An ancient witch with a vendetta against his kingdom
An earnest prince charged with breaking her curse
Legends say Prince Balfour vanquished the evil witch Ophesia hundreds of years ago-until she crashes King Edun's coronation, decimating the throne room and casting a heinous curse on the land. Ruined treaties, freak weather patterns, and internal political turmoil enrage the new king, who demands his son, Prince Thom, embark on a mission to kill Ophesia once and for all. Thom is more diplomat than warrior, and if a throne room of soldiers can't kill her, he has little hope of success. Armed with Balfour's ancient journals, Thom hopes to convince Ophesia to free his people from the curse without bloodshed. But his plan goes sideways when the beautiful and mysterious woman imprisons him, vowing he'll never leave her magical castle hidden in the mountains.
But all is not what it appears. Ophesia's delightful enchanted housewares are more than friendly, and Thom discovers evidence of a softer nature in his captor. But the witch is a vault, disappearing for long stretches to her mysterious tower or massive library, and answering few of Thom's questions. But through a shared passion for art and books, Thom breaks down her walls, until he discovers Ophesia's not just an evil witch, but a woman who sacrificed everything for the man she loved once upon a time.
The Curse of the Wretched is a spicy, gender-swapped Beauty and the Beast retelling and is the first book in the Wretched Curse series.