Eighteen men enter the arena. Only one will survive. And one of them… is not a boy at all. When her twin brother is chosen to fight in the Emperor’s deadly Thorn Trials—a brutal, week-long competition where the victor wins the crown and the hand of the princess—nineteen-year-old Evaine Vale makes a desperate decision. She cuts her hair. Binds her chest. And takes his place. Now disguised as a boy named Evin, she must outwit and outlast seventeen others in a bloodstained arena filled with shifting terrain, vicious beasts, and deadly traps. But as the trials grow more brutal, Evaine finds herself drawn to Cassian Varo, a strong, mysterious competitor with secrets of his own—and a touch that sets her blood on fire. With every round, Evaine gets closer to the final battle—and closer to the truth she’s been hiding. But if the court discovers her secret, she’ll be executed before she can ever claim victory. In a world of roses and thorns, lies and longing, what happens when love blooms where death was planted? Book One of the A Dance of Thorns and Petals Trilogy A spellbinding romantic fantasy full of court intrigue, slow-burn passion, and a heroine who dares to defy an empire. Fans of Fourth Wing, The Hunger Games, A Court of Thorns and Roses, and The Prison Healer will fall hard for this slow-burn romantasy brimming with forbidden love, deadly trials, and a heroine who risks everything for the truth—and for the boy who was never meant to love her.