Magic, murder, adventure, and romance combine in this second book in the thrilling Crown of Shards saga from NY Occasions and USA Today bestselling writer Jennifer Estep.

Everleigh Blair might be the brand new gladiator queen of Bellona, but her problems are definately not over.

First, Evie has to cope with a courtroom full of arrogant, demanding nobles, most of whom want to get their greedy hands on her crown. As if that wasn’t bad more than enough, an assassin tries to destroy Evie in her personal throne room.

Regardless of the about Protect the Prince dangers, Evie goes forward with a scheduled visit to the neighboring kingdom of Andvari in order to protected a desperately needed alliance. But complicating matters is the persistent Andvarian king, who wants to punish Evie for the deaths of his countrymen through the Seven Spire massacre.

Dark forces may also be at work in the Andvarian palace, and Evie soon realizes that no-one is safe. Worse, her immunity to magic starts acting in unusual, unexpected ways, making Evie question whether she is really strong enough to be always a Winter Queen.

Evie’s magic, existence, and crown aren’t the only stuff in danger-so is her heart, because of Lucas Sullivan, the Andvarian king’s bastard kid and Evie’s … well, Evie isn’t quite sure what Sullivan can be to her.

Only one thing is certain-protecting a prince might be also harder than killing a queen…