The Third Daughter: A sweeping fantasy with a slow-burn sapphic romance

Book 1 in a sweeping fantasy duology about legacy, betrayal, sisterhood, and politicizing emotion in the quest for power—all balanced by a slow-burn LGBTQ romance.

For centuries, the country of Velle has waited for their highest deity, the New Maiden, to return. The prophecy states she will appear as the third daughter of a third daughter. When the fabled child is finally born to Velle’s reigning queen, the only citizen who does not rejoice is Elodie, the queen’s eldest daughter, who has lost her claim to the crown. When thirteen-year-old Brianne takes the throne, her vulnerability enables the Church thirsting for ultimate power. The only way for Elodie to protect Velle is to retake the throne. To do so, she must debilitate the Third Daughter.

Desperate, Elodie slips away to the midnight market to purchase a potion from Sabine, an apothecary who sells sadness. Adding a single tear enhances any brew tenfold. But Sabine mistakenly sends Elodie away not with the sleeping potion she requests, but with a vial of her tears. Sabine’s sadness is dangerously powerful, and Brianne slips into a slumber from which she will not wake. As the Church investigates Bri’s attack, Sabine and Elodie must work together to cure her before Elodie’s siblings learn the truth. But instead of the throne reverting to Elodie, the Church claims divine right, and wields unchecked power. With Velle’s future hanging in the balance, Sabine and Elodie must work together to wake the Third Daughter while a slow-burning attraction between the two girls erupts in full force.

A must-read for fans of the BookTok sensations ​Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard, Dance of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson, and These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong.