Ancilla

An Author Shout Top Pick, Winter 2025

Second Place: Literary Fiction; Second Place: Visionary Fiction; Best Unconventional Love Story - The Firebird Book Awards, 2025 

Pencraft Spring 2026 Winner, Romance/Erotica

Third Place: LGBTQ; Honorable Mention, Romance, Best Characters, Hottest Character - The Outstanding Creator Awards, Spring 2026

Indies Today Awards - 2026 Semi-Finalist

The Hawthorne Prize - 2026 Finalist

Literary Titan - Gold Award

An age gap and a forbidden, slow-burning mentor-student relationship, in an academic occult setting.

The conservative early 1990's in decaying rust-belt Ohio sets the stage...

She had it all - riches, a college honors program scholarship, a girlfriend - until her conservative, hyper-religious parents discovered the sapphistry and forced her to choose between conversion therapy and disownment. That choice marked the end of her academic career and everything she thought she knew.

Now, three years later, she is starting her life over when she meets a shy public librarian in a bookstore. He has been waiting his whole life for her.

What unfolds between the two lovers feels almost like magic.

Given that he is about to become her tutor in the magickal and erotic arts, perhaps that should come as no surprise.

But at what cost?

The mysterious older man may be everything she has ever longed for, yet she may be forced to choose between her developing identity and the most profound love she has ever known.

Ancilla is a study of hunger. It is a dark, philosophical tale exploring forbidden passion, power, devotion, trauma, sacrifice, and the complicated path toward becoming oneself. 

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"Magic and philosophy sandwiched in between some of the hottest scenes I've read in recent years... Loved it!" - Hannah Gonzalez, Reedsy Discovery

"A singular tale, braided with blood, mystery, and intellect, that dares to fuse the sacred and the profane" - The Prairies Book Review

"Love is brutal, bloody, and ecstatic in this passionate romance... BDSM aficionados will love it... A richly imagined, lurid love story that's not for the faint of heart." - Kirkus Reviews

“The author writes elegantly about BDSM romance and deftly explores the inner worlds of the characters as well as their psyches...Drake’s beautiful prose and dense symbolism will challenge you to think about profound questions about the body, mind, and spirit, particularly in the context of queerness and ritual mysticism.” - Meg McKinnon for The Book Commentary

This is a deluxe edition of the original novel. It contains art and supplemental material. It has also been subject to some revision.