Romance trope: Anger born of worry
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Kessa is a half-barbarian herb-witch, arrested for crimes she didn’t quite intend. But when Iathor discovers her immunity to truth potions, he’ll do whatever he must to court her. Guilty or not, she’s his only hope of banishing his nightmare: a son enslaved to him by the loyalty potion that each Lord Alchemist’s heir must drink, and defeat. But Kessa doesn’t trust him, Iasen despises her tainted blood, and there’s still the mystery of who complicated Kessa’s little crime into the bigger one she didn’t intend. They don’t even have the benefit of lust at first sight. All they have in common is the alchemist’s immunity, and an ability to get on each other’s nerves. Will it be enough?
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The daughter of a Warrior King, Lara was trained as a healer. With her father dead and her incompetent half-brother on the throne, the kingdom is in danger of falling to warring Firelanders. Unable to depose her sibling or negotiate peace, Lara serves her people by healing the warriors—on both sides of the conflict—who are injured in battle. Lara finds herself educated in her enemy’s language and customs in return for her attention and compassion. She never expects that her deeds, done in good faith, would lead to the handsome and mysterious Firelander Warlord demanding her in exchange for a cease-fire. To save her land and her people, Lara trades her freedom to become the Warprize.
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Dante Regio, prince of Luce, had owned my heart since he gave me my first kiss. If gathering a slew of iron relics could help me overthrow the current monarch and crown his brother to rule at my side, then treasure hunting I’d go.
If only the oracle had warned me what winged demon I was releasing into the world.
And that I’d become this demon’s obsession.