Shield of Sparrows

A princess has spent her whole life kneeling, first to the gods and then to her father, the king. Her only duty is to wear the crown and obey. She was never meant to rule or to fight, and she was never meant to be the one who bound her kingdom to an ancient treaty by shedding her own blood.

Then a legendary monster hunter sails to her kingdom's shores, and a prince upends her life. She now travels across dangerous lands beside a warrior who despises her as much as she despises him, bound to a future she did not choose and a husband she barely knows. Everyone around her wants her to be something else: a queen, a spy, a sacrifice.

This is a romantasy set across five kingdoms, where the gods sent monsters to make mortals bow. The romance is an enemies-to-lovers slow burn, and the stakes stay high as the creatures stalk a cursed realm. The narration is in the first person, in the princess's own voice, which keeps the story close to her doubts and her growing anger.

The central question is whether an underestimated princess can refuse the roles handed to her and take power on her own terms. Readers get a slow build rather than a fast start, with tension between the leads driving much of the pace.

It is the first book in a trilogy that is best read in order. The second book is Rites of the Starling, and a third is announced as coming soon.