Coronets and Steel - Tapa dura

In this new fantasy series, a young woman takes her own destiny by the hand-and the hilt.

California girl Kim Murray is unsatisfied with grad school and restless in life. Modern men disappoint her, and she studies ballet and fencing because they remind her of older, more romantic times.

She lives with her parents and her beloved but secretive aristocratic grandmother, who speaks only French and refuses to share stories about the mysterious family she left behind in Europe, inspiring Kim to travel there and find her roots.

Kim soon finds herself swept up in an adventure of fantastic deceptions and passionate intrigue-and a shocking realization about her own bloodline that leaves her reeling.

Sherwood Smith is the author of fantasy and Young Adult novels. She lives in Westminster, California.