The Crown of Gilded Bones

Poppy and Prince Casteel have only just been bound to one another when the life they wanted slips away. Rest is not on offer. Casteel's brother is held captive and Poppy's brother has to be found, so the two set out to reach them, and the search carries costs neither foresaw.

At the end of it waits a birthright Poppy never asked for. She is the Chosen, the Blessed, with the blood of the King of Gods in her veins, and the crown and kingdom of Atlantia belong to her by right.

All her life, others have dictated who Poppy is and what she is allowed to do. Now the choice is hers: refuse the throne, or take it and become the Queen of Flesh and Fire.

The opposition is crowded. The Atlantian court does not want her, a revolt is being led from within it, and the Ascended queen of Solis has waited centuries to set her own plans moving.

This is the third novel in the Blood and Ash series, so it picks up directly from the earlier books. It is a fantasy with romance at its centre, and the story moves from the Atlantian capital into Iliseeum, the lands of the gods. It closes on a revelation that changes how the war the series has been building toward looks.