A princess who'd rather be reading than ruling gets exactly what she wants when a curse traps her in a crumbling countryside bookshop until she discovers her heart's true desire. Between a goth teenage shop assistant, a cursed pirate with a grudge against her stock, and a parade of princes convinced true love's kiss is the fix, Tandy has to figure out what she actually wants before everyone else decides for her.
My Review
Thank you so much Ace books for providing me a physical copy of this book!
The premise alone had me sold: a princess who gets cursed to stay inside a bookshop until she figures out her heart’s true desire, and instead of panicking, she thinks, finally. That’s the kind of wish fulfillment I didn’t know I needed until Tandy handed it to me.
Princess Tanadelle is tired. Tired of state dinners, tired of performing for a kingdom that never asks what she actually wants, tired of never finishing a book because duty keeps interrupting her. So when a curse traps her in a run-down bookshop in the sleepy town of Little Pepperidge, she doesn’t fight it, she settles in, stacks towering, days finally her own. The fact that an infuriatingly handsome pirate keeps trying to steal her inventory only sweetens the deal.
What I loved most is that this isn’t really a story about breaking a curse. It’s about a chronic people pleaser learning to want things for herself, even when the people who love her keep sending princes to “rescue” her from a life she’s never been happier living. That thread hit close to home. Watching Tandy slowly stop apologizing for taking up space, and start choosing herself, made the fairytale trappings feel earned rather than decorative.
Bash and Tandy’s slow burn is charming without stealing focus from her friendships, especially with Sasha, which felt just as central to her growth. My only real gripe is the midsection sags a bit, and the parade of seven princes starts blurring together since we get almost no sense of who they are beyond “another suitor.” A little more world building there would’ve gone a long way.
Still, if you want a cozy fairytale for book lovers, put this one on your shelf. It’s the literary equivalent of a blanket fort.