Marked by Ash
Cadence Connor
Romantic Fantasy
A princess destined for a loveless marriage. A disgraced royal soldier. A dangerous journey they must risk together.
All Cord wants is to complete this final punishment so his position in the royal army can be reinstated. An impossible task when the princess he’s escorting is determined to undermine his every move. His mission changes when magic wielders ambush them in the forest, dumping him and the princess in the middle of dangerous enemy territory.
Both blame the other for their current predicament, yet they must find a way to work together to survive strange beasts, ruthless cutthroats, and mysterious wielders determined to hunt them down. As they venture further into enemy lands, it becomes clear that Cord is not the only one keeping deadly secrets and they must learn to trust each other to survive. Their enemies are relentless but so is his resolve to clear his name, no matter the deadly cost.
Marked by Ash is the first book in the Ruin of Ash fantasy series, perfect for lovers of fast-paced romantasy with a twist.
Uncaged Review: In this story, we jump from reading about two different scenarios and 2 sets of characters. There are two different factions in this world that are at war, Velotians and Muratians. Isla is a Velotian princess being escorted to a marriage that will bring an strong alliance to her kingdom. A marriage she has no say in. A soldier is assigned to her to be her guard, a disgraced guard given trying to get his honor back. The second part of the story is about Mira in the Muratian mines, digging for firestone, a mineral that helps block the powers of the wielders.
It took me forever to get into this book. The book did do better at the halfway point, and really picked up at the end, but it was the mind-blowing ending that saved the whole thing. This was a twist I never saw coming, and even though I thought these two different scenarios would merge at some point, I never expected what happened. So many answers, but so many new questions. Unfortunately, the next book doesn’t come out for a year, so the minor cliffhanger will not get answered for a while. Reviewed by Cyrene
4 Stars
