A reluctant goose girl. A restless prince. A past that won’t stay buried.
Three years ago, Princess Saewynn nearly brought scandal to her kingdom by trying to elope with a palace guard. Her royal aunt and uncle have never forgiven nor forgotten—and now they’re sending her across the continent to marry a stranger, with only a handmaiden for company. But the journey turns deadly when brigands attack, and while Saewynn escapes with her life, she loses everything else. Her name. Her title. Everything she once was. Is fate offering her a chance to start over?
Joao no longer knows where he belongs. With his older brother married and ready to inherit the throne, Joao finds himself adrift. Once, he was both his father’s secret finder and keeper—the shadow behind the crown, trusted to uncover what others wished to hide. But now that peace has settled over Caldeira, the palace has little need for spies. Or so it seems.
When a bedraggled young woman takes a job as goose keeper at the palace, Joao can’t ignore her. She’s too poised, too graceful—too much to be a simple servant. He’s spent years uncovering lies for the crown, and his instincts tell him this girl is hiding something. But with his parents flooding the court with eligible princesses in hopes he’ll choose a bride, Joao doesn’t have time for mysteries… or for the new guard who never seems to let the goose girl out of his sight.
The longer he watches her, the harder it is to keep a clear head. Because unlike the princesses his parents parade before him, she reminds him very much of the kind of woman he’d once hoped to marry.
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Three years ago, Princess Saewynn nearly brought scandal to her kingdom by trying to elope with a palace guard. Her royal aunt and uncle have never forgiven nor forgotten—and now they’re sending her across the continent to marry a stranger, with only a handmaiden for company. But the journey turns deadly when brigands attack, and while Saewynn escapes with her life, she loses everything else. Her name. Her title. Everything she once was. Is fate offering her a chance to start over?
Joao no longer knows where he belongs. With his older brother married and ready to inherit the throne, Joao finds himself adrift. Once, he was both his father’s secret finder and keeper—the shadow behind the crown, trusted to uncover what others wished to hide. But now that peace has settled over Caldeira, the palace has little need for spies. Or so it seems.
When a bedraggled young woman takes a job as goose keeper at the palace, Joao can’t ignore her. She’s too poised, too graceful—too much to be a simple servant. He’s spent years uncovering lies for the crown, and his instincts tell him this girl is hiding something. But with his parents flooding the court with eligible princesses in hopes he’ll choose a bride, Joao doesn’t have time for mysteries… or for the new guard who never seems to let the goose girl out of his sight.
The longer he watches her, the harder it is to keep a clear head. Because unlike the princesses his parents parade before him, she reminds him very much of the kind of woman he’d once hoped to marry.
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy