The Ice Wedding — Nancy A. Collins

The Russian Empress Anna Ioannovna, famous for her cruel practical jokes and capricious nature, decides to ruin the life of a nobleman by first commanding him to serve as her jester on the day of his wife's death, then, later, marrying him to her chambermaid. She promises to give the newlyweds their freedom if they agree to spend one night in the wedding cottage she has built for them. However, the cottage, and everything in it, is made of ice, and Russia is in the grips of the coldest winter on record. Award-winning writer Nancy A. Collins presents a Gothic fairytale based on historical events guaranteed to send a shiver up your spine.