Sorrowroot

Livia has never left Sopatra — a paradise of gardens and ancient libraries, sealed away by a father who loved her too carefully to let her see the world beyond it. She believes, the way she believes anything from her father's books, that the heart cannot be deceived.

Then Commander Varick walks into her home and kills her father in front of her.

Sopatra collapses into something far less forgiving, stranding Varick's Guard — and their prisoner — in a jungle that answers to no one. Livia carries a spark of something ancient: an instinctive bond with every living thing on the planet. And when it counts, she uses it to save the very man sent to destroy her life.

Varick tells himself every small kindness is just keeping the asset alive. He is bound by an oath that costs him everything the moment he lets himself feel anything else. But Livia's instincts keep pulling her toward the one person she swore to hate.

Some books were never meant to be found. Some truths were buried for a reason. And some hearts don't ask permission before they choose.