An alternate history American monarchy where a girl grapples for control of her own life in the middle of a looming war. The year is 1893, and war is brewing in the First American Kingdom. But Claire Emerson has a bigger problem. While her father prepares to reveal the mighty weapon he’s created to showcase the might of their province, St. Cloud, in the World’s Fair, Claire is crafting a plan to escape. Claire’s father is a sought-after inventor, but he believes his genius is a gift, granted to him by his daughter’s touch. He’s kept Claire under his control for years. As St. Cloud prepares for war, Claire plans to claim her life for herself, even as her best friend, Beatrix, tries to convince her to stay and help with the growing resistance movement that wants to see a woman on the throne. At any cost. When her father’s weapon fails to fire on the fair’s opening day, Claire is taken captive by Governor Remy Duchamp, St. Cloud’s young, untried ruler. Remy believes that Claire’s touch bestows graces he’s never had, and with his governing power weakening and many political rivals planning his demise, Claire might be his only and best ally. But the last thing that Claire has ever wanted is to be someone else’s muse. Still, affections can change as quickly as the winds of war. And Claire has a choice to make: Will she quietly remake her world from the shadows—or bring it down in flames?

New York Times bestselling author Brittany Cavallaro delivers the thrilling conclusion to her YA duology set in an alternate history American monarchy in which a girl fighting for her own freedom sets out to change the government from within . . . or burn it all down. For the first time in her life, Claire Emerson isn’t under a man’s control. She’s escaped from her dangerous father and no longer forced to act as his muse, granting inspiration for his deadly inventions. And her fiancé, Governor Remy Duchamp, is too weak from an attempted assassination to rule. All eyes fall on Claire—and the power she could wield. But that power is precarious as she and Remy are leading St. Cloud in exile after the General’s attempted coup. And when King Washington descends on the small province, he brings with him his baseball team, Claire’s brother, and a proximity to power Claire has never dreamed of. With few allies to support her, she determines her best chance at survival is earning the King’s good graces. Claire’s schemes quickly get out of hand—reminding her that it isn’t about who holds the power. It’s about a system that grants such power to a select few, and the men who built it that way. Claire isn’t anyone’s muse, and if she can’t fix the system from within, she’s determined to be the spark of revolution in the First American Kingdom.