Born and raised in the forgotten and broken kingdom of Ashbury, Elora has spent years resenting the royals of Pumpkin Hollow, the kingdom that forced the fall of Ashbury and procured the town as its own. Separated by a mysterious glass bridge, Ashbury is treated as the orphan kingdom, left to squander and starve with only the promise of protection from King Jasper, preventing anyone outside their realm from coming to search for the magic that lay within the ashy valleys and red skies of Ashbury. Because twenty-five years ago, the Cinder Fae arrived. As mysterious as the magic encompassing Ashbury, the Cinder Fae bargained for their lives by promising to keep the entire realm warm with their ability to mine mountainsides into coal. But Elora and the Cinder Fae hold a secret that could bring death to Ashbury and the mysterious winged creatures, who, despite Elora’s best efforts to pry, refuse to share where they came from or why they can’t return.
In her desperation to prevent the downfall of her kingdom and the death of her Fae friends, Elora drinks from an enchanted spring, convinced she can make the prince of Pumpkin Hollow fall in love with her and guarantee their safety. But magic takes to give. And Elora didn’t realize her heart would be the sacrifice.
“Beautiful and haunted, this prince of mine.“
I adored this book SO much. A Cinderella retelling but add fae, super spicy scenes, and a combative princess… oh yes, count me in!
Finnian and Elora are dreams. Literally the perfect prince and princess for our retelling. I could not get enough of how good-hearted yet fierce Elora was and Finnian was the perfect piece to this puzzle. All of our side characters were wonderful too and I liked them for many different reasons… the good and the bad.
“You sought oxygen while drowning, but there was no one there to provide it.”
The amount of lines I highlighted was excessive. Whitney crafted gorgeous words and descriptions that I simply could not get enough of. She had the perfect mix of fantasy, tense moments, and spice that burned the pages. I am so excited that these two will appear in the next retelling… and I cannot WAIT to read it!
Thank you to Whitney Dean for an eARC of the book.
Jotted by Jena 