The Thorn King: A Slow-Burn Enemies-to-Lovers Fae Romantasy (A Crown of Thorns and Ash Book 1)

She was sent to kill the Thorn King. Her own heart had other plans. Sable Vane is the Hemlock Order's finest blade--a mortal poison-witch raised to end the fae royals who feed on human lives. Smuggled into the dying Court of Thorns with a single vial of royal-killing poison and her own blood laced with a slow toxin as a leash, she has one season to murder its tyrant king and walk away alive. But the moment Sable touches Rue Thornecrown, something older than the world wakes between them--a truebond, the fated tether that makes her the one person alive who cannot kill him, and makes him a king who will raze his own court to keep her breathing. He is beautiful, ruthless, and dying by inches, his kingdom bled dry by a traitor he cannot name. She is falling for the man she crossed the world to destroy. And the equinox is coming--when the tithe is called, the poison in her veins comes due, and Sable must choose between the mission that will save her life and the bond that has already claimed her heart. Kill him and live. Spare him and die. Unless a truebond can be turned into a blade sharp enough to cut them both free. The Thorn King is the first book in A Crown of Thorns and Ash, a slow-burn enemies-to-lovers fae romantasy--fated mates, a morally-grey king, and an assassin learning to use a heart she was never trained for. Reader note: fae violence and mature themes; sensual, slow-burn romance with no explicit content. Suitable for readers 16+. Enemies-to-lovers Fated mates Morally-grey dying king Assassin heroine Touch-her-and-die Slow burn Fae court intrigue