Red as Royal Blood

Court intrigue, adrenaline-fueled action, and forbidden romance liberally season Hart’s exhilarating standalone novel, which sees a palace servant become the kingdom of Lumaria’s queen following a regicide. When housemaid Ruby is summoned to the throne room, she assumes she’s being fired for refusing to give her kitten to crown prince Asher’s betrothed; after all, Lady Rosaline will soon be queen consort, given that King Octavius has just died. Instead, Octavius’s adviser informs Ruby, the widowed queen, and the royal children that the king’s final edict names Ruby as his successor to the throne. Uproar ensues, and Ruby retreats to Octavius’s chambers, where she finds a letter addressed to her from the king. He implores Ruby to solve his murder, which he believes was committed by someone from his inner circle. “The answer lies in history,” Octavius claims, but Ruby—orphaned in infancy—doesn’t know whether that means her own history or Lumaria’s. Law requires Ruby to marry to ascend the throne, and politics dictate that her future spouse be a potentially viperous royal, so she must work fast to uncover the truth behind the king’s death. Paranoia steadily mounts throughout this electrifying tale, which unfolds via the protagonist’s witty, propulsive present-tense narration. Steel-spined, moxie-fueled Ruby shines brightly among the somewhat underutilized, mostly white-cued cast in this plot-forward read. Ages 14–up. Agent: Pam Gruber, High Line Literary. (Nov.)