Atwater-Rhodes, Amelia. Hawksong

Atwater-Rhodes, Amelia. Hawksong [The Kiesha'Ra #1]. Laurel-Leaf, 2003 [0-440-23803-x]
This book is the start of a tale about two groups of shape shifters (Avian and Serpentine) who are constantly at war with each other. Both sides realize that their royal families and armies are being killed off but do not trust each other until... Danica becomes queen of the Avians. She decides that the only way to stop the wars is to marry Zane, the young king of the serpentines. Of course neither side likes this. It is a marriage of convenience and these new rulers don't really trust each other either but they realize that they must make the marriage work for the good of the peace. But.. who is trying to assassinate them? (In case you are wondering... these shape shifters spend most of their time in their human forms.) This 243 page book will have a larger audience then her previous vampire books. I hope it is a limited and defined series, not one that goes on forever.