A young woman chosen as the crown prince’s bride must travel to the royal palace to meet her new husband—but her world is shaken when she discovers the dark truth the royal family has been hiding for centuries—in this lush fantasy debut perfect for fans of Amélie Wen Zhao and Iron Widow.

Ying Yue believes in love. So when the royal matchmaker selects her to wed the crown prince, Ying hopes that love is exactly what awaits her. No matter that the royal family is notoriously reclusive, rarely leaving their walled palace—and no matter the rumors about the previous royal brides, who after their weddings, were supposedly never seen again. Ying knows that she was chosen for a reason. After all, why else would the matchmaker select her, out of all the girls in the kingdom?

Yet upon her arrival at the royal palace, Ying’s dreams of a fairy tale wedding quickly disintegrate. Her husband-to-be is cold, stoic, and utterly infuriating—he and Ying can’t make it through a single conversation without wanting to throttle each other. Left alone in her room with only her own reflection for company, Ying begins to see things. Strange things. When Ying discovers a secret parallel world accessible through the palace mirrors, she thinks she’s found the perfect way to escape her upcoming nuptials.

In this mirror universe, the prince is kind and compassionate, and it isn’t long before he and Ying start to fall for one another. But there is darkness in this new world, too. It turns out, Ying was chosen as the prince’s bride for a reason—but not the reason she thinks. The two worlds have a long and bloody history, and Ying has a part to play in the future of them both. And the brides who came before Ying? By the time they found out what their role was, it was already too late..