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Running poison in the Dellaire catacombs, Lore conceals her forbidden death magic until a failed job lands her before the king. Spared execution in exchange for investigating whole villages dying overnight, she is thrust into a corrupt court ruled by lethal politics, dark gods, and shifting loyalties.

You'll like it if you enjoy

  • A sharp-tongued, necromantic heroine
  • Dark court intrigue and religious conspiracies
  • A unique death-and-life magic system
  • Slow-burn romantic yearning with low spice

Good to know

  • A prominent, high-stakes love triangle
  • Shifts to multiple perspectives in later books

How it ends: Readers describe the finale as heartbreaking and bittersweet, though some felt certain side storylines were left unresolved.

Tags

  • Female Lead
  • Strong Female Lead
  • Romance
  • Slow Romance
  • Dark
  • Emotional
  • Slow Burn
  • Heavy Worldbuilding
  • Mystery
  • Political Intrigue
  • Unique Magic System

Reading order

  1. Cover for The Foxglove King (The Nightshade Crown Book 1)

    Book 1: The Foxglove King

    481 pages16h audio2023

    The Foxglove King opens The Nightshade Crown as Lore — a poison-runner hiding her death magic in the underworld of Dellaire — is captured and offered an impossible bargain by the Sainted King.

    Thrust into the royal court, she must navigate scheming nobles, warrior-monks, and the King's charming, dangerous heir Bastian while investigating mysterious village deaths. A tense, atmospheric debut with necromantic magic, court intrigue, and slow-burn romantic tension between Lore, Gabriel, and Bastian.

  2. Cover for The Hemlock Queen (The Nightshade Crown Book 2)

    Book 2: The Hemlock Queen

    470 pages16.5h audio2024

    The glittering and dangerous world of the Sainted King’s royal court is upended when Prince Bastian seizes control and a mysterious dark force begins to take over in the second installment of New York Times bestselling series The Nightshade Crown. The corrupt king August is dead. Prince Bastian has seized the throne and raised Lore—a necromancer and former smuggler—to his right-hand side. Together they plan to cut out the rot from the heart of the royal court and help the people of Dellaire. But not everyone is happy with the changes. The nobles are sowing dissent, the Kirythean Empire is beating down their door, and Lore’s old allies are pulling away. Even Prince Bastian has changed. No longer the hopeful, rakish, charismatic man Lore knows and loves, instead he’s become reckless, domineering, and cold. And something has been whispering in her ear. A voice, dark and haunting, that’s telling her there’s more to the story than she knows and more to her power than she can even imagine. A truth buried deep that could change everything. With Bastian’s coronation fast approaching and enemies whispering on all sides, Lore must figure out how to protect herself, her prince, and her country before they all come crumbling down and whatever dark power has been creeping through the catacombs is unleashed.
  3. Cover for The Nightshade God (The Nightshade Crown Book 3)

    Book 3: The Nightshade God

    480 pages16.5h audio2025

    The Nightshade Crown is in the hands of a ruthless god and Lore will stop at nothing to defeat him in the final installment of this lush, romantic, New York Times bestselling fantasy series from Hannah Whitten. Lore has failed. She couldn’t save King Bastian from the rotten god speaking voices in his mind. She couldn’t save her allies from being scattered across the continent—their own lesser gods whispering to them in their dreams. She couldn’t save her beautiful, corrupt city from the dark power beneath the catacombs. And she couldn’t save herself. Banished to the Burnt Isles, Lore must use every skill she earned on the streets of Dellaire to survive the prison colony and figure out a way to defeat the power that’s captured everything and everyone she holds dear. Somehow, her friends must help her collect the far-scattered pieces of the broken Fount—the source of all the god’s powers—and bring them back together on the Burnt Isles, returning all magic to its source and destroying, once and for all, the gods corrupting the land. But as Lore gets closer to her goal, her magic grows stronger… and to a woman who’s always had to fight for survival, that kind of power may be hard to give up.

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