Jennifer Kropf The Scarlet Star

He's a beast trapped in a palace, and she's a beauty tangled in his web... Nineteen-year-old Ryn Electus is captured and brought to the palace for a twelve-week trial period along with three of the fairest maidens in the kingdom to try and 'steal the heart' of a young, tormented King with a deadly secret. Unfortunately, the King appears to have no interest in the maidens and keeps getting himself into trouble. But the King isn't the only one with a dangerous secret. Ryn has been living in hiding all these years, until she's dragged from her home and put on a public stage where she finds herself in the crosshairs of the Intelligentsia; a council of sages who serve the seven Celestial Divinities and conspire to destroy people like her. If the sages discover who Ryn really is, she'll be dead by morning. Things get even more complicated when Ryn learns what Xerxes is fighting against, the internal wars he's waging on his own, and why he keeps getting himself into trouble. However, shortly after Ryn arrives at the palace, an old priestess opens Ryn's eyes to see the workings of false gods at war who are influencing the kingdom of Per-Siana at every turn, dragging the people into destruction and causing chaos. Ryn is forced to question everything she thought she knew about the gods, until she unexpectedly gains the favour of an ancient god who's been "silent" for decades; the God Original, the first God, enemy of the Celestial Divinities, who beckons Ryn to shake up the very foundations of the domain. Thus begins a battle fought in the shadows alongside a war of gowns and politics waged in the spotlight. Ryn must do everything she can to hide that she's a descendant of King Xerxes's enemies, and she and Xerxes were born as rivals, destined to hate and destroy each other. She has only weeks to decide which side she's on. Inspired by the fairytale Beauty and the Beast and the Biblical story of Queen Esther, this mashup of high stakes, forbidden romance, and dangerous secrets isn't the fairytale you know. This book includes gorgeous character illustrations by artist Kyannah Durocher.