This Dark Descent

Book excerpt: Steeped in Jewish folklore, The Scorpio Races meets Six of Crows in this YA fantasy where the daughter of a famous horse breeder, a black-market enchanter, and an ambitious heir must work together to win a cutthroat enchanted horserace. The Rusel family is famous throughout Enderlain as breeders of enchanted horses, but their prestige is no match for their rising debts. To save her family’s ranch, Mikira Rusel is left with only one option: enter the Illinir, a cutthroat, cross-country horserace known for its high death rate as much as its flashy prize money. To have any chance of success, she’ll have to recruit Ari, an unlicensed enchanter who creates golems in place of enchanted animals, and Damien Adair, a lord in the midst of a succession battle. Both her accomplices have reasons of their own to help Mikira - and their own blood feuds to avenge. In a world as dangerous as this, will hidden agendas and conflicting desires butcher their chances of winning the Illinir. . . or will another rider's dagger?