Sick and tired of her mother's ruinous debts, Richelle accepts a post as tutor to the illustrious Otis family. But upon finding a letter with strict, eerie rules on how to survive within the manor of roses, Richelle senses that something sinister is lurking. Now, she must pay the price for her choice.

Welcome to Rose Manor has a story by Lee Daran. English translation is done by RIDI Corporation. Published by Manta (March 6, 2026).

Rebecca Silverman
Rating:

I'm not sure who's choosing the titles over at Manta, but they have impeccable taste in Gothic fiction. Welcome to Rose Manor is a classic of the genre – it stars a young woman of few means hired as a governess in a large, mysterious mansion. There's an impossibly handsome and mysterious man there, as well as preternaturally beautiful children, a list of strange rules that must be followed, and a pervasive odor of roses as inescapable as it is sweet. Émilie Saint Aubert, heroine of Ann Radcliffe's seminal The Mysteries of Udolpho, would feel right at home in the world Lee Daran has created.

The first ten chapters, only available on Manta's app as of this writing, are mostly set up. We meet Richelle Howard and her straightened circumstances and follow her to the eponymous manse, where she is to tutor and care for the two youngest Otis children. Richelle at first thinks to turn down the Otis' too-generous offer – not only is it suspiciously good, but she's not sure she ought to be leaving her mother, whose behavior has been odd since her husband's death. But when Richelle realizes that her mother has been working Richelle to the bone and allowing herself to be kept in comfort without telling her daughter that she has a substantial fortune of her own, Richelle snaps. She's had enough of lies and being taken advantage of.

Unfortunately for her, her move to Rose Manor might not be a step up. Yes, the place is opulent and she's able to live in comfort, but there's something off about the whole thing. The dark forest she has to traverse to get there is terrifying, filled with nameless dangers, and she's not permitted to leave the manor – ever. Mrs. Otis seems to ignore her eldest son in a particularly odd way, and the son in question acts out in ways that Richelle probably ought to pay more attention to. His refusal to eat the meat at dinner, when paired with the list of rules Richelle found in her room, add up to something very unsettling, if still undefined. There's a real sense of heavy dread hanging over the story, and I'm not sure Richelle is going to be clever enough to deal with it. It took her years to figure out what her mother was doing, after all.

Although Manta bills this as the modern genre (and word I despise) romantasy, it really is pure Gothic. Richelle isn't as trembling a heroine as early Gothic protagonists, but the situation she finds herself in is classic, and there's enough foreboding to make it easy to just keep reading even if you have to pay per chapter. Hopefully Manta will eventually release this as an ebook, because if you like dark fantasies, this is one you ought to read.