Both a school and a business venture, the Glittering Court is designed to transform impoverished girls into upper-class ladies who appear destined for powerful marriages in the New World. Adelaide naturally excels in her training, and even makes a few friends: fiery Tamsin and beautiful Mira. She manages to keep her true identity hidden from all but one: Cedric Thorn, son of the wealthy proprietor of the Glittering Court. When Adelaide discovers that Cedric is hiding a dangerous secret of his own, together they hatch a scheme to make the best of Adelaide's deception. Complications soon arise--first as they cross the treacherous seas from Osfrid to Adoria, and then when Adelaide catches the attention of a powerful governor. But no complication will prove quite as daunting as the potent attraction simmering between Adelaide and Cedric. An attraction that, if acted on, would scandalize the Glittering Court and make them both outcasts in wild, vastly uncharted lands.

For a select group of girls, the Glittering Court offers a shot at a life they've only ever dreamed of, one of luxury, glamour, and leisure. To high-born Adelaide, whose wealthy family is forcing her into a loveless marriage, the Glittering Court represents something else -- the chance to chart her own destiny, and adventure in an unspoiled, prosperous new land across the sea. After a chance meeting with the dazzling Cedric Thorn, Adelaide poses as a servant to join the crop of impoverished girls he promises to transform into proper ladies. But her familiarity with upper class life comes with a price -- she must hide her identity from her new friends, mysterious refugee Mira and fiery former laundress Tamsin, and most importantly, from Cedric himself -- even though she's falling in love with him. Everything begins to crumble when Cedric discovers Adelaide's ruse, and she catches the eye of a powerful young governor, who wants her for a wife. She didn't leave the gilded cage of her old

Tamsin Wright will do anything to reach the Glittering Court's top ranks and, even after a shipwreck exposes her to new cultures and beliefs, holds tight to the secret that would unravel everything if uncovered.