The Ritual by Shantel Tessier is the first book in the L.O.R.D.S. series and a dark college romance centered around Barrington University and its powerful secret society known as the Lords. These influential men have built their lives around violence, power, and control, and during their senior year, they are given a chosen one. When Ryat Alexander Archer enters her life, the heroine believes he may finally offer her the freedom she has always wanted. Instead, she is drawn into the secretive and dangerous world of the Lords, where loyalty comes with a price and every promise carries consequences. What begins as an intense attraction gradually becomes a struggle for control and survival as hidden rules, manipulation, and dangerous secrets come to light. With its dark atmosphere, powerful characters, suspense, and complicated romance, The Ritual introduces readers to the brutal and secretive world of the Lords.