Immortal Origins: Chronicles of the Immortal Trials Book 1 by Taryn Knightly

“Romantic tension, high stakes, and a world that draws you in from the first page. If you’re into morally grey characters and emotional, slow-building relationships, you won’t want to miss this one!” - Goodreads User Champions are fated. Not even the gods can interfere. Once a name has been given, it can’t be taken back. Criminals are given two choices: life service, and condemn their descendants to the same fate, or die. Born into servitude, the only ones Ambrose hates more than more than the royals—are the gods themselves. Forced to train in secret, she’s a shadow among the warriors that are the pride of the empire. Brutal fighters that gather every five years from all over the continent for a deadly competition that could earn them their place in the kingdom of the gods. When one fateful night shatters Ambrose’s world as she knows it, she’s thrust into the empire’s deadliest tradition: the Immortal Trials. When Akadian, the cold, cruel prince is ordered to stay by her side, she learns not everything is as it seems and the lines between enemies and allies become blurred, leaving her with no one to trust. To have any chance of survival she must do what has never been done and make it through the first trial: the Champion’s Tournament. As danger closes in from all sides, Ambrose uncovers power beyond imagination, truths she never meant to find, and secrets the gods would do anything to keep buried. Read more