Wicked Darlings

With their inheritance restricted until their marriage, sisters Clara and Louisa, both in their twenties, must live with their godfather Drosselmeyer. One night, an accident brings to life one of the strange wooden dolls in Drosselmeyer's mansion. The Nutcracker doll is a cursed Fae prince, and he pleads for the sisters' help. During the ensuing journey into the Fae realm, Clara encounters the handsome Sugarplum Faerie, and he promises her the chance to enact all her forbidden fantasies.

Just as Clara and her sister are settling into their new life, Drosselmeyer sends a desperate message to the Seelie Court. With Lir and Louisa occupied elsewhere, Clara and Finias (the Sugarplum Faerie) have no choice but to respond and forge deep into Unseelie Territory, where a cruel Queen, known as the Eater of Hearts, has taken the throne. As they infiltrate the Court of Dread, Finias and Clara are forced to keep their relationship a secret. Meanwhile, the ravenous victims of the Queen, called the Heartless, turn the Unseelie kingdom into a far more dangerous place than usual.

Following her departure from Faerie, Alice tries to adjust to the rhythm of her old life. But confusing emotions draw her into a new venture with Dorothy, a girl from a neighboring farm. When the pair are transported to a whole new part of Faerie, Alice encounters former acquaintances who, like her, haven't moved past what transpired in the Unseelie kingdom.

As the King and Queen of the Seelie Court of Delight, Lir and Louisa travel to the prison of Griem Dorcha to hear the cases of the Unseelie Fae that Drosselmeyer freed from his mansion. But when their journey takes an unexpected turn, they are trapped in an icy stronghold and forced to play a twisted game. As the stakes rise higher, Louisa must confront her deepest doubts about her marriage and her worst fears about life in Faerie—as well as some harsh truths about herself.