{WATTYS 2020 WINNER} {FEATURED BOOK} Paris, 1663. 500 girls selected by King Louis XIV embark on a journey across the seas from their homeland. Each is given a dowry, and the expectation that they are to marry a French settler, in order to increase the population of New France. They are the historic Daughters of the King, or "les filles du roi." Eighteen-year-old Celeste Dubois is a free-spirited, educated and headstrong girl. She comes from a wealthy Parisian family that has squandered their money and is subsequently forced to journey to New France. However, Celeste doesn't plan on marrying a complete stranger. She hopes to use the dowry and the free voyage as a way to escape the poverty and social ranks of Paris. Matters are complicated when against her will, she falls in love. Romantic, kind and stunningly beautiful Lorraine Leblanc is a girl from a large family with children to spare. Unlike Celeste, she happily dreams of the day she will meet her future husband in New France. When she marries a mysterious widower with two young children of his own and still reeling after his broken heart, she realizes that married life isn't all she had hoped it would be, and begins to question her new husband's complicated past. - Wattpad Picks Blast to the Future Past list 2018 - The 50 Best Wattpad Stories of 2018/19 by Design Wizard - 2018 Youngblood Awards Winner (Romance) - 2018 True North Awards 2nd place for Historical Fiction and 2nd place Truly Canadian special category award - Featured by Wattpad Historical Fiction profile under Kings, Courtships and Empires, Young Adult Fiction profile under Love, Actually and Romance profile under Time will Tell *Please be aware that since this book covers the colonial period, it does contain sensitive themes of racism and violence that readers will find disturbing. There are resources at the back of the book that prompt further learning in the Historical Notes section.*

Introverted Charlie never expected to gain the attention of Dia, the chatterbox on the train, and he certainly wasn't expecting to fall in love. *** A few words can describe Charlie Jackson. He enjoys the simplicity of a coffee far more than the average person, and devotes too much time to his work - commuting included. But Charlie's life is far more complicated than meets the eye. Hindered by his stammer and the anxiety that occurs as a result, he has become accustomed to letting others use their voices for him. When Dia strolls into work one day, it seems that the universe has its own plans. Charlie instantly recognises her as the chatty woman from the train he takes five days a week. She's different in many ways, and it becomes clear that there's something between them. But the journey to love isn't so smooth sailing, especially when Dia's own battles come to light. Can Charlie fight his demons to support Dia in facing hers, or will his anxiety never allow him to become more than the stranger on the train? Romance Wattys Winner- 2020 1st place in the Firework Awards [New Adult] Featured in the Wattpad Summer Challege- 2020 Content and Trigger Warning- this book contains themes including the following; mental health, anxiety, suicide awareness, domestic violence.