Lady of Cinders by Alaya Wells

Bound by a love that defies reason and a curse that defies salvation, I must navigate a kingdom of secrets before the man I can’t live without is lost forever.

I’d never aspired to be a queen. Or to fall for a king shrouded in mystery. Merrick’s the golden ruler of daylight, and Lorant, his bodyguard, is the dangerous, scarred shadow of night. Two men bound by a curse that has tormented Evergorne Court for generations.
Some say I’m their salvation. But I’ve been lied to, manipulated, and my trust has been shattered. I should run from this cursed kingdom and never return. Instead, I find myself standing beside Merrick during the day, clawing for answers to a riddle no one is able to speak aloud. And my nights honing my magical abilities with Lorant.
With Merrick’s thirtieth birthday only weeks away, the curse tightens its hold, threatening his life and forcing me deeper into a world of betrayal, power, and fractured love. To break the curse, I must navigate fragile alliances in a court divided by secrets, uncover a treacherous past, and face an enemy determined to kill me.
Picking between Merrick and Lorant is not only impossible, it’s forbidden. But what if I don’t have to pick at all?

Lady of Cinders, Book 2 in the M/F Kingdom of Shadow & Ruin Series, is a suspenseful romantic fantasy/romantasy with dark secrets. Expect a gothic castle full of riddles and danger, an arranged marriage, a touch-her-and-face-his-fury hero, all the yearning, groveling, enemies-to-lovers, forbidden love, he falls first and hard, and a cute pet, because all heroines should have a fluffy friend by her side.

Trigger Warnings: blood, gore, injuries, justified taking of a life, violence, class systems, poverty, hunger, grief, death, mourning the loss of a prior love, references to childhood trauma, killing attacking creatures.