So many people think that you need to be traditionally published to be seen, but that’s truly not the case. You also don’t need to be traditionally published to be optioned. The Poison Daughter, Sheila Masterson’s enemies-to-lovers romantasy novel, is an example of that. Hulu is developing the series.
The Poison Daughter synopsis reads, “Every person Harlow Carrenwell kisses dies immediately, and that’s the way she likes it. The poison-lipped youngest daughter of Lunameade’s magical founding family has used her power to annihilate their opposition.”
It continues, “Her first husband is in the ground. Her new betrothed is next. But the merry widow has a secret. When she’s not acting as an assassin at her parents’ whims, she moonlights as a vigilante for abused women in their walled-off city.”
“Meet a man. Lure him in. Kill him with a kiss. Until one night Harlow kisses a mark and he doesn’t die.” It adds, “Worse, her invincible partner in passion is her new betrothed, Henry Havenwood, and now he knows about her double life. Instead of selling her out and bringing the rival families to blows, he does something much more sinister—whisks her away to wed in his wild mountain fort.”
And concludes with, “Harlow doesn’t trust Henry, but the only way to protect her family and the city of Lunameade is to figure out what his family is planning. Cursed with a husband she can’t kill and trapped in a fort miles of vampire-infested woods from home, Harlow’s survival requires her to do the impossible: Make the man who knows she’s a killer fall in love with her anyway.”
While the project is still looking for a writer, Masterson has signed on as an executive producer. The Poison Daughter was published in October 2025 and went on to sell more than 250,000 copies. It was acquired by Slowburn in April 2026 and has now been translated into more than 20 languages.
With romantasy being one of our favorite genres, we admit that we are excited and hope that this moves forward.
Have you read it? What do you think of it? Tell us all the things!
