The Mystery Princess by Melanie Cellier

 As a teenager, Daria helped raise a group of orphans.  Later she became an attendant to Princess Snow. But when the deligation she is traveling is attacked from within, Daria flees and is taken in by a traveling merchant woman and her daughter. At first she stays with them to protect herself, but she eventually begins to see them as family.  Then, one day, young prince Percival joins their caravan, searching for the same group that had attacked Daria's retinue two years earlier.  Daria is amazed at his loyalty to his cause, but also at his attention to her.  When Daria has the chance to catch the man who is an enemy to both of them, she must decide if she will stay with her adopted family or risk everything for the man whe is beginning to love. 

This is the second in a spinoff series of the Four Kingdoms series I have already read.  I didn't realize it was the second, so there was some backstory I was definately missing as I read.  Still, this is an enjoyable fantasy romance, very much like the other Cellier books I have already read. Cellier is pretty good at making each of her princesses a little different.  Daria is sweet and insecure, the embodiment of the traditional Cinderella type.  It was fun to see the riffs that Cellier played on the orginial Cinderella trope, like how she worked in the pumpkin carriage, and the issue of shoes.  I will probably go and put the other books in the series on hold.  They are good, non-stressful fuff reads. (284 p. 2021)

p.s. I think it is interesting that the cover artist depicts Daria as black.  There is no indication in the text of any race, so there is no reason she couldn't be black.  Still, it is like someone complained that all their princesses were white and blond, so they just decided Daria was black.