Born For Marble

The gripping new fantasy romance in USA TODAY bestselling author Nicci Harris’s Cradled Common series about a young queen determined for her rule to become legend, and the stoic warrior guardian sworn to protect her, whose forbidden love shatters both their defenses as war looms on the horizon…

“Take no man. Bear no children. I am the Queen of the Cradle.” In the dystopian land of The Cradle, ten-year-old Tuscany begins her reign. Crowned as Queen and Mother, she endures harsh medical treatments designed to carve a living deity worthy of the people's reverence. Nurture. Inspire. Endure. That is her Meaningful Purpose. But Tuscany is more human than previous queens, becoming trapped in a cycle of mental instability, memory loss, and age regression. Before she fades away, her father is killed, and her beloved brother takes the throne, granting her a Guardian to protect, guide, and sacrifice himself for her. Kong the Unbreakable is a seven-foot-tall Guardian with a stoic demeanour and a heart torn between loyalty and honour. As he stands watch at her door, night after night, he quietly falls in love with the girl hidden behind it, the one too afraid to step outside and be strong. When Tuscany finally leads a campaign into the desert with Kong at her side, she tastes freedom for the first time. With each step away from her gilded cage, the closer she becomes to her stoic Guardian, and the fiercer her vows and her heart battle within her. In the Cradle, love is not the goal; it is the rebellion. * Warning: The Cradled Common is a series of interconnecting-standalones. Born For Marble can be read as a standalone but will be best enjoyed after reading Born For Silk—Tuscany’s brother's story.

© 2025 Simon Maverick (Audiobook): 9781668141182

Release date

Audiobook: 25 November 2025