hours at a thankless job, and is dating a guy she doesn’t even like in the hopes of winning her prickly mother’s approval.

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She also happens to be a demon hunter. Ever since her father's murder, she's been forced to hunt deviants alone, meaning everyone, including her family, sees her as an outsider . . . until the day she crosses paths with a dangerously alluring demon, Reid Graveheart. The reformed deviant tells her of a school for people just like her: Harker Academy for Deviant Defense. If she enrolls, she'll learn to hone her craft, work with other hunters, and never be alone again. But Viv has a deadly secret. One that not even her new friends at Harker can know about, not if the school might hold the answers to untangling the mystery surrounding Viv's father’s death. When strange occurrences begin to plague the students, Viv will have to figure out who she can trust, all while trying to ace her classes, avoid falling for a demon, and make it through her first year at Harker in one piece. How hard could that be?

Dark Aftertaste

An edgy, category-forward blend that leans into dark romance signals.

Come here for

  • edgy vampire-romance energy
  • fantasy-romance shelf appeal

Expect

  • collector-friendly genre mix
  • romance-first fantasy atmosphere

Where it sits

Paranormal Romance44%
Fantasy Romance39%
Urban Fantasy35%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Urban Fantasy
  • Fantasy Romance
  • New Adult Romance
Authors
Kate Golden
Publisher
Penguin Publishing Group
Published
February 17, 2026
Format
Paperback
Reading lane
Urban Fantasy