A bakers apprentice reluctantly embarks on an adventure full of magic, new friendships, and a prince in distress in this deliciously romantic young adult fantasy thats perfect for fans of Margaret Rogerson and Gail Carson Levine.Its not all sugar and spice at Basils Bakery, where seventeen-year-old Aurelie is an overworked, underappreciated apprentice. Still, the job offers stability, which no-nonsense Aurelie values highly, so she keeps her head down and doesnt dare to dream biguntil a stranger walks in and hands her a set of Seeking stones. In a country where Seeking was old-fashioned even before magic went out of style, its a rare skill, but Aurelie has it. The stranger, who turns out to be a remarkably bothersome bounty hunter named Iliana, asks for Aurelies help rescuing someone from the dangerous Underwoodwhich sounds suspiciously like an adventure. When the someone turns out to be Prince Hapless, the charming-but-aptly-named prince, Aurelies careful life is upended. Suddenly, she finds herself on a quest filled with magic portals, a troll older than many trees (and a few rocks), and dangerous palace intrigue. Even more dangerous are the feelings shes starting to have for Hapless. The more time Aurelie spends with him, the less she can stand the thought of going back to her solitary but dependable life at the bakery. Must she choose between losing her apprenticeshipor her heart?

 

 

This book is aimed at children at US 7th grade+.

This book has been graded for interest at 12-18 years.

There are 384 pages in this book.

It is aimed at Young Adult readers. The term Young Adult (YA) is used for books which have the following characteristics: (1) aimed at ages 12-18 years, US grades 7-12, UK school years 8-15, (2) around 50-75k words long, (3) main character is aged 12-18 years, (4) topics include self-reflection, internal conflict vs external, analyzing life and its meaning, (5) point of view is often in the first person, and (6) swearing, violence, romance and sexuality are allowed.

This book was published in 2023 by Simon & Schuster .

Emma Mills is the author of First & Then and This Adventure Ends . She lives in Indianapolis, where she is currently pursuing a PhD in cell biology.