The Golden Braid is a delightful retelling of the classic Rapunzel story. This version proves that the one who needs rescuing isn’t always the one in the tower.

Rapunzel is no ordinary girl. She can throw a knife better than any man and paints beautiful flowering vines on the walls of her plaster houses. Her voice is so sweet, it can coax even a beast to sleep. However, there are two things she fears her mother might never allow her to do: learn to read and marry.

Devoted fiercely to Rapunzel, her mother is suspicious of every man who so much as looks at her daughter, warning that no man can be trusted. After a young village farmer proposes to Rapunzel, her mother decides to move them to the large city of Hagenheim.

The journey to Hagenheim proves treacherous. Rapunzel is rescued by a knight—Sir Gerek. But in a twist of fate, Rapunzel rescues him later down the road. Grateful, Sir Gerek agrees to repay his debt by teaching Rapunzel to read. Could there be more to this knight than his arrogance and desire to marry for riches and position?

As Rapunzel adjusts to life in the new city, she uncovers a mystery that will forever change her life. In this unique retelling, a world of secrets and treachery is revealed after seventeen years of lies. How will Rapunzel finally take control of her own destiny? And who will prove faithful to a lowly peasant girl with no one to turn to?

Lady Evelyn’s life changed when her mother died and her step-mother Lady Cecilia entered her life. Everything became worse when her father died, leaving them in poverty. Her wicked step-mother decided to use Evelyn as a servant in their household. Evelyn was resigned to her fate and was just happy that she at least had her step-sister Lady Jane in her life. Until she met the Duke of Langley and spoke to him in the shadows.

The Duke of Langley, Julien, had no desire to remarry after his first wife jumped to her death from the balcony of their home. However, after losing the third governess for his children, his mother convinced him that finding himself a mother for his twins would be more permanent. Set out to find such a woman to act in the sole capacity of mother and nothing more, Julien found the perfect woman. Only she was a servant, way beneath him for marriage. And there was another huge problem—he had feelings for her. He did not want feelings in the equation.

Against the machinations of one wicked step-mother and an unfeeling mother; with expectations of marriage without love, would this maid be the next Duchess of Langley?