From the Ashes

Guilded Kingdoms #1

by Laura R. Hepworth

A young artist desperate to be free.

For nearly seven years, Lael Verane has lived under the ever watchful eye of her stepmother. Forbidden from leaving the grounds of the estate and locked away whenever visitors come to call, Lael's only solace is in her art. There's just one problem, due to another of her stepmother's strange restrictions, art is not welcome at Avarill.

A prince on a mission.

Agents of the Crown have been dying and elves are disappearing from across Rynn. Prince Nathyn Trysele is determined to find out why. His only clue? A letter from the deceased spymaster, but he's convinced that the answers he seeks are buried somewhere in the Caeth night-markets.

But not everything is at it appears and, in a kingdom where art guilds and magic collide, deadly secrets lie buried that could tear the kingdom apart.

Genres: Cinderella

569 pages, Paperback

Published November 1, 2023

About the author

Christian, fantasy jeweller, freelance illustrator, and lover of gemstones, Laura was born in Ireland where her parents served as missionaries for 13 years. She has an Associates of Fine Arts and is currently enrolled with the Gemological Institute of America working towards her Graduate Gemologist and Graduate of Pearls Diplomas. She is also a lover of fairy tales, a Tolkienite, Trekkie, word-nerd, collector of alphabets, and conlanger.

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Naturally I'm a little biased, but I am extremely proud of this book! If you enjoy immersive worldbuilding, high fantasy settings, and fairy tale retellings I think (well, I certainly hope anyway) that you will enjoy this book. Also, it is a clean read so no worries about being surprised by unexpected spice!

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this fresh take on the Cinderella story. The connections to the original story were clear but not expected, and the characters were well developed with more personality than is often the case in a fairy tale retelling. I'm looking forward to future books in this series!