Shield of Sparrows: An Enemies-to-Lovers Epic Romantasy

Accolades:
AN INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Feature film now in development at Amazon MGM Studios with John Wick screenwriter Derek Kolstad attached • Amazon Best Romantasy Books of the Year 2025 • Apple Books Fantasy & Paranormal Romance Novel Best Sellers 2025, #27 • Audible Top Ten Best Romantasy Listens of 2025 • Indigo Best Fantasy Books of 2025 • Goodreads Choice Award finalist 2025: Readers’ Favorite Romantasy • Spotify Best Romantasy Audiobooks of 2025 recommendation • Kobo Books Best Books of the Year 2025

Shield of Sparrows is a slow-burn, high-stakes romantasy perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas and Rebecca Yarros―where enemies become lovers, monsters stalk a cursed realm, and a forgotten princess finds the strength to tear off her crown and become the warrior she was never meant to be.

The gods sent monsters to the five kingdoms to remind mortals they must kneel.

I’ve spent my life kneeling―to their will and to my father's. As a princess, my only duty is to wear the crown and obey the king.

I was never meant to rule. Never meant to fight. And I was never supposed to be the daughter who sealed an ancient treaty with her own blood.

But that changed the fateful day I stepped into my father’s throne room. The day a legendary monster hunter sailed to our shores. The day a prince ruined my life.

Now I’m crossing treacherous lands beside a warrior who despises me as much as I despise him―bound to a future I didn’t choose and a husband I barely know.

Everyone wants me to be something I’m not―a queen, a spy, a sacrifice.

But what if I refused the role chosen for me? What if I made my own rules? What if there’s power in being underestimated?

And what if―for the first time―I reached for it?

The stunning DELUXE PAPERBACK EDITION features an exclusive bonus scene from the hero’s POV, brand-new stenciled edges, and original interior cover artwork. This breathtaking collectible is available only in the U.S. and Canada and is a must-have for any book lover.

The Shield of Sparrows trilogy is an epic slow-burn romantasy best enjoyed in order.
Reading Order:
Book #1 Shield of Sparrows
Book #2 Rites of the Starling
Book #3 Seven and the Swift

Devney Perry is a #1 New York Times and #1 USA Today bestselling author of more than forty romance novels. After working in the technology industry for a decade, she abandoned conference calls and project schedules to pursue her passion for writing. She was born and raised in Montana and now lives in Washington with her husband and two sons. devneyperry.com

“A thrilling, immersive tale that shows that some bargains demand more than just a crown.” - Kirkus Reviews

“Shield of Sparrows is the best fantasy romance I’ve read in years and my top read of 2025. This story is unlike anything I’ve read before with lush, unique world-building, thrilling adventures, and an epic love story.” ―Giana Darling, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author

"A riveting world, a twisty plot, and a smoldering romance. I burned through this epic romantasy." ―K.A. Tucker, USA Today and international bestselling author of Fate & Flame series

“Devney Perry made me want to quit my job and reread this book every day until the next one releases, it’s that addictive!” ―CE Ricci, USA Today bestselling author

“This book is everything! The world-building and main characters were so refreshing and empowering, and that simmering slow burn was so worth the wait. Devney absolutely slayed it with this romantasy, and I can’t wait to read book two!” ―Shanora Williams, New York Times bestselling author

“[E]verything I love in a book.” - Nerd Daily

“This excellent book will sink its talons into you and tear you to pieces before you have a chance to realize what’s happening.” - Geek Girl Authority

“Perry does a fantastic job at building a unique fantasy world, developing her characters, and introducing an engaging conflict. Perry's latest release has all the makings of a great romantasy series.” - ScreenRant

“[T]akes readers on an epic adventure featuring monsters and a determined princess who must learn to hunt them to survive.” -Novels Alive

“It’s already delighting readers with its swoony romance, intriguing magic system and captivating worldbuilding.” - First for Women Magazine

“Make way for a beautiful, slow-burn romance packed with spectacular world-building in Devney Perry’s Shield of Sparrows!” - The Honey Pop

Shield of Sparrows by Devney Perry is a contemporary small town romantic suspense set in the Clifton Forge/ Eden series world, and it weaves together danger, family secrets, trauma, and a slow, deeply emotional love story. At its heart is a woman who has already survived the worst night of her life and a man who has spent years trying to make amends for things he cannot fully put right. The book explores what it means to live with grief and guilt, how far someone will go to protect the people they love, and whether two people who are both broken in their own ways can find safety and peace in each other.

The heroine, Everly Christian, grew up in Quincy, Montana, in a close but complicated family. Years before the book begins, Everly’s world was shattered by a horrific crime: a brutal attack that left her traumatized, scarred, and without someone she loved dearly. That night has defined everything that came after. Everly’s father, Jensen, is the town sheriff, and the Christian family is tightly woven into the community, but none of that power or position could bring justice or closure the way Everly needed. In the aftermath, she became a quieter version of herself—someone who tries to keep going, who shows up for work and family, but who has built thick emotional armor around her heart. The memories of what happened never really fade; they sit just beneath the surface, waiting to be triggered by a sound, a smell, a place, a name.

The hero, Crew Dawson, carries his own heavy burden. He has a rough, violent history connected to the old Tin Gypsy motorcycle club and the criminal mess that series created. Crew spent his younger years in the orbit of those bad decisions and paid the price for them. Now, he’s trying to live a different life, to be the kind of man his younger self wouldn’t recognize. When the book opens, he’s running the Dawson Ranch outside of town, working hard, keeping to himself, and doing his best to stay away from trouble. But he is tied to Everly’s past in a way neither of them can escape: the man responsible for Everly’s trauma was Crew’s family, and Crew has never forgiven himself for what his blood did to her. That guilt has shaped his life just as surely as Everly’s fear has shaped hers.

Everly and Crew’s lives collide again when new violence appears in Quincy and old secrets refuse to stay buried. A body, a threat, or a chilling message makes it clear that what happened years ago is not entirely over, or at least not forgotten. For Everly, the sense of safety she has slowly, carefully built is shattered. For Crew, the return of danger feels like proof that he will never truly be free of his past. The spark for the story is not a meet cute; it’s the realization that unfinished business, both emotional and criminal, still hangs over them and the town. This forces Everly and Crew into closer contact, whether they want it or not. At first, she sees him as a living reminder of everything she lost. He sees her as the person he failed most profoundly, even if he never hurt her directly.

Their relationship starts tense and prickly. Everly does not want anything from Crew—no apologies, no explanations, no pity. She’s spent years building a life without him, and having him suddenly near feels like reopening a wound. Crew, on the other hand, can’t stand the idea that she suffers because of something connected to him. He wants to help, to protect her, to somehow atone, but he also believes he has no right to ask her for anything. There’s a lot of avoidance, sharp words, and awkward encounters. Yet the more chaos presses in on Quincy, the more their paths cross—at the sheriff’s office, on the streets of town, at the ranch, and in the Christian family’s orbit.

As the suspense plot unfolds, small-town life and family drama wrap around it. Quincy is the kind of place where everyone knows everyone’s business, where gossip travels faster than official news, and where loyalty runs deep. The Christian family is fiercely protective of Everly, especially her father and siblings, and some of them see Crew as the enemy or at least as someone who should stay far away. At the same time, there are people in town who know that Crew has changed, who’ve seen the quiet, steady way he works at the ranch, shows up for his people, and keeps his head down. That tension—between those who will never forgive and those willing to move on—plays out in almost every scene they share.

The deeper mystery centers on whether the threat now facing Everly is truly new or a continuation of the violence from years ago. The book slowly reveals layers of the original crime: what really happened that night, who was involved, who lied, and who covered things up. Everly is forced to question memories she’s tried to avoid and to consider the possibility that someone she trusted back then wasn’t telling the full truth. Crew, too, has to dig into things he’d rather leave buried, confronting people from his old life and uncovering motives that are more twisted than he knew. As they work together—sometimes reluctantly, sometimes almost as partners—they begin to see each other as more than just “victim” and “guilty by association.”

With every chapter, Everly’s view of Crew shifts a little. She notices the way he always steps between her and danger without hesitation, the way he never pushes her to talk but listens when she does, the way he keeps his distance physically until she’s the one to close it. Crew expects her anger, yet he never once argues with her right to feel it. He takes her pain seriously and treats her trauma like something sacred instead of something inconvenient. These small, respectful choices slowly chip away at Everly’s fear of him. At the same time, Crew begins to see that Everly is not just the girl he once watched from afar, shattered by grief. She is strong, stubborn, smart, and capable of facing things that would break most people.

Romance in Shield of Sparrows is not instant or easy. It’s a slow, careful build between two people who both think they’re too damaged to be good for anyone else. Their connection grows in quiet conversations, shared drives, late-night calls, and moments of crisis where they find themselves reaching for each other without thinking. Everly learns that Crew’s guilt runs so deep he almost believes he doesn’t deserve to be happy. Crew learns that Everly’s fear is paired with a fierce need to reclaim her life, her body, and her future. When they finally give in to the attraction that’s been simmering between them, it feels earned—not a magical cure for their pain, but a choice to let someone really see them.

The title, Shield of Sparrows, captures the theme of protection and fragility. Sparrows are small, easily overlooked birds, but here they become a symbol of the vulnerable people Everly wants to protect and the way Crew quietly positions himself as a shield between her and the darkness that once consumed her life. The “shield” is not only physical; it’s emotional. Crew protects Everly’s right to be angry, to be afraid, and to heal at her own pace. Everly, in turn, becomes a kind of shield for Crew as well, refusing to let others define him entirely by his past and pushing him to see that he deserves redemption and a future.

As the danger escalates, the book races toward a climax where the truth about the past finally collides with the present-day threat. Everly is no longer the girl who froze in horror years ago; she’s a woman who refuses to be hunted or silenced again. Crew is no longer the angry young man on the edges of a criminal world; he’s a man who will stand in front of a gun, a fist, or a storm if it means keeping her safe. Together, they uncover who has been pulling strings, why the original crime spiraled the way it did, and how far someone was willing to go to keep their secrets hidden.

By the end, Shield of Sparrows is as much about healing as it is about solving a mystery. The town of Quincy is still scarred, the Christian and Dawson families will always carry some grief, and Everly and Crew will never be people untouched by trauma. But they have found something new: a partnership built on honesty, shared pain, and the decision to stop letting the worst thing that ever happened to them define every day that comes after. In choosing each other, they choose a future that honors the past without letting it rule them—a quiet, powerful love in a place that once only represented fear.