Hearts

"A creative, fascinating debut for fans of whimsy and wonder." -AUTUMN KRAUSE, author of A Dress for the Wicked and Before the Devil Knows You're Here SECRETS GROW IN SHADOWS Eighteen-year-old pencil artist Elizabeth Rhodes is on the cusp of a breakthrough art commission that could cement her future career: the debut of her drawings at L'étoile dans les Ténèbres, the social calendar's biggest art auction hosted by renowned art collector and gracious philanthropist Madame Penelope Garcon. Concealing her true identity as the mysterious artist Briar Rose-whose name and fame she inherited at the deathbed request of her beloved Aunt-Elizabeth accepts the terms her dapper and elderly benefactor Sterling Figgleston negotiates for the debut of Briar Rose's new series, Hearts. When the mental illness she's been hiding threatens to expose her charade to the boy she's loved since childhood, and with her estranged parents slated to make an appearance at L'étoile dans les Ténèbres, will Elizabeth find the courage to break the curse and open her heart, or will she lose her one chance at true love by revealing her heart's darkest secrets? Features of this story: *Summer vibes *Non-magical, young adult fairytale reimagining with nods to the classics Alice in Wonderland + Peter Pan + Sleeping Beauty *An exploration of mental health issues with an emphasis on healing *Swoony, dreamlike clean romance with only kissing *Standalone novel within the Heartbooks series of loosely unconnected stories, which can be read in any order. Read if you like books filled with old family secrets, a charming, European-inspired setting, and swoon in every scene. Do you love swoony heroes and complicated heroines? Do your favourite tropes include true love's kiss, generational curses, and fairy godmothers? Do you want clean but swoony romance with a touch of the fantastical? Then this book is for you!