Sixteen-year-old Mila has caught the attention of the (soon-to-be) widowed king. She, however, has no desire to be queen, much less the wife of the disgusting old man. She longs for the freedom to develop her rare and forbidden gift of magic and to choose a future with her lifelong best friend, Alfrid. But what little hope she has for autonomy is lost when the Queen of Direwood plummets to an untimely death. She soon finds herself the reluctant bride of the vile, controlling king, step-mother to his dead-eyed twelve-year-old daughter and an unprepared participant in the trials of court politics. Her only comfort comes from the apothecary-who offers the young queen an opportunity to cultivate her magic and a plan to secure her future. But in time, the entire palace begins to doubt Mila's ability to provide an heir. Desperation turns to resentment when she discovers the king's mistress is with child. But it is the vindictive actions of the king that lead Mila to realize that he'll destroy her if she doesn't destroy him first, tempting her to use her gifts in darker, dangerous ways.

𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒅☑𝑩𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒚&𝒕𝒉𝒆𝑩𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒕 "𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒂 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒕?" After being trapped in the cursed town of Du Ciel for seven years, Isabelle's life was only going to get worse. Because she is turning eighteen, which puts her in danger of being sent in the next Offering to the Beast, her father pushes her to marry without love to save herself. However, since Isabelle is poor, and the other four girls that are of age happen to be from very prestigious families, she believes she will be sent by default. This leaves her with one of two choices: give up her freedom and marry without love to save herself, or risk being sent into the depths of the Castle where a monstrous Beast lurks and an unknown fate awaits her. But, what if the Beast was the least of her problems? A part of Wattpad's Creators program! *Warning: There are a few parts that include abuse and violence.* Chapters with abuse: 2, 24, 27 Chapters with violence: 20, 25, 26, 29 Word count: 120,000 Last edited: 5/19/22 Highest rankings: #1 in Romance 💘 #1 in Magic 💫 #1 in Darkfantasy ⚔ #1 in Baroque ⚜ #1 in Speculative❔ #1 in Twistedfairytale #1 in BeautyandtheBeast🥀 top 50 in Featured 🎉 Mysterious 🔎 Fairytaleretelling 📖 Magical-Realism 🧙‍♂️ top 100 in Fantasy 🧝‍♀️ Fiction 📚

[Mirror Me Series Book 1] Hope Martinez was taught to fear her reflection, but the magical world on the other side is too tempting. Descended from those who can use mirrors as weapons, Hope has many dangers to face if she wants to get home before an ancestral curse destroys everything she loves. _________________________________________________ After a frightening incident leaves her family shaken, Hope Martinez promises her mother to never look at a mirror again. Three years later, Hope stands between two worlds - the world of her mother, a contrived and constricted set of rules ignoring their family's Hispanic heritage and abolishing all things reflective from the home, and the world of her abuelita, which is said to contain a mysterious power that members of the family are fated to discover. When high school bullying and peer pressure start pushing Hope's limits, she finds no other choice but to gain normalcy and break her mother's promise. She soon discovers a hidden magical world beyond her reflection, one filled with strange beasts, enchanted cities, and flying walnuts. Why would such a wonderful place be kept from her? The reason - Hope's family has a terrible destiny waiting to be unleashed. Young Adult ■ Fantasy ■ Sci-Fi [COMPLETED] AWARDS: -First Place in Teen Fiction category for Chaos Awards 6 -First Place in Fantasy category for Ohana Awards 4 Copyright © by Jules Haigler No parts of this manuscript including black and white illustrations or content may be distributed, copied, or sold on any media without permission of the author. All names, places, and themes are a work of fiction.