River of Thorns by Sylvie Greenhart

Description

A blisteringly cranky apothecary . . .
Siúdar didn’t ask to be stuck caring for a comatose god–especially one known for both bloodshed and greed. But since she fell out of the sky and almost literally into his lap, no one else will take responsibility for her, and Siúdar is as stalwart to duty as he is stubborn. He can’t decide which is stronger: his resentment or the instinct to protect her.

A still-grieving mother-god remembered only for war . . .
Cladánei is just trying to get home. She remembers waking in tomb, she remembers one of her magical artefacts spinning out of control with the force of a hurricane, and she remembers her flight over the sea. After that, she remembers nothing but a haunting melody and the torment of her long-dead son’s face . . . until she opens her eyes to find the world has painted her not as a god of life but as a god whose hands are red with blood.

Unwilling to be shipped off to strange mages to be poked and prodded, Cladánei refuses to subject herself to the indignity of letting others decide her fate. Siúdar is as bullheaded as he is dedicated to his arts, and after saving Cladánei’s life more than once, he’s not about to let her run off into the wilderness to waste his hard work.

The waters have willed it, but even fated love demands more than magic to overcome the wounds of the past.

Even gods deserve a second chance.