Paste Magazine: No one does YA fantasy romance like you, Kiera! (In my opinion, anyway, and apparently fandom’s as well!) How do you keep finding new ways to tackle familiar stories of star-crossed lovers and unexpected romance?

We got the chance to talk to Cass herself about what she says is her “last planned novel,” how A Thousand Heartbeats is different from her previous books, and her favorite romance tropes. But when a series of potentially deadly events throw the two together repeatedly, they discover that their bond might just be strong enough to overcome the uncomfortable history of lies and family secrets that have kept their kingdoms at odds with one another for so long. Lennox, for his part, believes that Kadier’s throne rightfully belongs to the Dahrainians and is willing to fight to reclaim what his people have lost. Annika is a dutiful young woman who agrees to marry her overbearing cousin in the name of strengthing the throne and placating her father the king, who has become cold and distant in the wake of her mother’s disappearance. The story of a pair of star-crossed lovers on opposite sides of an impending war, the tale follows the dual POV story of Princess Annika of Kadier and Lennox, a mercenary from the exiled clan of Dahrain. And her latest novel, A Thousand Heartbeats is no different. The author of the bestselling The Selection series and The Betrothed duology is known for her strong female characters, lush and fully realized settings, and, of course, swoony love stories full of twists and longing. No one in the world of young adult publishing writes romance quite like Kiera Cass.

The betrothed kiera cass book 2