Petals wilt. Thorns bleed.
In marrying the prince, Elvira would fulfill the last and only duty owed to her late mother. This season marks her debut into society, and she is determined to triumph in winning the prince's heart.
But such a dream proves to be far-fetched when she has always been overshadowed by her charming sister, who commands the attention of every chamber she strides into, leaving Elvira to trail behind as the ghost of her brilliance.
When the debut ball goes terribly, she realizes she has no choice but to seek other ways to secure her goals. In her desperation, Elvira makes a bargain with a cursed man who claims to be trapped within the walls of a library, a wilting rose counting his days.
She breaks his curse; he helps her marry the prince.
But the more time Elvira spends with the caustic, mysterious man, the more she realizes how perilous his secrets may be . . . and that she
might have more to do with his past than she thought.
Worse still, she slowly begins questioning her own desires - are they objects of her passion or merely duty weighing down on her?
How far is Elvira willing to go for a dream that perhaps never belonged to her?
