A Palace of Smoke & Mirrors by Loren Little

It’s time to find out what in the Elements happened at the end of A House of Cloaks & Daggers. The second book in the whirlwind fantasy romance series, The Gift War, is darker, hotter, and even less trustworthy than the first. Satisfy your craving for the enemies becoming lovers, the secrets being unearthed, the stakes to be raised higher, and the morally grey book boyfriend of your dreams to come back with more wit and charm than ever. Featuring the same “touch her and die” vibes… unless she asks, of course… A Palace of Smoke & Mirrors is sure to take you on a whole new adventure and stay with you long after you turn the final page.

“You are, without a doubt, the worst thing that has ever happened to me,” he said. Then he paused, his eyes ablaze. “But if anyone tried to change it, and they tried to take you back from the absolute trainwreck that catapulted you into my life, I would hunt them to the end of the world. I would hold their hearts in my bare hands and squeeze until they threw you back to me, little beast.”

Furious at having been betrayed, Aura has fled from the House and tumbled deeper into Faerie with one thought in her mind: Run for your life.

With the Malum hellbent on forcing an arranged marriage between the High King of Faerie and an enemy bride, Aura’s life is in constant danger as the caenim track her across the land by scent—the scent of being human, and the scent of being the future High Queen, if she accepts the bond to Lucais. But with Lucais still keeping so much from her, Aura has to make the decision for herself. Should she keep running for her life, or can she fight to save it instead?

Aura knows that she’s haunted by the ghosts of old wrongs, and one day they’ll come to claim the debt that is owed. In order to pay the price, she needs to escape the Oracle’s prophecy—but how many secrets will need to be unravelled first? How many old wounds need to be reopened in order to heal the broken pieces of fate’s misdeeds?

There are questions that demand to be answered and enemies hiding secrets in strange places in Faerie. Aura’s magic makes her a force to be reckoned with, but first she needs to reckon with herself.