Princess on a Mission — Lauren McMinn

From the outside, Princess Mariliane has had a relatively easy life as her brother's hostess. Her mother had decided that she didn't want to run the palace years ago, and Mariliane had dedicated most of her adult life to doing just that. Now King Rarithlis was getting married, and Queen Thrisiara would be the one running the palace. She was happy for them, but Mariliane couldn't help wondering where her life would go from there. She had given up on love when the one man she had loved chose a bribe of money, land, and a title if he would just walk away from her and never contact her again. Duke Iurain of Thrithmede had also given up on finding someone to love after his ill-fated courtship with Marilaine. He had been told that she never wanted to see him again because she wasn't willing to leave the comforts of life as a princess to marry an officer in the army and a third son, as he was at the time. He was a duke, though, with a responsibility to produce heirs. Yet as King Rarithlis's best friend, Iurain couldn't avoid seeing the one woman he had ever loved more and more frequently. Both of them had been told a lie by the previous king who felt that he could not allow his daughter to marry a mere third son. Rarithlis, who had just heard of the deception, determined to make amends for his father's meddling. He also needed to know who was responsible for the assassination of the king and the attempted assassination of Rarithlis himself. If he didn't find the culprit, his beloved Thrisiara would be in danger as well. That provided the perfect opportunity - if Rarithlis sent his sister and his best friend to investigate together, they'd have to be together for an extended amount of time and would certainly find that they still loved each other if it were truly meant to be. Under duress, Mariliane and Iurain headed for the neighboring country of Nasstkin where they expected that the assassin came from. They even assented to a cover story that the two of them were eloping to circumvent her brother's wrath while he was busy with his wedding preparations. However, would anyone believe them? Could they catch the killer and protect the king and queen? And could they ever uncover the truth behind their heartbreak and love each other again?