“I see all. I know all. I cannot tell a lie.”

A magic mirror that speaks only truth. A girl unwanted by her mother. Seven muses watching over the land. And a dark ritual that calls upon the old gods.

Despite years of neglect, Korina still longs for her mother’s love. But when the mirror names Korina the fairest in the land, Lady Sophia’s vanity turns deadly. Saved by the seven muses, Korina believes she has escaped her mother’s reach—until a forbidden ritual threatens to imprison her within the very mirror that first sealed her fate.

I have a thing for mirrors—and for characters trapped behind glass. Maybe it’s an introvert thing: the feeling of internally yelling and pounding to be seen while no one can hear you.

The traditional Snow White tale gave me two powerful images: the magic mirror and the glass coffin. I began wondering what might happen if those images weren’t separate—and if the girl behind the glass could still see, speak, and shape her own fate.

I also wanted to give the romance time to grow rather than have the heroine awakened by a stranger’s kiss. Replacing the seven dwarfs with Tessagonia’s seven muses brought those ideas into the enchanted world I had begun building in The Blazing Princess.

So much packed into a small package! I was taken by the twists and turns, and wrapped up in the puzzles presented to the characters right along with them.

— Anika Nacey

Good, vivid descriptions and a fun play on the story. I will look forward to more.

— Erin Robinson