"1st place winner in Firebird's Book Awards for Young Adult Fantasy 2023.
2nd place winner in BookFest's Book Awards for Fantasy Action & Adventure, Dragons & Magical Creatures, and Magic, Myth, & Legends
Rose Trewin went in search of a ruin and found a clan instead; people she didn't know were alive. As the newly appointed Chief of the magical Shademaker Clan, Rose must learn what it means to lead while still trying to control her magic. She soon discovers the powerful mage, Gerik, has escaped capture by the king. Gerik is intent on destroying everything Rose loves and the family she’s found. She must travel to the strange southern land to hunt him. To kill him. To be an assassin once again.
King Micah Ellsworth’s country is at a tipping point. He returned from the south after fighting the trespassers that attacked his people and he expected a hero’s welcome. He finds, instead, a rising religious group is dividing his people and fighting against those with magic. King Micah is without a queen and with his country facing a famine in the spring and hate in the streets, he must fight to stop the brewing unrest.
Rose and the king both must sacrifice to save their people.
They just don’t realize how much they have to lose."
"Last summer, Rose Trewin delivered a dying Light Horse’s message to King Micah, and found herself entangled in court politics and plots. She’d stopped the coup and saved the king, but in doing so, she’d exposed her magic and her past. She still didn’t understand her changing powers and now her past as an assassin haunts her even more. Worse, the shadows seem to want something from her. She intends to discover what, even if that means leaving her newfound home. Feeling lost and wayward, Rose ventures to the college in search of explanations about her magic.
War is threatening King Micah’s southern border. His council continues to push him to choose a queen, reminding him too often of his lack of an heir. He hesitates as he remembers a young woman with defiance in her eyes and the friendship that’s grown between them.
A new enemy with unseen magic is destroying the countryside and searching for an ancient weapon. The fighting in the south soon appears connected to this new enemy. Rose and King Micah must search the forgotten past for a way to stop him before he can destroy everything they hold dear."
"Second Place Winner in BookFest's book awards for Action/Adventure and Magic, Myths, and Legends
Rose Trewin is on the run, trying to escape her past as a spy and desperate for a quiet life. After a fateful encounter on the road she is forced to carry a message to the king and warn him of forces plotting to end his life and take his kingdom. She is thrown into a world of courtly intrigue, political machinations, and a king who asks too many questions. However, Rose has a deeper secret than her life as a spy; a magic she tries to keep hidden. Her ability to walk among the shadows, disappear into the darkness has its advantages, but in a country where magic is feared and distrusted, it's also a liability.
King Micah Ellsworth knows someone is plotting against him. He just doesn't know who, exactly. When a strange woman with secrets and defiance in her eyes arrives in his court, she seems the perfect person to uncover the plot.
Soon, both realize more is at stake when dark forces fueled by a similar magic to Rose's appear. The two must work together to find who is behind the plots, forcing Rose to share secrets and to question her loyalties, her magic, and the power she wields."
