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  • Jacque Stevens
  • Borderland Brides Fairytale Retellings
  • The Shadow Bride

The Shadow Bride: A Twelve Dancing Princesses Retelling

Borderland Brides Fairytale Retellings #2 / 2
by Jacque Stevens
The Shadow Bride: A Twelve Dancing Princesses Retelling (Borderland Brides Fairytale Retellings #2) by Jacque Stevens
⧗ 9.26 / 4
12345671819210

A jaded hero determined to retire. A stubborn princess with an unbreakable curse. She could never hope to fill her sister’s shoes . . . at least not without a little magic.

After her twin sister was stolen in the night, Princess Lillian of Umbrae tried to be the perfect daughter and make up for everything her family lost. And when that didn’t work, she made a deal with a shadowy fae prince. But the deal Lily made isn’t working out quite the way she thought it would. And as she is drawn to dance in a twilight kingdom night after night, her family only grows more destressed.

Finding her true love might break her curse, but if eleven identical princesses made of shadow magic weren’t enough to make up for the one who was lost, how can Lily ever hope to find someone who can be satisfied with her alone? Especially after her unstable grandfather, the king, determines that the next would-be hero who attempts to break her curse will risk losing his head completely?

The Shadow Bride is a romantic and comedic fantasy inspired by the Twelve Dancing Princesses.

This is the second installment of The Borderland Brides, a series of interconnected standalone novels. Each new story takes inspiration from a different fairytale couple as the human kingdoms become more entangled with the Fae Courts just outside their borders.

Also known as The Swan Bride Book 2.
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FantasyYoung AdultRomanceRomantasyRetellingsFairy Tale RetellingsShapeshiftersFae
Release date: March 13, 2026

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Jacque Stevens

Jacque Stevens has always been drawn to stories where shadows hold secrets and love has to fight to survive. Long before she became a USA Today bestselling author, she was a nursing student scribbling chapters between shifts, escaping into worlds filled with fae bargains, broken crowns, and the kind of magic that comes at a cost. What began as a quiet act of relief soon grew into a passion that shaped her life and an entire library of fantasy retellings that breathe new life into old legends.

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Raised under the open skies of Arizona and now settled in Utah, Jacque grew up surrounded by tales that never quite ended the way she hoped. She found herself rewriting them in her mind, wondering what happened after the glass slipper fit or the curse was broken. Those early musings became the foundation of her signature style: emotionally grounded fairy-tale retellings that blur the line between hope and heartbreak.

Her acclaimed HighTower Fairytales series reimagines classics like Cinderella, Swan Lake, and Beauty and the Beast through characters who are imperfect, resilient, and deeply human. In stories such as Letters by Cinderlight and The Swan Bride, magic becomes both a gift and a test, forcing her heroes and heroines to confront the very things they wish to escape. Readers often describe her writing as "noblebright," a world where darkness exists, but light always finds a way through.

When she is not building new kingdoms or untangling ancient curses, Jacque works as an editor, helping other writers find their voice. She still carries that same quiet wonder she had when she wrote her first novel by lamplight, the belief that even the most familiar stories can surprise you if told from the right heart.

Jacque Stevens continues to craft tales that blend myth and emotion, reminding readers that courage often hides in the softest moments and that sometimes, the greatest magic is choosing to hope.

Borderland Brides Fairytale Retellings

Step across the boundary where human kingdoms brush against the hidden realms of the fae, and you enter a world where familiar fairy tales are rewritten in shadows and starlight. In Borderland Brides Fairytale Retellings, magic is both beautiful and dangerous, love is tangled with duty, and every choice carries weight beyond what the eye can see.

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Each story reimagines a classic tale, from swan maidens and dancing princesses to enchanted slippers, but never in ways you expect. Heroes wrestle with secrets and curses, heroines confront their own strength and desires, and the fae courts hover at the edge of wonder and menace. The landscapes shimmer with moonlit lakes, echoing ballrooms, and forest paths that lead to both danger and discovery, creating a world that feels alive and perilous, yet irresistibly enchanting.

In The Swan Bride, a maiden’s stolen magic gives her a second chance at life, but it comes at a cost. The Storybook Bride twirls through obsession and ambition, showing how even the smallest wishes can carry profound consequences. In The Shadow Bride, cursed dances and missing sisters pull characters into a web of intrigue and sacrifice, where bravery and love are tested at every turn.

Though still a young series, it has already captivated readers who crave lyrical fantasy, romantic tension, and the dark whimsy of fae-infused storytelling. With every tale, the series lingers in the mind like a half-remembered dream, exploring the costs of magic, the strength of the heart, and the blurred line between myth and reality.

For readers of fairy tale retellings who appreciate magic that bites as well as charms, Borderland Brides Fairytale Retellings offers an atmospheric escape into worlds both familiar and strange, where every twist of a story brings wonder, peril, and the subtle ache of longing.


Borderland Brides Fairytale Retellings consists of one primary book, and includes one additional book that complement the series but is not considered mandatory reads and series is set to expand with the upcoming release of one more book. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.

The Swan Bride: A Swan Lake Retelling (Borderland Brides Fairytale Retellings #1)
★ 10.00 / 1
The Storybook Bride: A Red Shoes Retelling (Borderland Brides Fairytale Retellings #1.5)
★ 10.00 / 2
The Shadow Bride: A Twelve Dancing Princesses Retelling (Borderland Brides Fairytale Retellings #2)
⧗ 9.26 / 4


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