Charms and Cinders: Inspired by Cinderella

A servant with secrets, just trying to survive. Once upon a time, Émeric Valcour had a noble inheritance. Now he has a mop, a cat, and a raven with opinions. Forced into servitude in his own home by a scheming stepmother and her cruel sons, Émeric keeps his head down, his secrets close, and his smile in place - because kindness costs nothing, and survival requires it. His secret? A forbidden gift for speaking with animals, which he uses to smuggle the desperate and the magic-touched out of a kingdom that would sooner see them dead. The last thing he needs is to fall for a mysterious girl in the forest who asks too many questions. A princess with no time, looking for a momentary escape. Princess Geneviève has spent her life learning to be graceful, patient, and obedient. She's mastered exactly one of these-and it certainly isn't patience. Her father is ill, her coronation looms, and the weight of a crown she never asked for grows heavier by the day. Sneaking out for rides in Sherwood Forest is her only escape from a court closing in around her-and she doesn't expect to find a dirt-smudged stranger who turns out to be worth coming back for. A stolen moment in the forest-and a chance neither expected to find. But the kingdom of Caelvarron is changing. Magic is stirring. When a royal ball becomes the stage for long-buried conspiracies, Émeric and Geneviève must trust each other with the truths they've been hiding. Because some stories don't end at midnight-they're only just beginning. Charms and Cinders is a no-spice fairy tale retelling for readers who love their Cinderella stories with a gender flip, a sarcastic cat, and a happily ever after worth fighting for.