Plotting Her Ruin, Freezing My Knees

Briska Karsev is the prickliest, proudest woman in the frozen city of Glazov. Her life is a meticulously balanced house of cards: hiding her family's absolute destitution, forging her late father's decrees, and fiercely protecting her sickly younger brother. When a bizarrely aggressive delivery of screaming ice-mandrakes destroys her foyer, it brings 'Mischa' into her life - a bumbling, sympathetic scribe who quickly becomes her only confidant. But Mischa is actually Mirek Danilov, the ruthless survivor of a house Briska's father supposedly bankrupted years ago. Mirek's plan? Infiltrate her lonely life, become indispensable, and publicly shatter her at the Winter Gala. His revenge goes off without a hitch. The trap springs, her darkest secrets are bared to the high nobility, and she is ruined. There is just one problem: Mirek immediately realizes his victory tastes like ash. His lavish flat feels empty without her biting insults, and he is agonizingly in love with her. Now, the most feared man in Glazov is freezing his knees off in a snowdrift outside her slum door, begging for forgiveness. But with Briska's trusted cousin pulling strings in the shadows, will Mirek survive his own pathetic groveling phase long enough to save her?