She broke into a cursed city to steal a crown. She woke up a king.

Lira has one rule: take the gold and run. She has survived the brutal streets of Oakhaven on nothing but wit, speed, and a dead man’s language lessons. The legendary city of Vareth — a labyrinth of volcanic glass that rises from the earth for seven nights each century — is just another job.

Until she bleeds on the wrong ruins and wakes up the wrong king.

Gareth has been sealed in a crystalline tomb for two hundred years, his heart replaced by a stone of apocalyptic dark magic. The obsidian heart cannot be removed. It can only be shattered — but the ritual requires a willing mortal sacrifice, and he has no intention of letting anyone pay that price for him.

He also has no intention of falling for a thief who fights like a storm and translates dead languages for fun.

They have seven nights. The city is sinking. Lira’s former mentor wants them both dead. And somewhere in the burning depths of Vareth is a secret that will change everything — including the exact cost of setting a cursed king free.

The Ash Bride is a standalone epic romantasy featuring enemies-to-lovers, a cursed immortal MMC, a morally complex FMC, forced proximity, and a sacrifice ending that will make you cry and then immediately reread the last chapter.