A Court This Cruel and Lovely

Prisca has dreamed of a stranger with blazing green eyes for years. The day she finally meets him, the mercenary Lorian leaves her for dead. Every newborn in her kingdom loses whatever power they carry to the gods, who trade it for protection from the fae. Anyone who keeps hold of their own power is branded corrupt. They are burned alive.

Prisca has hidden hers for as long as she can remember. It surfaces and drives her out of her village. To survive, she strikes a bargain with the same mercenary who once left her to die: she will help Lorian and his companions slip into the city. In return, he will teach her to control the power she can no longer conceal.

Lorian carries secrets of his own. They put the people Prisca loves at risk and could split the kingdom apart. The book pairs two people who start out as enemies and are thrown into close quarters, narrated in first person from Prisca's side. Court intrigue and a rising rebellion run alongside the romance. The relationship grows physical as the two draw closer, in keeping with its adult readership.

A Court This Cruel and Lovely opened the Kingdom of Lies series in 2023. It suits readers who want fae-adjacent fantasy. The romance here is built on distrust, not an easy match from the first page.