Hex, a sorcerer, is frustrated with his lazy pixie servant, Pickles, and teaches him a lesson by turning him into a carpet beetle. Meanwhile, a goblin called Giggleton, struggling with hunger and an empty treasury, visits the horrid Prince Horace for help.
Prince Horace agrees to help Giggleton with his cash flow crisis if he'll deliver to him a Gem Maker called Rose. Born with the gift of hiccupping diamonds and sometimes rubies, Gem Makers are rare and highly prized.
Desperate and hungry, Giggleton agrees, and in exchange for a fortune, he signs a magical contract binding him to Horace.
At Rune House, Hex hears about a greedy goblin who has imprisoned a Gem Maker in a tower, surrounded by thorns and guarded by a dragon. Wishing to steal her for himself, Hex plans a daring rescue. When he sees Rose for the first time, he is instantly smitten. But given his foul temper and anti-social personality, how can she ever feel the same way?
50. A supervillain has a midlife crisis and decides to become a superhero. But redemption might be harder than they imagined.
Henley agrees to pretend to date millionaire Bennett Calloway for a fee, falling in love as she wonders - how is he involved in her brother's false conviction?
******
Henley Linden's brother is in jail for a crime he didn't commit, and she'll take any job to raise the money needed to free him. Soon, she's agreed to pretend to date millionaire Bennett Calloway for ten thousand dollars, so his mother will ease up the pressure on him to find a wife. But once Henley is enmeshed in Bennett's world, he falls for her, and she starts to have feelings for him as well. Despite her romance with Bennett, as she grows closer to the Calloways, Henley realizes they are somehow involved in her brother's conviction. Journeying deeper into a world of wealth and conspiracies, Henley is forced to rely on Bennett, though doing so could cost her everything.
[[word count: 200,000-250,000 words]]