Bestselling Rebel of the Sands author Alwyn Hamilton is back with a
glittering thriller about a glamorous media darling, a surprise heiress,
and the magical competition of a lifetime.
At sixteen, Honora "Nora" Holtzfall is the daughter of the most powerful
heiress in all of Walstad. Her family controls all the money--and all
the magic--in the entire country. But despite being the center of
attention, Nora has always felt like an outsider. When her mother is
found dead in an alley, the family throne and fortune are suddenly up
for grabs, and Nora will be pitted against her cousins in the Veritaz,
the ultimate magical competition for power that determines the one
family heir.
But there's a surprise contestant this time: Lotte, the illegitimate
daughter of Nora's aunt. When Lotte's absent mother retrieves her from
the rural convent she'd abandoned her to, Lotte goes from being an
orphan to surrounded by family. Unfortunately, most of them want her
dead.
And soon, Nora discovers that her mother's death wasn't random--it was
murder. And the only person she can trust to uncover the truth of what
happened is a rakish young reporter who despises everything Nora and her
family stand for.
With everyone against her, Lotte's last hope is hunting for the identity
of her father. But the dangerous competition--and her feelings for Theo,
one of the Holtzfalls' sworn protectors--turns her world upside down.
Incredible tests, impossible choices and deadly odds await both girls.
But there can only be one winner.
