From USA Today bestselling author N.E. Davenport comes a tale of forbidden magic, second-chance romance, and deadly political intrigueas two star-crossed heirs from rival dynasties are thrust together in a once-in-a-generation contest where the gods decide who rules, and old love proves harder to kill than old enemies.

The gods are watching. The Ascendancy Tournament has begun. And in Orlini, love has always been the most dangerous game.

On the glittering, treacherous peninsula of Orliniwhere dynastic families wage war through politics, magic, and bladethe peace never lasts long.

Eight years ago, Sirena Duarte and Bastien Toussaint were a secret: a stolen engagement between an old-money heiress and a new-money heir, forged in love and shattered by blood. When Bastiens father had Sirenas sister killed, she didnt wait to learn whether Bastien had known. She broke the engagement, buried her grief, and never looked back.

Shes been running ever since.

Now, the Gentry lords of Orlini have gathered for a chance at even greater power: to rise to the ruling Triumvirateand possibility seize deification. And while Sirena has no delusions of godhood, a failed attempt to get her revenge on the Toussaints forces her back into the world she fled, but with the stakes much, much higher. Because losing means death. It also means losing to Bastien, who has joined the tournament as welland Sirena finds that prospect worse than death.

But when other contestantsand members of their own familiesbegin dying one by one of a mysterious ailment in which the victims own magic consumes themSirena and Bastien must decide whether the past is a wound or a weapon, and whether the hunger between them is something to survive or something to surrender to.

Tropes:
Star-crossed lovers/ Romeo & Juliet vibes
Second chance romance
LOTS OF YEARNING & SPICE!!
Old Money vs. New Money
Magical competition