Slave, Warrior, Queen (Of Crowns and Glory - Book 1) by Morgan Rice

      "17 year old Ceres, a beautiful, poor girl in the Empire city of Delos, lives the harsh and unforgiving life of a commoner. By day she delivers her father's forged weapons to the palace training grounds, and by night she secretly trains with them, yearning to be a warrior in a land where girls are forbidden to fight. With her pending sale to slavehood, she is desperate.
      18 year old Prince Thanos despises everything his royal family stands for. He abhors their harsh treatment of the masses, especially the brutal competition - The Killings - that lies at the hear of the city. He yearns to break free from the restrains of his upbringing, yet he, a fine warrior, sees no way out.
      When Ceres stuns the court with her hidden powers, she finds herself wrongfully imprisoned, doomed to an even worse life than she could imagine. Thanos, smitten, must choose if he will risk it all for her. Yet, thrust into a world of duplicity and deadly secrets, Ceres quickly learns there are those who rule, and those who are their pawns. And that sometimes, being chosen is the worst that can happen."




      Ceres is a very strong young woman amidst a very violent world. The Killings, being reminiscent of the Roman Gladiator Games, contain battles to the death (hence the name, the Killings). The author pulls the reader in to the struggle between loving these competitions, and hating them for the unnecessary violence that they are. It is only mirrored by the violence that the higher class imposes on those of the lower class. I would offer a caution to those sensitive to violence and death. Morgan Rice draws out the harsh realities of life under a fierce ruling class. The language and romance are both kept clean, but the violence and morbidity is realistic in a way for readers to understand the justified contempt rising within the lower class - spurring on the rising Rebellion. 

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