The Heart of Winter

A magic barrier surrounds the island of Lycia, conjured by Hades himself to protect the entrance to the underworld. No one gets in, and no one gets out. The Lycian people are destined to protect their land and the entrance, but eighteen-year-old Aurelia, raised on her grandmother's tales of the outside world, longs for a different fate.

When she finds a magic ship capable of crossing the barrier, she attempts to travel to her grandmother's birthplace, but shipwrecks in the eminent empire of Aditha. There, she discovers her grandmother's stories hid several dark truths, including the fact that her magic is cursed to grow more powerful until it eventually destroys her. With more questions than answers, Aurelia joins Aditha's legion to conceal her identity and learn the truth about her grandmother and her stories.

Aurelia befriends fellow legionary trainee Vita Sura, whose powers are also cursed. In Aditha, those born with dangerous magic are killed to keep the public safe. In a promise to keep each other's identities a secret, the girls form an alliance as they work to rewrite their destinies, find a loophole in the curse, and navigate a society where gladiator tournaments, unpredictable magic, and a cult of evil witches make the rules.

The Heart of Winter is an epic fantasy novel written in dual POV.