Dominique Verlain's "The Mistress of His Soul" brings us a tale of female-led fantasy with a theme of occult empowerment, and human bondage.

Read on, as an affluent art-loving London bachelor finds himself drawn to a rarely displayed painting in one of the capital's galleries.

And, more to the point, the rather cruel and sensuous woman depicted on canvas in a study from centuries past.

Our hero's fascination with the woman becoming even more marked when her oil-painted form becomes real...

And her cruelty is turned upon him!

Believable female-led fantasy fiction for those readers who prefer to use the darker sides of their imaginations with the help of character-driven plotlines.