He's spent ten years believing silence is mercy. She's about to prove the dragon never wanted silence at all.
Vessamy Coldwick accepts the one apprenticeship no one else at the Decorator's Guild will take: a single midwinter season at Hollyden, the coldest and quietest keep in the mountains. The double stipend could save her mother's struggling shop. Surviving its impossible Keeper is another matter entirely.Silas Vosswick has enforced Hollyden's Stillness Decree since the night his older brother died. For ten years he has forbidden music, celebrations, and laughter inside the keep, convinced that silence is the only kindness left for the grieving dragon sleeping beneath its frozen halls. Everyone calls him cold. He has long since stopped trying to prove otherwise.
But Vessamy carries a gift no one understands. Every knot she ties tells her whether it was made in truth or built upon a lie. And the more she works beside Silas, hanging garlands through abandoned halls and restoring forgotten traditions, the more every careful knot points toward the same impossible answer: the dragon below Hollyden is not healing in silence. She is dying from it.
The Stillness Decree was never created to comfort the dragon. It was written to hide what truly happened on the night Silas's brother died—and the beloved court healer who has protected Hollyden ever since has spent a decade making certain no one ever uncovers the truth.
To save the dragon, Vessamy and Silas must unravel a lie woven into every winter the keep has known. Breaking it could cost Silas everything he has devoted his life to protecting... and finally give the dragon the one thing no one has offered her in ten long years: a choice.
Perfect for readers who love grumpy-sunshine romance, fae courts, dragons with forgotten truths, hidden-power heroines, and slow-burn fantasy romance.
- ❄️ A grumpy fae Keeper haunted by a decade of guilt
🐉 A dragon who is a person, not a prize, waiting to be heard
🎀 A sunshine heroine whose hidden gift reveals truth through every knot she ties
⚖️ A trusted healer hiding the truth behind years of quiet devotion
💍 Standalone romantasy with open-door romance and a guaranteed happily-ever-after
Full-length romantasy (57,000+ words). A standalone fantasy romance featuring fae, dragons, grumpy-sunshine romance, hidden magic, found family, and a satisfying HEA. Intended for readers 18+.
Genre: Fantasy
Used availability for Sasha Leone's Hollyden