The Winner`s Crime, Rutkoski Marie

Following your heart can be a crime

A royal wedding is what most girls dream about. It 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 Arins freedom. But can Kestrel trust Arin? Can she even trust herself? For Kestrel is becoming very good at deception. Shes working as a spy in the court. If caught, shell be exposed as a traitor to her country. Yet she cant 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 Winners 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 Winners Crime by Marie Rutkoski is the second book in the Winners Trilogy.

The Winners Crime teeters on a knife-sharp edge between devastatingly romantic one moment and simply devastating the next. Marie Rutkoski has captivated me with her world of mind games, power struggles, and espionage, and left me positively desperate to see how Kestrel and Arins story will play out. --Marissa Meyer, New York Times-bestselling author of the Lunar Chronicles series

The middle entry in a fantasy trilogy brings new players to the game while exponentially raising the stakes. . . . . The twisty plot is a cleverly constructed puzzle box of intrigue and deceit, couched in graceful prose that shifts from restrained to voluptuous. . . . Enthralling, agonizing and incandescent. --Kirkus Reviews, starred review

Brilliant plotting and absolutely gorgeous writing combine to make The Winners Crime a standout, but it is the complex, deeply layered characters with their gut wrenching dilemmas and impossible choices that cracked my heart wide open. It left me breathless and craving more--I dont know how I will be able to wait for the final book. A truly unforgettable read --Robin LaFevers, New York Times-bestselling author of Grave Mercy and Dark Triumph