Mageborn - (The Hollow King) by Jessica Thorne (Paperback)

About the Book

"A dark and addictive fantasy read for fans of Graceling and Sarah J. Maas. The life of an orphan soldier becomes entwined with that of the mysterious heir to the throne, whose very presence draws out the secret magic living inside her: a magic that breaks every law she is duty-bound to uphold... The room is small and dark. Row upon row of jars line the shelves, each one sealed with blood-red wax. The seal's mark is a twisted circle of briar with gleaming, gold-tipped thorns. And in each jar a flicker of forbidden magic dances... beautiful, but deadly. Sold to the Crown in the aftermath of the Last Great War, Grace Marchant has never known her parents. Now, she trains as an elite soldier tracking down mageborn - those born with an ancient and long-outlawed magic - and destroying them if they don't surrender their power to the Crown. The mageborn who submit are collared, then handed over to the King's cousin and heir: the elusive Bastien Larelwynn, Lord of Thorns, locked away in his shadowy workshop deep inside the castle. What becomes of them is hard to say - the Lord of Thorns keeps his secrets close. Grace has always fought the voice inside her that questions whether the law is truly just - but when her closest friend is next on Bastien's list, Grace's loyalties are tested to the limit. Confronting Bastien - searching his strangely compelling obsidian-black eyes for answers - Grace is shocked to feel herself begin to change, to show the first signs of the wild magic she so fears. Only the Lord of Thorns has the power to save her and the rest of the mageborn - if he doesn't destroy them all first...--

Book Synopsis

Abandoned by the crown she serves, an orphan soldier will do anything to help her fellow mageborn--even join forces with the prince who betrayed her.

Raised on the streets, orphan Grace Marchant has always questioned the harsh laws of the Kingdom of Rathlynn. Confronting Prince Bastien Larelwynn - keeper of a dark, golden and deadly magic - was never her plan, but when her closest friend is the next mageborn taken away to the shadowy dungeons, she has no choice but to act.

Deep in the castle, Grace discovers that the Queen of Rathlynn has a devastating plan to use the mageborn's stolen powers to cement her rule forever. Begging the coldly handsome Prince Bastien to spare her friend's life, Grace is surprised to see a flicker of compassion in his obsidian black eyes, and the fire in her blood calls out to him... but if he senses the luminous mageborn power secretly unfurling within her like liquid sunlight, it's only a matter of time before she too will be imprisoned.

But Grace is shocked when Bastien, with a mysterious smile, keeps any knowledge of her powers to himself. Despite his duties to the realm, Bastien pities the mageborn, and the two hatch a plan that could change everything.

As raging fire melts blackest ice, passion and desire quickly quiet her fear and suspicion. But with her golden mageborn light growing stronger every day, Grace must ask herself if she can really trust her former enemy... and with betrayal at every turn, will they save the mageborn and get out alive?

About the Author

Jessica Thorne watched far too much sci-fi and read far too much fantasy at an impressionable age. And it was awesome. She's loved fantasy, romance and science fiction ever since and spends her time looking for adventure--in the pages of her books.