Book One: Princess of Cinders & Secrets
A servant girl afraid of being seen. A prince desperate to know her heart.
Ella has spent her life yielding to others, molding herself to fit expectations, and staying invisible to avoid the pain of being truly seen.
While the other servants prepare the palace for another day, Ella hides the bruises her family leaves behind and tells herself it’s what she deserves. But everything changes with one accidental encounter with the crown prince, one that was never meant to happen… and, she insists, must never happen again.
Yet the moment becomes a memory she can’t forget. The prince’s fleeting glances and kind words persuade her to lower the walls she’s constructed around her heart, and for the first time, Ella feels seen. While she reminds her heart time and time again that a prince could never choose a servant, he seems determined to prove otherwise.
When love demands courage and healing requires a painful choice, will Ella dare to believe she’s worthy of something more—or let her others once again steal her chance at happily ever after?
Prequel Short Story: Closed to Love
Meet the prince desperate to know her heart.
Prince Theodore carries the weight of the kingdom on his shoulders. As the future heir, his path is fraught with duties to fulfill, nobles to appease, and a high-profile marriage he is expected to accept without question. Yet beneath the crown lies a quiet longing for something more.
Then a humming chambermaid catches his eye. She is gentle, unassuming, and completely unlike the courtly world he inhabits. In her presence, Theodore finds a brief respite from the grief of losing his elder sister, a wound he has never fully learned to live with. Soon enough, he finds himself wondering about her, dreaming about her, hoping to one day cross the social distance between them so he can at least say hello.
When an accidental encounter grants him that chance, Theodore’s carefully planned future begins to unravel. Torn between duty and desire, he must decide whether a life ruled by obligation is enough, or whether honoring his heart might be the bravest act of all.
