Books: "The Queen's Assassin" By Melissa de la Cruz

The Queen's Assassin
By Melissa de la Cruz
Putnam Books for Young Readers; hardcover, $18.99; available Tuesday, February 4

Melissa de la Cruz is the #1 New York Times, #1 Publishers Weekly, and #1 IndieBound bestselling author of many critically acclaimed and award-winning novels for readers of all ages. 

De la Cruz is known for the Blue Bloods series, the Witches of East End series, which was turned into a two-season drama on Liftime;  her novel The Isle of the Lost, which was turned into the Disney Channel original movie, Descendants, and has over a million copies in print; as well as the trilogy on the love story of Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler, which includes Alex & Eliza, which was a New York Times bestseller for 20 weeks; Love & War, and All for One.

The latest extraordinary work from de la Cruz is The Queen's Assassin, an epic tale of an assassin sworn to protect his queen and country, and his apprentice, a young woman determined to forge her own path in the world.

Caledon Holt is the Kingdom of Renovia's deadliest weapon. No one alive can best him in brawn or brains, which is why he's the Guild's most dangerous member and the Queen's one and only assassin. He's also bound to his sovereign for life by the vow his father pledged, which is to find the missing Delan Scrolls, the fount of all magical history and knowledge stolen years ago by a nefarious sect called the Aphrasians. 

Shadow has been training all her life to follow the path of her mother and aunts, to become skilled enough to join the ranks of the Guild. Though magic has been forbidden since the Aphrasian uprising years before, she has been learning to control her powers in secret, with the goal that one day she'll become an assassin as feared and revered as Caledon Holt.

A surprise attack is what brings Shadow and Cal together, and they join forces to hunt down a new sinister threat to Renovia. They clash on every decision, but in spite of themselves, there's an undeniable attraction, and the couple grows closer. 

Through their adventures together, they uncover a shocking web of lies and secrets that threaten to destroy everything they hold dear. With war imminent and true love at risk, they will have to do whatever it takes to save each other and the kingdom they're both determined to protect.

The Queen's Assassin is filled everything De la Cruz's legions of fans could ask for - romance, intrigue, action, and suspense - making it a story that will delight readers of all ages.

Melissa de la Cruz tour for The Queen's Assassin, in which she will be appearing with Marie Lu and Astrid Scholte:

San Diego Public Library (San Diego, California) - Tuesday, March 3rd at 7:00 pm

The King's English (Salt Lake City, Utah) - Wednesday, March 4th at 7:00 pm

Tattered Cover at Aspen Grove (Littleton, Colorado) - Thursday, March 5th at 7:00 pm

Half Price Books (Dallas, Texas) - Friday, March 6th at 6:00 pm