First published 2024
Hanalei lives in exile after her father stole a seadragon egg intended for Tamarind's dying princess. She spends her years studying the great dragons that swim through the Nominomi Sea, unable to return to her island home. When she encounters a female seadragon, the creature offers her a path back to everything she lost. Meanwhile, Prince Sam faces an impossible choice. His mother grows sicker each day, and his grandmother's reign nears its end. In Tamarind's matriarchal society, he cannot inherit the throne. He must either marry or discover a cure for the illness consuming his mother. When Hanalei returns from her long exile, she brings Sam something precious: hope for his mother's recovery. Together they hunt for dragonfruit, the legendary seadragon egg that can erase any sorrow. But other forces seek the same prize, and the dragonfruit itself carries dangers they cannot foresee. Their quest will test everything they believe about sacrifice, power, and the true cost of undoing the past.
Genres: romance, adventure, fantasy, young-adult
Vibes: lyrical, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Nominomi Sea, Tamarind
356 pages · Hardcover · Clarion Books