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It might help to know a rough estimate of the year(s) she read these books. Does she think this was a series for adults or for younger readers?
She read them in the last couple years, three at the most, and that it was probably published around then. She says it was an adult series, or possibly young adult. Sorry I can't be any more specific. :(
Could it be The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson? A princess is married off to a different kingdom but on the way there she's kidnapped/saved by a group of rebels. They travel across a desert, and near the end of the book there's a really detailed scene in a bath. It's been a long time since I read it though so I might be getting some details wrong.
Yes! She checked it out and it's The Girl of Fire and Thorns. Thank you so much!
This is for my mom, who's having a tough time finding a fantasy novel series she read a while back:
It's a series—second-born into a royal family gets married off. Her older sister becomes the queen of her home country. I seem to remember that where she gets sent to is very dry and dusty. It's all about political intrigue and rulers that are not taking care of the people. She's working with some rebels, I think, to try to right that wrong. It involves something about a flower that's a symbol in the royal palace—especially in the royal bath, I remember, because that's where she has the epiphany about what it means towards the end of the series.
It's a series of several books I think.
Anyone recognize it?