Frozen by Stardust

The fifth installment in the Beasts of the Briar fantasy romance series continues the story of Rosalina O'Connell, a half-fae woman and daughter of the missing Queen Aurelia of the Enchanted Vale, a magical realm divided into four seasonal kingdoms united under a great tree called Castletree. Rosalina is fated mates with five fae princes: Keldarion of Winter, Ezryn of Spring, Dayton of Summer, Farron of Autumn, and Caspian, the Prince of Thorns, son of the villainous Sira, Queen of the Below. In the previous book, Dayton was killed by the Bow of Radiance, a divine weapon wielded by Wrenley, Caspian's adopted sister known as the Nightingale, who acts under Sira's magical control. Farron secretly used a mysterious power called the Green Flame, inherited from Caspian's godlike father, Malekai Furiondemius (the Baron of the Green Flame), to resurrect Dayton. Caspian saved Rosalina from Sira's dungeon using his bargain magic to transport her to Winter, but the act left him imprisoned in the Below, Sira's dark underground realm.

A prologue set in the distant past shows Sira despairing over her inability to create anything beautiful with a rose she stole from the Gardens of Ithilias. Every creature she makes emerges monstrous. A fae follower named Faustrius offers himself as raw material for her experiments, setting in motion the creation of beings central to the story's conflict.

The novel opens with Farron, Dayton, and Ezryn recapturing Florendel, the Spring Realm's capital, from a hostile occupation. Ezryn reclaims the Sword of the Protector, a divine weapon, but refuses to retake the throne, installing Lady Tilla as steward. Meanwhile, Rosalina arrives at Keep Wolfhelm, Keldarion's fortress in Winter, and urges him to trust Caspian and break his curse by completing their mate bond. Keldarion refuses, convinced by a vision that Caspian plans to enslave Rosalina. During their argument, Keldarion involuntarily transforms into his wolf form in daylight, revealing his curse is worsening.

Rosalina's father, George, an archaeologist, is restoring fragments of a magical rose that could allow its wielder to control Sira's creations. He reveals that Aurelia remains Sira's prisoner because she traded her freedom to prevent Rosalina from belonging to Sira.

In the Below, Caspian endures imprisonment while resisting the Baron's voice urging him to accept the Green Flame. Wrenley rescues him, and Ezryn arrives to help them escape. Wrenley confesses that Sira controls her through Aurelia's bargain, then disappears, vowing to kill Sira herself. Ezryn brings Caspian to Keep Wolfhelm despite Keldarion's objections.

At Castletree, Rosalina and Dayton discover the castle is deteriorating, with wings frozen over, choked by carnivorous plants, or harboring the Green Flame's presence. Staff members are losing control of their cursed animal forms during the day. When confronted about Dayton's eyes flashing green, Caspian falsely claims he used the Green Flame to resurrect Dayton, shielding Farron. Only Ezryn learns the truth.

A horned assassin infiltrates Keep Wolfhelm and attacks George. The princes struggle to subdue the attacker until Caspian uses shadow magic to bind him. The dying assassin speaks of "the Elderblood," fae transformed long ago by Sira, and carries maps of Mount Rhuvenmark, a dormant volcano, and tunnels beneath the Great Chasm. Rosalina rallies the princes, and all five pledge to follow her into war.

At Voidseal Bridge, the fortified crossing over the Great Chasm, Caspian clears hidden tunnels revealing a massive war camp. Keldarion and Rosalina lead a diplomatic envoy and meet Faustrius, now the Chasm Master, who reveals the underfae are the Elderblood: fae once of the Above, the lost upper realm from which all fae descended, whom Sira transformed using the stolen rose. The first High Prince of Winter froze them in ice thousands of years ago, and the chasm's creation freed them. Faustrius demands all of Winter as repentance. Perth Quellos, a traitorous former vizier allied with Sira, appears, negotiations collapse, and battle erupts.

Sira arrives and kills Irahn, Keldarion's uncle and the bridge's warden. During the fighting, Rosalina transfers the blessing of Spring, the magical mantle of the Spring Realm, back to Ezryn. He accepts it, and his curse simultaneously breaks, his wolf transforming from a creature of rot into one adorned with living flowers. Ezryn replenishes Rosalina's depleted magic, enabling her to transform surviving soldiers into snowy owls for evacuation. When the bridge is overwhelmed, Ezryn collapses the entire structure into the chasm, destroying the underfae army. Rosalina uses her magical briars to transport the princes to safety.

Keldarion grieves Irahn as the last of his bloodline. The princes gradually draw Caspian into their brotherhood. Keldarion organizes the Festival of Tales, a celebration of storytelling dedicated to Rosalina, and decides to tear down Keep Wolfhelm's defensive wall, reconnecting with his people.

When Rosalina's closest friend, Astrid, becomes trapped in her hare form, the urgency of breaking Keldarion's curse intensifies. Smoke rising from Mount Rhuvenmark prompts the group to investigate. Inside they find Sira, Faustrius, and a chained Kairyn, Ezryn's younger brother. Sira uses her last rose petal to transform Kairyn into an Elderblood. Caspian shatters a vial of liquid flame meant to trigger the eruption, but a few drops reach the lava, beginning the volcano's awakening. Farron unleashes the Green Flame to kill Perth Quellos in a display that disturbs the other princes.

Keldarion and Caspian confess they still love each other and reconcile. All six gather at Castletree, together as a family for the first time. But just as Keldarion prepares to break his curse, Sira invades Keep Wolfhelm with a mind-controlled Wrenley wielding the Bow of Radiance. Wrenley had earlier sensed Kairyn's transformation, revealing a mate bond between them. Kairyn now uses that bond to break Sira's mental hold long enough for Wrenley to shatter the Bow with Faustrius's black sword, permanently destroying it.

To save Wrenley from Sira's command to kill herself, Caspian offers to take his sister's place in the bargain, giving Sira full control over him. Sira commands him to embrace the Green Flame, and Caspian is consumed. He kills guards and possesses Dayton and Farron, turning them against Ezryn. Rosalina stops Keldarion from killing Caspian and transports them to Mount Rhuvenmark, where she negotiates with the possessed Caspian, promising to come to him as a thrall once Keldarion breaks his curse. Caspian departs to the Below. Farron breaks free of Caspian's control with the Baron's help and uses a bargain with Dayton to free Dayton as well.

Keldarion addresses his people, then proposes to Rosalina and marries her that evening. That night, they consummate their bond, breaking his curse and unleashing his full power. The bargain activates, pulling Rosalina into the Below as Caspian's thrall. Mount Rhuvenmark erupts, and the four remaining princes combine their powers to halt it: Keldarion pulls massive ice-covered boulders from the sky, Farron rams them into the volcano's opening, Ezryn holds the earth together, and Dayton shields against fireballs. George discovers mythkarite, legendary ore from the Above, within one of the boulders, providing the material needed to restore the rose and forge a new divine weapon.

In the epilogue, the possessed Caspian finds Rosalina unconscious in a cave in Cryptgarden, his palace in the Below. He plans to use her to conquer the Enchanted Vale and destroy both Sira and the Baron. As Rosalina stirs, he tells her to rest, declaring she is home.