Skip to main content
book cover for The Diary of Derek Drummond

The Diary of Derek Drummond

The Story of My Cursed Life

You must sign in to see if this title is available for request. Sign In or Register Now

Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app


1

To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.

2

Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.

Pub Date 28 Mar 2026 | Archive Date 4 May 2026


Talking about this book? Use #TheDiaryofDerekDrummond #NetGalley. More hashtag tips!


Description

An immortal soul. A forgotten curse. A love that rewrites fate.

Once a proud Scottish nobleman, Derek Drummond has spent 124 years caught between day and night, hiding from the world — and from himself. A shadow among shadows, he has watched time unravel, love vanish, and hope fade into myth.

Until Megan MacKenzie looks at him — and sees more than she should. With haunted eyes and a quiet, stubborn kindness, she stirs the man he used to be. But the past never stays silent. Some curses won’t break. And some ghosts refuse to let go.

Told entirely in Derek’s voice — darkly poetic, sardonic, and painfully human — The Diary of Derek Drummond is a gothic fantasy of redemption and reckoning. From the storm-lashed cliffs of northern Scotland to the rain-soaked rooftops of London, it is a story of immortality, forgiveness, and the terrifying hope of being truly seen.

If you believe in second chances — even after death — open the diary.

An immortal soul. A forgotten curse. A love that rewrites fate.

Once a proud Scottish nobleman, Derek Drummond has spent 124 years caught between day and night, hiding from the world — and from...


Available Editions

EDITION Paperback
ISBN 9781806341368
PRICE £9.99 (GBP)
PAGES 552

Available on NetGalley

NetGalley Reader (EPUB)
NetGalley Shelf App (EPUB)
Send to Kindle (EPUB)
Send to Kobo (EPUB)
Download (EPUB)

Average rating from 2 members


Featured Reviews

4 stars
4 stars
4 stars
4 stars
4 stars

What a great gothic, eerie story about the life of Lord Derek Drummond who was cursed, immortal, and even turned into a raven. It follows a man who spends far too long just existing before finally learning how to actually live.

What really stood out to me was how his entire fate was shaped by betrayal and jealousy. He wasn’t just randomly cursed he was wronged. The way he was treated so unfairly, out of pure jealousy, added a whole different layer to the story and made everything that followed feel heavier and more personal.

We follow him from 1897 all the way to 2020, which I honestly loved. It was really cool seeing how the world kept evolving while he stayed the same, stuck with this curse. The whole raven part was especially haunting… he’s there, aware of everything, watching life happen around him but not really able to be part of it during the daytime. That loneliness made this so powerful, it really felt like it was just him and his diary against the world.

Throughout the story, he forms connections and relationships, but it’s always temporary. People he loves grow old and die, and he just keeps going. You really feel how heavy that is losing people over and over again, knowing you can’t live a normal life. It’s not just dark though. Over time, you see him slowly start to understand what it actually means to live, not just exist.

When he finally gets a second chance at love, at being human again it actually feels rewarding. It’s not rushed.

We laughed with Derek, we were sad with Derek. The writing is beautiful, the concept is honestly really unique, and that ending… wow. Just perfect.

4 stars
4 stars
4 stars
4 stars
4 stars
Was this review helpful?
3 stars
3 stars
3 stars
3 stars
3 stars

A parannomal romance entirely from the MMC's POV. Derek ends up cursed and immortal and waits over a hundred years for his soul mate to return to undo the curse. What he didn't expect was falling in love with her. So, the life he thought he was running from, he found it was the one he was looking for this whole time.

A cozy read for my gothic romance girlies who like period pieces, second chance, lost soul found again with twist and turns that leave you hooked.

3 stars
3 stars
3 stars
3 stars
3 stars
Was this review helpful?