Jessica Day George

The enchanting second book in bestselling author Jessica Day George's Twelve Dancing Princesses series is a Cinderella retelling that will sweep you off your feet! Hoping to escape the troubles in her kingdom, Princess Poppy reluctantly agrees to take part in a royal exchange program, where young princes and princesses travel to each other's countries in the name of better political alliances--and potential marriages. It's got the makings of a fairy...

In 1897, seventeen-year-olds Dacia and Lou, New York socialites and cousins, visit their maternal homeland of Romania and learn the family secret--that they are shapeshifters, expected to take their rightful places, marry proper husbands, and serve the Dracula family.

"After traveling to the seaside kingdom of Lilah's betrothed prince, Lulath, Celie and her companions are busy training griffins, enjoying wedding festivities, and finishing construction of a grand ship built from parts of the Castle. But on their maiden voyage, the Ship steers them far off course into uncharted waters"--

Eleven-year-old Princess Celie lives with her parents, the king and queen, and her brothers and sister at Castle Glower, which adds rooms or stairways or secret passageways most every Tuesday, and when the king and queen are ambushed while travelling, it is up to Celie -- the castle's favorite -- with her secret knowledge of its never-ending twists and turns, to protect their home and save their kingdom.

After discovering a giant egg in the magical Castle Glower, Princess Celie agrees to care for the egg and what creature it hatches.

When the dangerous ancient wizard Arkwright escapes the dungeon and goes missing within the Castle, Princess Celie must find the wizard and save her family.