The Kingdom of Kimmery is broken… Bryony, Princess of Kimmery, has a secret. She lacks the Hunger, the magical and passionate craving that is responsible for Kimmery's prosperity. Without that power, she will lose the crown and the chance to rule the kingdom she sincerely loves. The Queen's Line must select Chosen to satiate their Hunger with and Bryony's Choosing ceremony has arrived. On her first night with her newly assembled men—a prince, an ambassador, a stablehand, a sculptor, and a rogue—her own secret, and the secrets of Kimmery, spill out between them. North of Kimmery's capitol, the people are starving. When her truth is revealed to her iron-hearted grandmother, Bryony invents a plan to buy time. She and her Chosen will go to the desolate Winter palace where she can pretend to explore her Hunger while investigating the kingdom's failings. Bryony is determined to take Kimmery and its people back into a golden age, and keep her crown. As passions rise with her chosen so do the obstacles and adversaries they face. Kimmery's prosperity isn't the only thing Bryony misunderstood, and the Hunger is more than what it appears.

The peace Princess Bryony and her Chosen enjoyed in the north is broken, disturbed by the arrival of her family to the Winter Palace. Camellia is crueler than Bryony ever imagined, and her grandmother's faith is hard won. Nothing will come easily, not even with her men at her side, their affections growing deeper. When Bryony's most reluctant Chosen, Aric - King of Thieves, learns of her Hunger, it all fractures. There is more to the magic of the queen's line than anyone imagined, and Bryony is losing the grip on her own control. As the weather turns colder, obstacles rise from every direction, even from within the Winter Palace's own residents. Bryony must master her magic and her passions in order to protect herself and her Chosen from the enemies that circle closer every day. If she falls, so will Kimmery.

The path to power never did run smooth… Princess Bryony and her Chosen have been challenged, threatened, and attacked, but it’s news from the capital that lands the hardest blow. Bryony’s greatest ally is at risk, and if she loses her grandmother’s support she may lose the crown as well. Returning to the capital introduces new enemies and dangers, as well as painful memories. Her grandmother is dying, her sister is feasting on flesh and wasting magic in the shadows, and the Queen is hiding from the ugly truths of Kimmery. With her patience at its end and her Chosen gathered close, it's time for Bryony to break the grip the council has on the kingdom, forge new alliances, and learn the depth of her own magic. The kingdom's crown will be hers, even if claiming it comes with painful sacrifice.