the ring and the crown by melissa de la cruz

When Marie comes to Aelwyn, desperate to escape a life without love, the girls form a perilous plan that endangers not only the entire kingdom but the fate of the monarchy. Melissa de la Cruz is the New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of many critically acclaimed and award-winning novels for teens including The Au Pairs series, the Blue Bloods series, the Ashleys series, the Angels on Sunset Boulevard series and the semi-autobiographical novel Fresh off the Boat. But Marie doesn’t even want Leopold-she has lost her heart to a boy the future queen would never be allowed to marry. Isabelle arrives in the city bent on reclaiming what is hers. Meanwhile, Isabelle of Orleans, daughter of the displaced French royal family, finds herself cast aside by Leopold, heir to the Prussian crown, in favor of a political marriage to Marie-Victoria. But when she falls for a handsome rogue on the voyage over, her lofty plans are imperiled by her desires. Ronan is determined to make a good match to save her family’s position. But the talk of the season is Ronan Astor, a social-climbing American with only her dazzling beauty to recommend her. As the annual London Season begins, the great and noble families across the globe flaunt their wealth and magic at parties, teas, and, of course, the lavish Bal du Drap d’Or, the Ball of the Gold Cloth. While the enchanters faithfully serve the crown, the sun will never set on the Franco-British Empire. With the help of her Merlin, Eleanor has maintained a stranglehold on the world’s only source of magic. Quiet and gentle, Marie has never lived up to the ambitions of her mother, Queen Eleanor the Second.

Now Princess Marie-Victoria, heir to the mightiest empire in the world, and Aelwyn Myrddyn, a bastard mage, face vastly different futures. Once they were inseparable, just two little girls playing games in a mighty castle.

Here’s the official description: “Magic is power, and power is magic….

The ring and the crown by melissa de la cruz