“Happiness depends on
being free, and freedom depends on being courageous.”
The Winner's Curse
Winning what you want may cost you everything you love...
As a general’s daughter in a vast empire that revels in war and
enslaves those it conquers, seventeen-year-old Kestrel has two choices: she can
join the military or get married. But Kestrel has other intentions.
One day, she is startled to find a kindred spirit in a young
slave up for auction. Arin’s eyes seem to defy everything and everyone.
Following her instinct, Kestrel buys him—with unexpected consequences. It’s not
long before she has to hide her growing love for Arin.
But he, too, has a secret, and Kestrel quickly learns that the
price she paid for a fellow human is much higher than she ever could have
imagined.
Set in a richly imagined new world, The
Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski is a story of deadly games where
everything is at stake, and the gamble is whether you will keep your head or
lose your heart.
The Winner's Crime
Following your heart can be a crime
A royal wedding means one celebration after another: balls,
fireworks, and revelry until dawn. 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: that she agreed to marry the crown prince in exchange for
Arin's freedom. But can Kestrel trust Arin? Can she even trust herself?
Kestrel is becoming very good at deception. she's working as a
spy in the court. If caught, she'll be exposed as a traitor to her country. Yet
she can't help searching for a way to change her ruthless world...and she is
close to uncovering a shocking secret.
This dazzling follow-up to The Winner's Curse reveals
the high price of dangerous lies and untrustworthy alliances. The truth will
come out, and when it does, Kestrel and Arin will learn just how much their
crimes will cost them.
The Winner's Kiss
Some kisses come at a price.
War has begun. Arin is in the thick of it with untrustworthy new
allies and the empire as his enemy. Though he has convinced himself that he no
longer loves Kestrel, Arin hasn’t forgotten her, or how she became exactly the
kind of person he has always despised. She cared more for the empire than she
did for the lives of innocent people—and certainly more than she did for him.
At least, that’s what he thinks.
In the frozen north, Kestrel is a prisoner in a brutal work
camp. As she searches desperately for a way to escape, she wishes Arin could
know what she sacrificed for him. She wishes she could make the empire pay for
what they’ve done to her.
But no one gets what they want just by wishing.
As the war intensifies, both Kestrel and Arin discover that the
world is changing. The East is pitted against the West, and they are caught in
between. With so much to lose, can anybody really win?
