A Thousand Heartbeats

Eighteen-year-old Princess Annika Vedette of Kadier has stopped believing in fairy-tale love. Her mother is gone, her father is cold, and he has arranged her marriage to her cousin Nickolas for political gain. Then she is taken by Lennox, a soldier of the exiled Dahrainian clan, who believes the Kadierian throne belongs to his people and intends to win it back.

As war draws closer, Annika learns uncomfortable truths about her homeland and about her mother's disappearance, while Lennox finds his loyalties tested by the woman he was sent to use. The two start as enemies and grow closer despite everything dividing their peoples.

Told in alternating points of view, this standalone YA fantasy romance by Kiera Cass, author of The Selection, runs to about 576 pages and has been compared to Romeo and Juliet. Reviewers found the opening slow, but the rivalry, the palace intrigue and the star-crossed love at its centre are what carry it.