The first rule of spellcasting is that there are no perfect spells.

Ariel, disgraced forest witch on the run from—well, that’s not relevant don’t worry about it—knows this all too well. If she wants her bread to rise evenly, the lemon she needs for her tart must grow a spot of mould; if she wants a leak-free barn roof, she needs to give it a secret every day; and if she wants to set wards around her cottage to keep the world at bay, there has to be a loophole. Once a year, Ariel must pick a name and promise that if that person shows up on her doorstep, she will play the perfect host for a season. It’s small price to pay for her beloved solitude, really.

Then Ariel runs out of names, and on a whim decides to put down someone real but unlikely: Percy Cannata. Renowned and beloved musician, and one of the most recognisable faces in the kingdom. An unlikely visitor he may be, but somehow, he shows up anyway. And Ariel’s orderly life is thrown into chaos.

Percy is too cheerful, too trusting, too handsome to fit into Ariel’s secluded life and routine. But she’s bound by her spell, and as Ariel begrudgingly entertains him through snowstorms, an impossible quantity of baked goods, and escape-prone chickens, Percy begins to crack the walls Ariel has worked so hard to put up. Soon Ariel begins to see that Percy is running from his own demons, and starts to wonder if happiness isn't its own kind of magic. If it is, the price may be letting someone in—and to do so, Ariel may have to risk not only her heart, but the secret she’s sworn to protect…