Naomi Novik's Spinning Silver meets V.E. Schwab's Shades of Magic (but short)
Mirabelle has only ever wanted her obscure magical specialisation - curse-adjusting - to mean something. When she approaches the infamous Blacklily Castle, surely hiding all sorts of secret curses, she hopes she can prove herself to the Witches' Guild.
Before she sets foot on the front step, a vicious wolf attack leaves her bedridden and in the care of Raphael, lord of Blacklily: taciturn, mysterious - and cursed. Raphael begs Mirabelle to leave, but she can't even walk down the stairs, let alone to the next town. And Mirabelle wants to know what curse the lord of Blacklily is hiding.
As Mirabelle recovers, she's plagued by dreams of her past lover, her estranged mother, and the sense that Raphael is in grave danger. Then she understands why Raphael wants her to flee: if she can't get the lord to trust her and adjust the curse in time, it will kill them both.
Sorrow for Thorns is a queer MF/sapphic endgame second-chance romance. It is the third book in the Cursed Princes, a series of short yet thoughtful reads with fractured fairy tales, subverted gender roles and angsty happy endings. Each title is a standalone romance but the books are best read in order to understand the series arc.
