The whispers were scandalous. The truth was worse… They would always choose the Crown over their family.

It was the pact they made for the honour of wearing it. It’s New Year’s Day and Lexi Villiers is about to kiss her best friend for the very first time under the dawn light in Tasmania. But by midnight, everything will change.

Always destined to be the spare, following her estranged brother’s death, Lexi will arrive in London as Princess Alexandrina, first-in-line to the British throne. But the palace waters are treacherous, rumours are rife, and selling each other’s secrets is a family tradition. And with the Crown just beyond her grasp, Lexi must choose what bonds she will keep…and what she is willing to leave behind.