She's gone from riches to rags...Once a castle courtier, Avianna now toils as a laundry maid. She owes the landlady two moons' rent, and she's destroying her one asset - her looks. Her best and only plan to escape poverty is to lure hapless Jeb Doolihan into marriage.Jeb's handsome and rich... and boring. And Avianna can't stop thinking about her new friend in the village, the humble fairy Thorn. Thorn actually talks to her, unlike most men. He's teaching her to read. And now he's starting to look far too attractive.But Thorn's a fairy. And fairies can cast love spells.Avianna is determined to resist his charms and pursue her goal. Thorn doesn't fit the picture of the secure life she's always wanted. But when they escape together from a pirate invasion, that picture starts to change.