Get ready to be swept away, seduced, and swindled in the wickedly vicious third and final installment in the Bloodleaf series that Laura Sebastian called “enchanting, visceral, and twisty.”
EBONWILDE
(The Bloodleaf Trilogy, Book 3)
by Crystal Smith
HMH Books for Young Readers, Summer 2022
(via Park & Fine)
Welcome to Ebonwilde. Come and find me. Aurelia’s last words haunted Zan. Left with the task of finding and reviving Princess Aurelia, Zan sets off on his own adventure to find her and return the gift she sacrificed for him—her life. But not all is what it seems, and Ebonwilde is more dangerous than anyone can predict.
After Bloodleaf and Greythorne, this book concludes the Bloodleaf series, a roar of a dark and luscious epic fantasy that’s layered with heady romance, bloodthirsty magic, and ghostly intrigue—an absolutely wicked delight.
« The plot is breathlessly fast, complete with creepy spirits, a satisfying romance, and complex but clear political twists and turns….Political, romantic, magical, timely, yet also traditionally appealing. » —Kirkus
« Bloodleaf has a good chance of becoming your next YA obsession.” —Entertainment Weekly
« Smith has created a world full of intricate magical properties and rules where nothing is as it seems and the game is constantly changing….[Readers will] be pulled to the edge of their seats….abruptly awesome. A worthy addition to any fantasy collection. » —School Library Journal
Crystal Smith is a writer, photographer, and artist who developed an early love of storytelling in a family of voracious readers. She married her high school sweetheart in 2005, and they now reside in Utah with their two sons. When she isn’t writing or creating, she can be found re-watching Jane Eyre or reading ghost stories with all the lights on. EBONWILDE is Crystal’s third novel.
Princess Aurelia is a prisoner to her crown and the heir that nobody wants. Surrounded by spirits and banned from using her blood-magic, Aurelia flees her country after a devastating assassination attempt. To escape her fate, Aurelia disguises herself as a commoner in a new land and discovers a happiness her crown has never allowed. As she forges new bonds and perfects her magic, she begins to fall for a man who is forbidden to rule beside her. But the ghosts that haunt Aurelia refuse to abandon her, and she finds herself succumbing to their call as they expose a nefarious plot that only she can defeat. Will she be forced to choose between the weight of the crown and the freedom of her new life?