Ivan and Marya by Anna Kashina - Paid

Ivan-and-Marya  is a dark fantasy with elements of romance, based on Russian folklore.

Marya, a shapeshifter and a powerful sorceress, helps her father rule the kingdom by sacrificing young virgins whose life force feeds her father’s soul.  She wards off the enemies of her cult by luring them into a trap of her beauty, and destroying them.  Marya never questions her duties, not knowing that the man she calls her father holds the dark secrets about her birth and the true source of her magic powers.

Ivan, a young man on a quest to put an end to the virgin sacrifice, walks straight into Marya’s trap and falls in love with her at first sight.  At first his gentleness makes Marya believe he would be easy to defeat, but as she confronts him she finds him a tougher enemy than she imagined.  Ivan’s hidden strength – and the forces that aid him – for the first time challenge not only her powers, but the very foundation of her beliefs.  To face Ivan and achieve her 'happily ever after', Marya must first face her darkest fears -- and survive it.