Charms and Cinders: Inspired by Cinderella

By Amanda Thompson

A servant with secrets, just trying to survive.
Once upon a time, meric 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, meric 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 Genevi ve 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, meric and Genevi ve 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.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1964942128
• ISBN13: 9781964942124
• Release Date: August 2026
• Publisher: Amanda Thompson
• Length: 230 Pages
• Weight: 0.51 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.0" x 8.0"