Widowsbloom by E Marszalek

He is the kingdom’s sharpest blade. She is the one thing he cannot control.

Elodie Hawthorne is a quiet, unassuming plant scientist. She finds comfort in the small things in life — strong coffee, a job she loves, and the steady companionship of her best friend. But when a routine task at work ends with her falling through a gate that should never have opened, she is torn from everything she knows and thrust into a land that feels like a dark fairytale.
Greyhollow is a kingdom rotting from the inside out. Its gates are sealed. Its magic has withered. And the last hope of survival vanished years ago.
Rowan Ashford is disciplined, controlled, and bound by duty. He doesn’t make mistakes. He does not lose control. And he certainly doesn’t get distracted. At least he didn’t — until Elodie. As whispers spread through the castle and long-buried magic begins to stir, one question follows her like a shadow:
How much is she willing to lose to get back home?
And more dangerously …
Why did the gates open for her?
Now Elodie must decide if she is merely a piece in someone else’s puzzle or the hero Greyhollow has been waiting for.