Shy Girl by Mia Ballard

RELEASE DATE 4/7/26

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"Brutal, uncomfortable, and visceral." —Brandon Baker, author of Whatever Remains of Us In the End

"Deeply unsettling. The perfect book for horror readers." —Sadie Hartmann, author and co-owner of Night Worms

"Feral, disgusting, and absolutely unhinged. I couldn't look away." —Ally Wilkes, author of Where the Dead Wait

SIT. SPEAK. STAY. 
 
Lonely, broke, and depressed, Gia is desperate for a lifeline. When Nathan, a wealthy stranger on a sugar dating site approaches her with a very specific offer, she can’t refuse. 
 
The instructions are simple, he says. For eight hours a day, she must wear the collar. Drink from the bowl. Sleep in the cage. Be a dog. 
 
Be his dog. 
 
Then, she can go home and be Gia again, and she ever feels uncomfortable or unsafe, she can always leave.  
 
Those were the terms of the agreement. But Gia soon finds out Nathan isn’t a man who keeps his promises. 
 
In this harrowing tale of survival and revenge, Mia Ballard crafts a visceral, unflinching descent into the dark heart of lost autonomy and the feral rage it awakens. Shy Girl is a scream against the cage of expectation, where justice isn’t quiet—it’s bloody and unapologetic.