Once upon a time there was a girl who slept by the hearth in the ashes, waiting for her chance to catch fire and burn. Ever since Stella's father died of an illness on a merchant trip, her life has been nothing but loneliness and misery, made even worse by her resentful stepmother, Natalia, who ignores her unless there are chores to be done. Stella dreams of escaping with her best friend Izzy-who has problems of her own-to explore the kingdom of Elaria. Her plans screech to a halt, however, when she overhears Natalia talking to a royal guard about a murder investigation: her father's. Suddenly, everything Stella has ever known about her life breaks into pieces of carefully constructed lies. Determined to prove her stepmother guilty, Stella teams up with Izzy and a few new allies to find her missing godmother and discover the truth-no matter the cost. This isn't the Cinderella story you know. Fairy tales collide and nothing is as it seems in this explosive first installment of the Elarian Chronicles from Emilee King. Full of sinister suspense and intriguing mystery, Pieces in the Cinders will have you turning pages until the very end as Stella puts the pieces together of what truly happened to her father all those years ago.