The Masked Princess

A new fantasy romance serial, updating every Monday and Thursday

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  • Epilogue

    ByMelody Crane

    As Annalise looked out over the Dovean court room, she wondered for the thousandth time if she was dreaming. The reassuring presence of the throne at her back comforted her; its cold stone was a reminder of the many generations before who’d sat there and doled out judgments to the kingdom–some for better and others…

  • Chapter 58

    ByMelody Crane

    Soren held Annalise until the last of Nelan’s guards stopped twitching and then, as everyone stared in shock at the deceased king, he picked up his sword and pulled her behind him. “Soren, what are you doing?” Annalise asked, one hand steadying herself against his back. During the gruesome display, Priscilla and Elsabeth had drawn…

  • Chapter 57

    ByMelody Crane

    Nelan’s snide voice broke through Annalise’s golden haze. “She’s healed you?”  A large hand grabbed her by the arm and jerked her to her feet, away from Soren. Annalise cried out at the rough handling. Nelan’s face was twisted in hate and rage. The sudden sight of him reminded Annalise of everything he’d put her…

Annalise is a princess doomed to a life alone. Cursed by her mother’s dying words, her very touch is deadly.


Soren is the son of the High General and has loved Annalise ever since they played together in the castle gardens as children. After making his name sailing the high seas, he’s returned to ask her to marry him.

When a rival kingdom calls in a long-forgotten betrothal, Annalise is forced to marry a king she’s never met to save her country from going to war. Instead of receiving Annalise’s hand in marriage, Soren is assigned to guard her on the journey to her new home.

As her wedding date draws near and her feelings for Soren grow, Annalise must choose between her duty to her people and her duty to her heart.


Her touch may be lethal, but she holds the fate of two kingdoms in her hands.

FAQs

Once, years ago, I ran across a writing prompt on Instagram that was cross-posted from Tumblr that struck me. I can’t remember the exact prompt (A cursed princess? A woman doomed to wear a mask? It’s been a LONG time but if you’ve seen it/know what I’m talking about PLEASE send me a screenshot so I can give the prompt originator credit), but the concept turned into a little brain worm that I could never quite get rid of.

I’ve always loved fantasy books as well as movies such as The Princess Bride and Stardust, and one of my favorite FMCs of all time is Eowyn from Lord of the Rings (Return of the King, Appendix A, is criminally underrated and under-read). When I finally had some free time, I decided that it was time I wrote the story that had bugged me for years, and The Masked Princess was born.

Yes! Each chapter will be free to read.

New chapters release every Monday and Thursday.

At this time, I don’t! I am fortunate to be financially stable without income from writing and wanted to give back to the book community (and hopefully draw new readers to the community!), by keeping The Masked Princess free.

I may eventually offer an epub file for sale for those who wish to be able to read the entire story in a book format offline, but that is very far down the road. I do also have plans in the works for eventually selling paperbacks and hardcover copies for those who wish for something physical to sit on a shelf. If that’s something you’re interested in, you can sign up for my newsletter here.

The Masked Princess is a fantasy romance serial of novel length.

Fantasy romance is exactly that–a romance set within a fantasy setting.

Romantasy, which is a portmanteau of the words “Romantic fantasy” is a fantasy story with a substantial romance subplot.

The fantasy romance vs Romantasy debate has been ongoing nearly as long as the genres have been around and has only intensified since the rise of the popularity of Romantasy books.

While there are two camps for which genre has more romance vs fantasy, I personally ascribe to the belief that the naming conventions for the genre are the same as for naming food–that is, that the descriptive words comes first. For example, if I say “orange chocolate” you probably think of chocolate with an orange flavoring or color, while if I say “chocolate orange” you’re probably wondering why I covered an orange (the fruit) with chocolate (additional flavoring).

Long story short: for the purposes of anything I write, Fantasy Romance = romance first and fantasy second, while Romantasy (aka, romantic fantasy) = fantasy first and romance second.

Yes, and I’m glad you asked! Below is the content warnings list for The Masked Princess:

Pregnancy, miscarriage, stillbirth, birth complications and death (none by FMC), physical assault, emotional abuse, implications of physical abuse (none on page), kidnapping, torture (none performed by MMC)

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