A Curse of Roses
SynopsisPlot
With just one touch, bread turns into roses. With just one bite, cheese turns into lilies. There’s a famine plaguing the land, and Princess Yzabel is wasting food simply by trying to eat. Before she can even swallow, her magic―her curse―has turned her meal into a bouquet. She’s on the verge of starving, which only reminds her that the people of Portugal have been enduring the same pain for years. If only it were possible to reverse her magic. Then she could turn flowers into food. Fatyan, a beautiful Enchanted Moura, is the only one who can help. But she is trapped by magical binds. She can teach Yzabel how to control her curse―if Yzabel sets her free with a kiss. As the King of Portugal’s betrothed, Yzabel would be committing treason, but what good is a king if his country has starved to death?
Story
About this book
A Curse of Roses is a historical fantasy by Diana Pinguicha, built on Portuguese legend. Princess Yzabel carries an unwanted magic: food changes the moment she touches it, so bread becomes roses and cheese becomes lilies. She is close to starving, and the country around her is enduring a famine that has lasted years. Her power destroys what everyone needs most.
Yzabel wonders whether the magic could work in reverse, turning flowers into food. The only person who might teach her is Fatyan, an Enchanted Moura, a figure from Iberian folklore who is held by magical bonds. Fatyan offers instruction in exchange for release, and that release requires a kiss. Since Yzabel is betrothed to the King of Portugal, such an act would count as treason.
The novel is set in medieval Portugal and draws on the miracle of the roses, a story long attached to Isabel of Aragon, who became queen consort there. Pinguicha reworks that material into a tale of hunger, duty to a crown, and affection that royal politics does not allow. It is presented as an OwnVoices historical fantasy, a label used when an author shares an identity with the characters.
