Curse of SilenceA Retelling of The Goose Girl
A princess with a magic handkerchief. A flirtatious baron’s son. The maid who turned their world upside down.
As the possessor of her family’s handkerchief, Princess Daphne should be uncovering the truth behind her father’s murder. But she lacks confidence as a spy, and her mother is sending her off to a neighboring kingdom to look for a husband. It means months lost from her mission, but at least her faithful dog and best friend will be with her.
Raoul has been Daphne’s best friend since they were children. But she always laughs off his attempts to confess deeper feelings, and now his father has given him an ultimatum. She’s always been out of his reach, but if Raoul can’t change her mind in the next six months, he’ll lose what little chance he had.
When a kitchen maid catches Daphne alone, she steals the handkerchief and uses it to swap their appearances. The only way to undo it is for Daphne to tell someone who she is, but the curse prevents Daphne from both speaking and writing.
Will Daphne find a way to free herself from the curse? Or will the maid win, leaving Daphne a mute shepherdess forever?
Curse of Silence is a clean, no-spice retelling of The Goose Girl. It is part of The Roumaterra Chronicles, a series of interconnected, standalone fairy tale retellings perfect for readers of Brittany Fichter, Celeste Baxendell, and Annette K. Larsen.
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Erin Halbmaier
Erin Halbmaier is an author of clean fantasy romance and fairy-tale retellings, best known for The Roumaterra Chronicles. Her stories return to familiar tales such as Cinderella, Rumpelstiltskin, Sleeping Beauty, Robin Hood, and The Goose Girl, then weave them into a shared fantasy world where magic and adventure are closely tied to complicated relationships.
Halbmaier's fiction favors flawed characters and hard-earned happy endings. Romance plays an important role in her books, but her stories are written without explicit sexual content and with minimal violence. Rather than making love effortless, she often explores separation, misunderstandings, forgiveness, and the work required to repair damaged relationships.
The Roumaterra Chronicles
Familiar fairy tales take unexpected paths in The Roumaterra Chronicles, a collection of interconnected fantasy romance stories set across the kingdoms of Roumaterra. Cinderella crosses paths with Sleeping Beauty, Rumpelstiltskin shares a story with The Phantom of the Opera, and Robin Hood becomes entwined with Snow White and Rose Red, reshaping well-known tales into something distinctly their own.
The Roumaterra Chronicles consists of five primary books, and includes two additional books that complement the series but are not considered mandatory reads and series is set to expand with the upcoming release of one more book. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.
Reviews and Comments
This is the first book by Erin Halbmaier that I have read and I thought this was a really fun Retelling of The Goose Girl full of interesting characters that worked well as a standalone but is probably even better when you know the world better. I loved getting to know Raoul & Daphne in this story and their relationship while Daphne was River- Bug and unable to tell Raoul who she really was was entertaining. I look forward to exploring this series more and hope to discover the truth about what happened with Daphne's brother.
Steam Rating: Glimpses and Kisses


