A princess without a throne. An ill-used daughter running out of time. A huntsman under a wicked curse. An evil ice queen who will stop at nothing to change everything. Each entangled in the Curse of the Seven Kingdoms. Crown Princess Winterberry of Canens has fled her home and the stepmother who tried to assassinate her. Uncertain whom to trust, and trusting herself least of all, she strikes out alone into enemy land. Despite her noble birth, Ella Saevus of Ardor lives a humble life. After her father's untimely death, the patriarchal laws of Ardor make it nearly impossible for Ella to run the family business breeding and selling horses. As the laws of inheritance close in around her, Winterberry, ill and battered, shows up on Ella's doorstep. Close on the princess' heels comes the Queen's Huntsman, who has been cursed to track his prey until its heart stops beating-and he never fails to catch it. But this time his prey is human. And he is determined to deliver the princess' heart to Queen Blanche's waiting hands. Finding unexpected safety in the land of her enemy, Winter is faced with an impossible decision: return home to certain execution, abandon her people to Blanche's cruelty, or turn her greatest enemy into her greatest ally.