A Spark So Bright by Emma Hamm

She hides from the world. He’s the monster who refuses to let her vanish.

Rose has spent her life running. From hunger, from pain, from anyone who dared to care for her. Once a street thief, then a reluctant priestess, then a prize in a gladiator’s arena, she’s learned that safety only comes from silence. From disappearing into dreams and a false reality that has always kept her safe.
Until Gunnar finds her.
The troll warrior with eyes like storm clouds and hands that could shatter stone. The moment he sees her, he knows she’s his, and that claiming her will take more than brute strength. It will take patience. Trust. The slow, dangerous surrender of her heart.
But the realm is changing. Humans are flooding into the troll kingdom, and the king has declared bridal games—a brutal contest to bind humans and trolls in marriage. Rose is fragile, untrained, and has no wish to compete. Gunnar can’t bear to see her offered to another.
So he enters the games himself. To fight for her. To prove his worth. Even if it means pretending he could ever want anyone but her.
Because monsters may not dream, but for Rose, Gunnar will tear apart the waking world itself.