Publisher: Random House Publishing,  July 22 2025

Format: ebook

Pages: 576

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Summary (From Goodreads):

A woman who wields magical tarot cards lands herself in a false engagement with the headmaster of a mysterious academy in this first installment of an enthralling fantasy romance series from the bestselling author of A Deal with the Elf King.

Clara Graysword has survived the underworld of Eclipse City through thievery, luck, and a whole lot of illegal magic. After a job gone awry, Clara is sentenced to a lifetime in prison for inking tarot cards-a rare power reserved for practitioners at the elite Arcana Academy.

Just when it seems her luck has run dry, the academy’s enigmatic headmaster, Prince Kaelis, offers her an escape-for a price. Kaelis believes that Clara is the perfect tool to help him steal a tarot card from the king and use it to re-create an all-powerful card long lost to time.

In order to conceal her identity and keep her close, Kaelis brings Clara to Arcana Academy, introducing her as the newest first-year student and his bride-to-be.

Thrust into a world of arcane magic and royal intrigue, where one misstep will send her back to prison or worse, Clara finds that the prince she swore to hate may not be what he seems. But can she risk giving him power over the world-and her heart? Or will she take it for herself?

My Review:

Thank you, Random House Publishing, for the copy of this book.
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Clara is rescued from prison by Prince Kaelis, who is also the headmaster of Arcana Academy. He offers her a deal. Become his fiancée and become a student at the academy, and she will no longer be a prisoner. She will do anything to get out of prison, even engage herself to her family’s biggest enemy, but she can’t help but find herself attracted to him.
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This was a really interesting fantasy book. I liked the world-building and the magic system. I liked Clara and her fight to figure out what happened to her family. I wanted a little more in regards to the romance, and the book felt pretty slow at times, but overall, I liked it.