THE HEART TRIALS

In Ethyria, only the highborn may express love; now lowborn Axira must put her life on the line to compete in a love tournament—unexpectedly forging a strong romantic connection along the way.

Axira Merreri never meant to enter the Tournament of Hearts, “a chance for lowborn to earn Skyborn citizenship by proving they can handle true love.” All she wanted was to smuggle Heartfillers (the drug Ethyria’s ruler uses to keep citizens docile) in order to earn enough to escape the kingdom’s socio-economic disparities. When she gets caught while carrying out a scheme involving the prince’s cousin, she’s forced to enter the deadly tournament to win her freedom while secretly allying with Prince Caelus. He wants her help stealing magic from the tournament in exchange for her passage on a ship out of Ethyria. The early part of the book is heavy on worldbuilding, making for a slower pace until the tournament, which is Love Island meets The Hunger Games in a racially diverse world. The contestants must survive potentially deadly tests of strength, loyalty, and courage while going on dates; they face elimination if they can’t find love. The secondary characterization in this duology opener is fairly light, but the leads are strong and compelling, and their sultry and emotive romance provides a necessary core to a plot with multiple strands that occasionally fray.

A satisfying reality dating competition unfolds within a dystopian fantasy.