Forbidden love, loyalty and betrayal, love and war … all these ingredients combine for a scintillating, smoldering story of passion and honor in The Winner’s Crime by Marie Rutkoski, the highly-anticipated sequel to The Winner’s Curse.
Book two of the dazzling Winner’s Trilogy is a fight to the death as Kestrel risks betrayal of country for love.
The engagement of Lady Kestrel to Valoria’s crown prince means one celebration after another. But to Kestrel it means living in a cage of her own making. As the wedding approaches, she aches to tell Arin the truth about her engagement…if she could only trust him. Yet can she even trust herself? For—unknown to Arin—Kestrel is becoming a skilled practitioner of deceit: an anonymous spy passing information to Herran, and close to uncovering a shocking secret.
As Arin enlists dangerous allies in the struggle to keep his country’s freedom, he can’t fight the suspicion that Kestrel knows more than she shows. In the end, it might not be a dagger in the dark that cuts him open, but the truth. And when that happens, Kestrel and Arin learn just how much their crimes will cost them.
Rutkoski ups the ante for her characters with The Winner’s Crime, with Arin and Kestrel facing stakes higher than ever, as they fight for their love and for the causes they believe in so passionately. Those passions collide, as each must choose who to trust and how to navigate the murky waters of a delicate political duel. Niceties barely mask plans of treachery, and Arin and Kestrel’s romance is caught somewhere in the middle.
The Winner’s Crime sees the seeds of political upheaval and epic romances that began in The Winner’s Curse brought to dramatic new levels. The second book in this fast-paced and stunning trilogy brings with it unexpected twists and turns that will leave readers aching for more.
As always, Rutkoski’s writing is gorgeous. Her world is richly imagined, and is only more lushly defined as we explore it further in this second book — as are her characters, who exhibit new layers and depth. This all combines for a truly enticing reading experience.
Look for The Winner’s Crime in stores March 3rd.
Novel Novice 
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