Wild Imperative

A fairy tale princess. A missing prince. A fire-wielding wizard.

In the land of fairy tales, Anura is a beautiful princess with a brand-new stepmother, and yet her prince will not come to save her. When a wizard appears instead and tries to kill her, her cousin Rana is the only thing standing in his way (irresistible force meets immovable object). Since the prince still doesn’t show up, Rana and Anura set out to rescue him instead. It’s a journey that will test their loyalties and their friendship and threaten the very Domain itself.

Previously published as The Frog-Prince’s Daughters; lightly edited and expanded. Book 1 of a trilogy, but a complete story. Rated G (suitable for everyone; some mild themes).

Excerpt:

IT BEGAN THE YEAR THE KING remarried and Anura turned sixteen, when the roses came out and failed to rival the beauty of the princess. She had spent the whole of spring catching light and flower-scent in her golden hair, and the castle held its breath and waited for her prince to come. But he did not, and he did not, and he did not.

When spring turned to summer and the geese came back to hunt frogs in the pond, Rana, cousin to the princess, resorted to a borrowed copy of the Book and read through the histories for mention of an obstinately late prince.

Rana was more avoiding her cousin than expecting a real solution from the Book—the sighing and moping and fairy tale beauty were enough to test anyone’s patience, let alone Rana’s famous dearth of it. She had to bite her tongue to keep herself from pointing out that someday Anura’s prince would come but it didn’t have to be that particular day.