The Saga of Willow North Books in Order

The Saga of Willow North is the earliest section of Melissa McShane's larger Tremontane story, and it gives the whole setting a strong foundation. Before the courtships, spies, and later royal politics of the other Tremontane books, this trilogy tells the story of Willow North, a thief who gets dragged into a succession crisis and discovers she cannot stay on the sidelines.

Willow is a great starting point for this world.

She has a secret magical talent for sensing worked metal, but for most of her life she wants only the freedom to live by her own wits. That changes when her former fiance appears with the child king Felix in tow. His uncle has murdered for the crown and plans to murder again, which means Willow's temporary act of help quickly turns into a dangerous journey to keep the boy alive.

From there, the trilogy expands from escape story to political struggle. The first book is about getting Felix to safety. The second deals with building support in a foreign land. The third pushes toward the larger question of who should actually rule Tremontane. That progression works very well. Each stage raises the stakes, but it still feels like the same story because Willow remains at the center, stubbornly trying to do what is right even when she would prefer a much simpler life.

One of the pleasures of the series is that Willow is not a polished noble heroine. She is resourceful, skeptical, and shaped by survival. That makes her a sharp lens for court and diplomatic politics, because she sees their absurdities as clearly as their dangers. At the same time, she grows into genuine responsibility. Her care for Felix, her complicated connection to Kerish, and her increasing willingness to think beyond herself give the trilogy its emotional weight.

The tone balances travel, tension, and political maneuvering. There are assassination attempts, uneasy alliances, cultural clashes, and big questions about legitimacy and power, but the books keep their focus on character. The crown matters because of what it does to the people around it. McShane is especially good here at showing how a kingdom's future can hinge on the decisions of people who never meant to become central players.

If you want the Tremontane books in their earliest chronological phase, this is the place to begin. Expect a thief, a child king, a murderous pretender, and a trilogy that starts on the run and grows into a fight over the future of a kingdom.