[WATTY'S 2024 SHORTLIST] When the Ravos Kingdom abducts the Nyrial Emperor's dragon, princess Aeryn Glastos must marry the demon prince planning her assassination to save her empire and end the war while guarding her heart and a dangerous secret. ------------ The twenty-two-year-old Draconian princess is starting her final year at Insignia Academy during the height of the war between the Draconians and demons. Aeryn's dream is to graduate as a bonded Champion in the Fire Force and fight in the war. The only problem is, she is the only Draconian to never receive a power by age twenty. Ashamed of his powerless daughter, the emperor of the Nyrial Empire proposes a marriage between Aeryn and the Ravos Kingdom's demon prince to end the war and get his dragon back. Shade Cross is ruthless, cunning, and dangerously powerful. Everything he touches dies, except Aeryn. He awakens something in her she has never felt before and she acquires not one, but two powers. She must navigate both nations built upon lies, betrayals, a forbidden alliance, and a deadly curse. When she discovers the truth about her empire, she must make a choice: protect the secrets and save her father, or side with the enemy. Aeryn needs to be careful because when it reigns, it pours, and she is caught right in the middle of a feuding storm between both nations.

The Blood Moon Festival is a deadly competition that selects the next generation of dragon riders. Most competitors spend their childhood honing their Divine - a rare, godlike power typically found in the ruling class. But Raven Black, a poor orphan with an unusually powerful Divine, spent her childhood breaking more laws than she can count. At sixteen, Raven's list of crimes is taller than she is, and she is paying the price for it. Caught and sentenced to death after a heist gone wrong, Raven figures her luck has finally run out. That is until a dragon rider sees potential in Raven's Divine and offers her a chance to avoid execution by competing in the Blood Moon Festival. With no other choice, Raven enters Skydescent, a castle where contestants train and form alliances. As the only ex-criminal, Raven figured she would be the most cutthroat, her competitors too worried about honor to get their hands dirty. But in Scadril, a powerful dragon is honor. 128 competitors enter the Blood Moon Festival, and each will do whatever it takes to come out on top.