Heavy Lies The Pink Glasses

Maeve Johnson thought saying yes would be the hardest part.
She was wrong.
Moments after accepting Princess Aria's proposal, the life they'd fought so desperately to build shatters. The King of Apexia is dead. A single phone call turns celebration into mourning, thrusting Aria onto a throne she never expected to inherit so soon.
Now, the woman Maeve loves isn't just a princess.
She's a queen.
As the kingdom mourns, the palace becomes more dangerous than ever. Every lesson in royal etiquette, every public appearance, and every whispered conversation is a reminder that Maeve is no longer just the girl from Chicago's South Side. Soon, she'll be expected to stand beside the most powerful woman in the world-not only as her wife, but as her queen.
But crowns are heavy.
Crushed beneath grief, duty, and impossible expectations, Aria begins shutting everyone out... including the one person who's always been her safe place. And while the palace watches their every move, one enemy refuses to let the past stay buried. Emi Smith's royal engagement may be over, but she's willing to manipulate the media, the nobility, and the truth itself if it means reclaiming the future she believes was stolen from her.
With a kingdom demanding perfection, a wedding drawing closer, and secrets threatening to tear the monarchy apart, Maeve and Aria must decide whether love is strong enough to survive the weight of a crown.
Because fairy tales end with happily ever after.
Real queens have to fight for it.