Unladylike, bookish, and wholly uninterested in being a princess, Arismendi has one dream: to open Kingsgarden’s first school for girls. But such a dream is expensive—too expensive for a young woman with no legal right to money of her own.

Ari’s only hope is the insufferable but fabulously wealthy lord who promises to fund her school in exchange for her hand in marriage. Seeing no other choice, Ari accepts the bargain, giving up any hope of love…until a beautiful girl kisses her on the very eve of her betrothal.

With the help of her secret love and a hard-won mountain of gold, Ari sets out to open her school. But she soon discovers that her biggest obstacle was never money. It was fear. And there's nothing more frightening to men in power, it seems, than a girl with a book.

There are secrets in the Garden, and Ari’s enemies will do anything to keep them. To protect her students, her dreams, and her very kingdom, Ari must finally become what she was born to be: a princess.

Or, perhaps, a queen.