This week's Staff Pick is The Crown's Game by Evelyn Skye.
Vika Andreyeva can summon the snow and turn ash into gold. Nikolai Karimov can see through walls and conjure bridges out of thin air. They are enchantersthe only two in Russiaand with the Ottoman Empire and the Kazakhs threatening, the Tsar needs a powerful enchanter by his side.
And so he initiates the Crowns Game, an ancient duel of magical skillthe greatest test an enchanter will ever know. The victor becomes the Imperial Enchanter and the Tsars most respected adviser. The defeated is sentenced to death.
Raised on tiny Ovchinin Island her whole life, Vika is eager for the chance to show off her talent in the grand capital of Saint Petersburg. But can she kill another enchantereven when his magic calls to her like nothing else ever has?
For Nikolai, an orphan, the Crowns Game is the chance of a lifetime. But his deadly opponent is a force to be reckoned withbeautiful, whip smart,imaginativeand he cant stop thinking about her.
And when Pasha, Nikolais best friend and heir to the throne, also starts to fall for the mysterious enchantress, Nikolai must defeat the girl they both love... or be killed himself.
As long-buried secrets emerge, threatening the future of the empire, it becomes dangerously clear... the Crowns Game is not one to lose.