Saving Marilee

Mr. Sutton seems all that is kind and good, but that's what Marilee thought of her late husband. And she refuses to live that way again.

Marriage wasn't bliss—not for Princess Marilee. Instead of finding contentment with the handsome son of a sovereign duke, she found betrayal and neglect. And fear. A fear that finally lifts when her husband dies, freeing her from his domineering hand. But freedom alone can't give her peace, and she must battle to regain her love for life, rebuild her happiness, and reclaim the ability to trust.

When her charming neighbor intrudes on her quiet life, she must determine whether or not his interest is genuine, and if he deserves the fragile bit of trust she has managed to scrape together. However, trusting is a risk, and she has vowed never to put herself at the mercy of someone else's whims. Can Marilee take that chance, knowing how terribly she's chosen before? She doesn't know if she can survive being wrong again.

Her recovery is messy, but it's real. It's raw but full of hope. Teens, young adults, and new adults can all find great value in this story. It's a story about a woman who tells the truth about her situation and refuses to keep quiet about it. A woman who takes back her power and then somehow learns to trust again. It's about women banding together, believing one another, and becoming stronger. And of course it's a love story. It's a sweet, clean romance that takes an honest look at emotional trauma and treats it with the care it deserves.

For all those who have suffered in silence, no matter the hardship. Everyone deserves a voice.

Saving Marilee is part of the Dalthia series, but each book has a different main character and can be read as a stand alone. Not quite historical, but not quite fantasy, this inspirational fairy-tale-without-the-fairies series gives a nod to the medieval, a wink to the renaissance and blows a kiss to teens, tweens, young adults and women who love stories set in kingdoms and castles.