Crown of Embers by Rae Carson- YA

This is the second book in the Girl of Fire and Thorns series. I really enjoyed it. I think I liked it better than the first one. Here's a summary:Elisa is a hero. She led her people to victory over a terrifying, sorcerous army.

Her place as the country's ruler should be secure. But it isn't.
Her enemies come at her like ghosts in a dream, from both foreign realms and within her own court. And her destiny as the chosen one has not yet been fulfilled.
To conquer the power she bears once and for all, Elisa must follow the trail of long-forgotten--and forbidden--clues from the deep, undiscovered catacombs of her own city to the treacherous seas. With her goes a one-eyed spy, a traitor, and the man who--despite everything--she is falling in love with.

So, in the first book, at sixteen, she was married off to a stranger from a strange land to fulfill her duty. She was full of doubt about her looks, her life, her husband, her duty, etc. But because of a special power she possesses, she was able to save her newly adopted county. This book picks up where the other one ended. Now, she is queen at seventeen and needs to rule this new country still under threat.

 

There's a lot of intrigue and action and just the right amount of romance. Great read!