Fantasy Adventure

 Smoke and Scar by Gretchen Powell Fox

This was a fantasy adventure book and it was great, if a bit slow. Ellie is a famed fae warrior but she's in retirement. Cedric hates Ellie because she killed his parents. Ellie hasn't spoken to family of her betrothed since his death in the Crucible 25 years ago. Now, his mom shows up asking her to be the voice of reason and stop her daughter from entering, but Ellie's former best friend won't listen. Now Ellie has entered the Crucible with only one goal: save her. But the Crucible has other intentions: unity. And it keeps throwing Ellie and Cedric together. So much so that they start to fall for each other. Then, after the third task something is wrong and we find out that Ellie's betrothed isn't dead; he's been in the maze the entire time. And he's been corrupted by it. But, he gets killed, but not before trying (and failing) to kill his sister. The fourth and final task requires two people, and Ellie and Cedric are the only ones strong enough to go. They get there and it's not the full crown they were promised and the plan that they have devised won't work. One will have to die for the other to gain the crown. Cedric sacrifices himself for Ellie, but is brought back to life by Ellie through the power of the crown. The exit the Crucible and one of their companions turns on them. She reveals herself to be a shapeshifter and steals the crown and makes a dire pronouncement on the way. Then, at the very end we find out that Cedric's mentor and father figure is really the bad guy and has been this whole time! I can't wait to read book two!