months later the king returned home and presented his astonished queen with not one but nine baby girls one from each kingdom i visited said the king they are orphans the queen wept joyously at the row of cradles each bearing a sleeping infant after bestowing a kiss on each childs forehead she said now they are princessesbook 1 maelyn was not born a princess the king found her as a child the lone survivor of a poor village slaughtered by the red fever suddenly she became a princess of runa realm the first of nine orphans adopted by the kingby her eighteenth year maelyn rules over runa and a family of nine sisters but some call the princesses frauds and imposters a handful of urchins raised into royalty even uncle jarrod the high king of grunwold seems determined to prove that maelyn no longer deserves to be a princess with a family losing faith in her and a kingdom growing dangerously hostile even maelyn begins to wonder if she is truly a real princess and if her riches will turn to rags once againthe nine princesses novellas is a series that chronicles the adventures of an unconventional family of princesses the struggles they face in a kingdom often hostile to their humble origins and the daytoday dramas of nine young women whose personalities often clash like swords fans of gail carson levine and shannon hale would enjoy this youngadult series recommended for ages 12 and up authors notealthough this novella features a royal family formed by international adoption it is more than an adoption story it is a comingofage story about a teenage princess a medieval romance and a youngadult fantasy if you like fairy tales for adults or simply enjoy a good princess book youll love maelyn and the other books in this princess series