I'm a queen. Nothing more.

Not a woman, not a widow, and definitely not a mother.

All my broken memories are buried in a box at the bottom of the Arctic sea.

The newspapers call me stoic, but I just call it survival...

...until Asher shows up, and a hairline crack appears on the surface of the ice that's kept me safe for so long.

My childhood friend is all grown up.

Broad shoulders, smoldering gaze, hands that make my mind run wild.

For the first time in years, I remember what it feels like to want.

To be wanted.

He melts the frost clinging to my heart and shows me everything I've pushed away.

Offers me a new life with the brush of his lips against mine, a whisper in my ear, a curl of heat in the deepest part of my core.

But Asher has secrets, and I have responsibilities. A queen can't put down her crown for anything.

Not for love.

Not even for betrayal.

Definitely not for Asher.