It was his duty to save her. But rescuing this girl will cost Sir Nicholas everything he holds dear.
The Charming Fairy Tales, Book 1
Sir Nicholas von Hohburg stumbles on a girl singing high in a tower. A prisoner, trapped not only by her cruel mother, but by the long golden hair she has to braid and care for. Her beauty astounds him; her fresh mind intrigues him. But he also sees her prison, and he wants her free.
While Rapunzel would love to feel the grass between her toes and touch the bark of a tree, she knows she will never be able to. Her magical locks and fear of the world below keep her trapped in the tower, regardless of how convincing her handsome new friend is.
Nick only has a small window of time to persuade Rapunzel to come down. He finds himself in an unusual position--needing to convince a woman to trust him.
But certainly, Nick, a Charming Noble, could woo a peasant girl without falling for her. After all, he was betrothed to another, a political arrangement created when he was a child. And dukes don’t marry for love.
Even if he loses his heart to Rapunzel, he cannot have her.
And Rapunzel isn’t sure she wants him, either. Not after what he does.
Read an excerpt
The birds flew through the air and I sang of their path--the way they ebbed and flowed in flight. My voice carried, the tune mimicking the birds’ motion. I leaned outside, smiling at the way they moved as one dipped, twisted, then flew right next to my window.
I ducked inside and giggled as it flew by me.
The bird warbled as it landed just out of reach, the sound entirely too much like my name.
Rapunzel.
Rapunzel.
I giggled again as it flew off.
The music of nature always put a smile on my face.
The seasons were finally starting to crest. Flowers bloomed in the forest, the color illustrating the twist of the season as it moved toward the long-awaited brightness of spring.
The birds and the lightning bugs zipped through the dark blue expanse of sky.
“How amazing it must be to be so free, to fly wherever one wants,” I said to the bird.
As the evening began to fall, the colors outside shined in the setting sun and I envied the animals living in the woods.
I hummed as I watched everything, my fingers itching to touch, to feel the world outside my tower.
I was ever-envious of the animals and the birds—how they walked among the flowers, felt the grass under their feet, not realizing how lucky they were. I could not imagine what grass must feel like--would it be cool? Or hot after a day in the sun? Would I sink into it? Would it be prickly?
I knew not, for I had never felt it and never would. I had not even touched the ground of the gardens at the base of my tower.
Mother harvested the food.
Not I.
I remained safe in my tower, protected from the world and free from all the darkness.
Though I did not feel freedom.
I sang to myself as my gaze darted over the pops of color from the few flowers I could see on the other side of the wall, though as the dark started to descend, even those colorful spots faded into the shadows.
My song started to slow and lower as my thoughts fell into my deepest desires.
I did not know what flowers smelled like, how their petals felt against the skin--moist and soft, or rough to the touch? The ones Mother brought home were always starting to dry and only fit to be used in her potions.
Such beauty existed outside the tower walls! The aroma of the flowers, if the wind blew right, would reach me, but that was all.
My wish remained—as it had most my life—only to explore the world, just once. Then I would know true joy.
To walk among the trees, to feel the bark on their sturdy trunks.
To sit upon a branch like a bird. Oh, what a pleasure that would be.
To be able to touch the leaves I have only watched for so long, and feel their green texture.
How I longed for the freedom.
More birds soared through the sky, inspiring me to sing higher notes. Their energy fueled my song, and as they darted down, my song lowered with them.
A blue jay dove to swipe at a berry on a tree far below. I leaned out the window, singing as I watched the bird, and I saw a flash of royal blue near the wall, just below the bird’s branch of berries.
My breath caught in my throat.
The blue billowed in the breeze, and it took me a moment to realize what I saw popping out of the shadows of the forest.
It was fabric. Brilliant blue fabric. Where did it come from? Was it stuck on the branch?
I grinned. I’d never seen such a bright piece of cloth. It truly was beautiful but as it flapped in the breeze, I realized it was not just stuck on a branch.
It was attached to a boy!
He stood atop the wall surrounding my tower, staring at me. His black hair glistened in the setting sun, shiny and almost blue in the light.
He took a few steps along the wall so he stood directly in front of my window.
Oh no! Oh my! I gasped as I ducked below the windowsill.
Your next escape