In this lush epic fantasy, an empress yearning for freedom, a half fairy who has renounced humanity, and a clever spirit with his own agenda must save an empire on the brink of world-ending war.

Yifan, fourth wife of a wicked emperor, is patiently plotting his demise. All the while, she’s pursued by Jin, a handsome fox spirit who comes to her nightly with devious bargains. She has resisted his allure…so far. But as her husband’s cruelty grows, time is running out and the forces of a nutcracker army are growing stronger against their kingdom.

From far beyond those borders comes an unlikely ally: Nanmu, a half-mortal princess of the Peacock Kingdom who renounced the human world to live in peace with her fairy kin. But to save her banished sister, Nanmu returns to the Middle Empire, where beauty spells danger and magic runs wild.

With war brewing and their worlds colliding, Yifan and Nanmu must forge dangerous alliances as the fate of their kingdoms hangs in the balance. If they fail, an empire falls—and neither of their worlds will survive.

Diana Ma is a Chinese American author of fantasy, speculative fiction, rom-coms, middle grade, young adult, and educational nonfiction. Her debut novel Heiress Apparently was a 2021 Washington State Book Award finalist in Young Adult Literature. She was a 2019 We Need Diverse Books mentee and a 2021–2023 Highlights Foundation Muslim Storytellers Fellow.

Diana teaches at a community college in Seattle. She believes that it’s important for everyone to recognize themselves in the heroes of the books they read. Her conviction that diverse books help us create a better world drives her writing and teaching. To learn more, visit her website at www.dianamaauthor.com.