Intisar Khanani

Thorn

Thorn cover: a stylized illustration of a girl in a black cloak, hood up and russet-to-red curls peeking out. A trio of arches cross the bottom of the image, showing a fantasy city skyline with domes and towers. Behind the girls on the top half of the page is a teal background with floral design reminiscent of Islamic and Middle Eastern art. Across the center of the cover (and the cloak) is the tag line: "One Princess. Two Fates. One Impossible Choice." Below this is the title, "Thorn," and the author name, "Intisar Khanani"

Thorn

A princess with two futures. A destiny all her own

Between her cruel family and the contempt she faces at court, Princess Alyrra has always longed to escape the confines of her royal life. But when she’s betrothed to the powerful prince Kestrin, Alyrra embarks on a journey to his land with little hope for a better future.

When a mysterious and terrifying sorceress robs Alyrra of both her identity and her role as princess, Alyrra seizes the opportunity to start a new life for herself as a goose girl.

But Alyrra soon finds that Kestrin is not what she expected. The more Alyrra learns of this new kingdom, the pain and suffering its people endure, as well as the danger facing Kestrin from the sorceress herself, the more she knows she can’t remain the goose girl forever.

With the fate of the kingdom at stake, Alyrra is caught between two worlds and ultimately must decide who she is, and what she stands for.

Thorn is available at all good bookstores!

Amazon   Waterstones   Indiebound   Book Depository

Apple    Kobo   B&N

Don’t see your retailer of choice? Try this universal link: books2read.com/thorn

Audiobook lover? Here’s a sample of Shiromi Arserio’s wonderful narration for this story, right from Chapter 1:

But wait! Haven’t I read this book before?

If you were one of my early readers who found Thorn while it was independently published (2012-2017), you had a wonderful taster of this story. Since then, it’s gone through four rounds of professional edition (holy smokes!), the middle of the book was replotted, and the story overall has grown by about 20,000 words. Wow! If you loved the indie version, I highly recommend checking out the new one. (And remember, there’s always your local library – suggest it as a purchase and share the love of this story with others too!)