After breaking free of her evil stepfamily’s thrall, Ornella Dufreyne flees into Faerie, and ends up in the Winter Court. But when she interrupts her escape to thwart an assassination attempt on the King of Winter, they recapture her.All hope seems lost, until the Queen of Spring appears to make her an offer. At the Midwinter Ball, Ella has to monopolize King Yulian's attention, while others try to expose the would-be assassins. In exchange, the Queen will free her and bring her stepfamily to justice.At the Castle of Glass, she discovers Yulian is a kindred spirit who's crumbling under a curse that's turning him to ice. After he repays her life-debt, they grow closer, cooling her flaming fury and thawing his frigid state. But just as they start to believe they could be each other’s salvation, everything unravels when her stepmother’s plot to divide them unknowingly aids Yulian’s enemy. As danger encroaches, through untraceable whispers and haunted mirrors, inconceivable secrets long lost to the night are unveiled. And by the third strike of midnight, Ella must choose between the final chance to be free, or to save the only one whose life and love reflects her own.