To the watching world, Princess Alina has it all – maids to serve her, a kingdom to revere her, a prince to marry her, and a wardrobe filled with enough frills, flounces and shades of pink to rival a flower shop. But behind the smile and designer clothes, Alina has a secret. She’s barely holding it together.

After a moment of panic almost ends in tragedy, Alina is sent to a refuge far from the palace to recuperate. Her family claim it’s for her own good but – faced with cows, knife-beaked ducks and far too many of her own insecurities – Alina is pretty sure it will kill her first. And Joha Samson, infuriating man that he is, will laugh as it does.

Only there’s more to Joha than she realises, and more to herself too. When the time comes to take a stand, will she find the courage?

To Those Who Battle In Silence

As you might have figured out from the blurb, Princess Alina has pretty bad anxiety, something I never actually planned on writing about but somehow made its way into Alina’s character despite me. Likely because it’s something I’ve struggled with in my own life since my late teens. Not enough to incapacitate me like it does Alina, but always there. In every decision. Every minute of the day. That voice in my head – sometimes whispering, sometimes so loud it blocks out everything else– taunting me. Telling me I’ll never be enough. That everything is going to fall apart and it’ll be my fault. Playing through ‘what if’ after ‘what if’ after ‘what if’ until I’m all but curled up in a ball from the pressure of it all.



Anxiety, like many mental battles, is an invisible fight. A silent one. One that more people than you know are probably fighting. One that you, yourself, might be fighting. Especially this year when, along with every new day, comes a new set of news reports, restrictions, and reasons to fear.

Not giving away any major spoilers here but in Heart of a Princess, Alina never gets over her anxiety. It doesn’t magically go away. She still struggles just as badly with it at the end of the book as she does at the start. What she does find, however, is hope amidst the battle. A hope that helps her to fight.



Today, I wanted to encourage those of you fighting too. Those who don’t wear a cast but ache just as much. Those who are silent on the outside but, inside, screaming to be heard. Those who worry, who wonder, who overthink, and are broken over and over by the little things that they know shouldn’t matter but do.

You are seen.
You are valued.
You are enough.

God sees your battle. He knows how much you struggle. He’s holding you together on those days when even deciding what outfit to wear is one thing too many.

You don’t have to climb a mountain for him to be proud of you. Take courage, and take the next step, even if it’s more of a shuffle than a stride. Because even on those days when it feels like you’re all alone, you’re not. You are seen, dear one. You are valued. You are enough.



Hannah loves to connect with readers! You can find her at www.hannahcurrie.com.