Ella doesn’t need a prince. She just wants to be loved.
Trapped as a servant in her own home, Ella has four years until the law sets her free – four years of her stepmother’s cruelty and her stepsisters’ mockery. Marriage could free her sooner, but what man would want a penniless servant?
When her stepmother sells Ella’s horse – the only friend she has left – Ella accepts her neighbor’s offer to get her into the prince’s ball. It’s desperate, but the ball will be full of men – and she only needs one.
When she stumbles into Mike, she’s distracted by her stepfamily’s scheming. But the moment she meets his eyes, something shifts. And suddenly, her neighbor’s idea doesn’t sound so crazy.
But does this handsome commoner see Ella…or just another girl who might suit the prince?
Two years after the ball, Ella’s fairytale marriage is crumbling
Life as a princess is nothing like Ella expected. She’s confined to decorative tasks that make her feel useless, the nobles constantly hint that she doesn’t belong, and Michael is consumed by duty and rarely present. When her only friend – a guard who treats her like a person – sparks Michael’s jealousy, a single misunderstanding detonates their fragile marriage.
Convinced Ella has betrayed him, Michael lashes out by seeking attention from noblewomen who confirm every whisper Ella’s heard about not belonging in his world. By the time he finally listens, the damage is done…and the fight to save their marriage has only just begun.
This isn’t a story about a perfect prince. It’s about two broken people learning that happily ever after doesn’t mean easy – and that sometimes love is a choice you make when your heart is breaking.
The noble boy who used to visit Katy’s village was never supposed to be more than a friend. But when he vanished, magic stole his identity from her memory – leaving only fragments and an ache she can’t explain.
When Katy meets an actor whose voice reminds her of her old friend, they agree to a one-time walk together, but she can’t get him out of her head. And that single evening triggers a chain of events that lands her with an impossible opportunity: to marry the prince.
Prince Axel has been sneaking out to take voice lessons for years. When an emergency puts him on stage on opening night, he lies to avoid the king’s ire: he wasn’t performing, he was with a village girl…whose name and face don’t match the real thing.
When circumstances push Axel and Katy together, Axel is overjoyed. But he doesn’t know the truth behind their unexpected betrothal, nor that a bargain Katy made years ago will be fulfilled the moment they wed.
And even Katy’s fierce love of honesty can’t compel her to admit her terrible mistake – because now her kingdom, her heart, and her family are locked in a contest they can’t all win.
For five years, Katy’s barrenness has protected her from a magical debt. Now she’s running out of time.
The bargain that promised her firstborn child to a stranger in exchange for marrying the prince has haunted Katy’s marriage from the start. But Katy has no memory of meeting Axel before the theater. Her only hope is that the deal was about her missing childhood friend – if she’s right, it isn’t valid.
When she finally becomes pregnant, she knows she’ll have to tell Axel everything. But before she works up the courage, the magic suppressing their memories shatters…and with it, her hope that the bargain wasn’t about him.
But there’s a silver lining: the revelation of their past becomes the missing piece in a conspiracy neither of them saw coming. The threats closing in around them, the council’s pressure, even the attempt on Axel’s life – it’s all connected to that single, impossible bargain.
Now Katy and Axel must work together to unravel a plot that reaches deeper than either imagined, before the enemies pulling the strings can claim their long-awaited child.
Beauty is only skin deep, but a face becomes pretty important when you’re wearing the wrong one.
After a kitchen maid uses Princess Daphne’s magical handkerchief to swap their appearances, Daphne is stuck tending sheep while the imposter prances about a foreign court. She can’t break the curse until she tells someone who she truly is – an impossible feat when the magic prevents her from speaking or writing. And she has no idea what the maid is planning.
The one person who might be able to help doesn’t know she’s missing. Lord Raoul doesn’t understand why his best friend isn’t acting like herself, but he assumes she’s shutting him out because he let his flirting turn serious. It’s her treatment of her faithful dog Gryphon that doesn’t make sense.
Raoul shouldn’t let Gryphon spend so much time with the mute shepherdess they found, but he keeps returning to the meadow himself. There’s something familiar about her…
If it weren’t for her face, he’d almost believe he was sitting with his best friend.
Running away to join a band of outlaws wasn’t supposed to involve getting shot.
Princess Helena woke from twelve years of enchanted sleep to find her childhood sweetheart married and a deadline from the council: choose a husband, or they’ll choose one for her. She’s not interested in a loveless marriage, so she disappears to the neighboring kingdom to offer her bow to its most wanted outlaw.
Cap is convinced she was sent to trap him. An injured enemy in his camp is the last thing he needs, but he can’t ignore someone who needs help. Now he’s dodging her attempts to see his face and trying not to look too close at her fiery green eyes.
Their first meeting didn’t go well – Helena has the shoulder wound to prove it. But Cap’s band of strays and the mission that drives him aren’t what she expected. Staying is no longer just about freedom; it’s about the people.
And the outlaw she wishes she’d met sooner.
The queen’s offer was simple: fetch a tinderbox, and she’ll tell Keenan where his missing companions are. Refuse, and he might not find them in time.
Lost in a foreign kingdom and trapped in her castle, Keenan agrees – if only to get away from her. He doesn’t know why a queen would want an old tinderbox. He’s furious that he has no choice. And he’s less than pleased when her pampered daughter catches up to him in the wilderness.
Princess Sakura only has a few months before an unfortunate prophecy costs her the throne – it says she’ll marry a commoner, but the law requires a titled husband to inherit. Her mother swears the tinderbox will solve the problem…but only if Keenan actually retrieves it.
Sakura doesn’t want to manipulate him, but a man in love will face any danger. She doesn’t know how to woo a man she can’t marry, especially when he doesn’t trust her or her scheming mother. But as the quest unfolds, Sakura sees the man who would sacrifice anything to protect the innocent. Who has helped her more than any of her nobles have.
Keenan’s starting to see the woman beyond the crown, but the closer they get to the tinderbox, the more he realizes it may be too powerful to trust to another. Even if keeping it will cost him his friends – and destroy any chance he and Sakura have of being together.
Liesl is determined to find the man who broke her heart. Getting trapped in a cursed valley with a dangerous ogre isn’t part of the plan.
Tobias gave Liesl a rose and a reason to hope – then chose to search for the missing princess instead. When she discovers he’s vanished without his beloved cat, concern overrides her hurt. Something is wrong, and she’ll track him down to ensure he’s safe…and to demand the answers she deserves.
Beast has no memory of who he is, only a desperate need to complete a task the valley’s magic won’t let him leave to finish. When Liesl appears with a familiar cat at her heels, fragments begin to surface – memories of a life he can’t quite grasp.
Believing Beast knows something about Tobias, Liesl risks getting close to him. The more time they spend together, the harder it becomes to see him as a monster. But Beast’s mission will cost him any future with Liesl. And if he tells her why, someone else will pay the price.
Some secrets have to be kept. Even if that means losing the woman he loves.
ERIN HALBMAIER 