The Chrysillium Tree by Laken Honeycutt

There is a language beyond words, in the forests and sacred places, if we can remember how to listen... Separated from her family and her homeland, Mæve Faolái struggles to navigate her new life in the Palace of Light. With the cruelty of her abductors, and the lecherous advances of a Crown Prince lurking around every corner, she longs for freedom and to find her parents. But once Mæve learns the vile truth involving the Azantium exploitation of the Lumani’s sacred chrysillium trees, she shares these secrets with a Lumani man in the woods. When things take an unexpected turn, Mæve finds herself caught between a forbidden love and a burgeoning rebellion as she awakens a part of herself long forgotten. An enchanting blend of adventure and lore, sacred trees and found family, The Chrysillium Tree is an adult fantasy story about the struggle for freedom amidst tyranny and remembering forgotten magic.

The Eternal Muse: Desecration by Rick Waugh

SPFBO8

When a song is a weapon, who can wield it? Piper is a minstrel whose music incites forbidden magic. He lives in fear of being charged with heresy; the church uses the same power to crush offenders, without mercy or hope of redemption. His problems have cost him both the woman he loves and his growing career as a minstrel. Worse, he’s entangled in the politics of the capital, attracting the scrutiny of the priests. Terrified they’ll turn him into a mindless beast, he runs. Can he learn to control the magic, and use it to slice through centuries of the church’s lies? Or will he end up as the priests’ latest victim, all ability to feel hope, love, or even hate ripped from his mind? The Eternal Muse: Desecration is the First book in the Eternal Muse trilogy.