In a world where male children are rare, a man is a valuable commodity — to be sold to the highest bidder....

It isn't easy being the oldest boy in a house run by women — especially for Jerin Whistler. The grand-matriarchs of his clan are descended from soldiers, spies, and thieves. That's partly what's kept their family alive in the wilderness. But it also means Jerin's doomed to marry the girls next door — a fate he's convinced is worse than death. But Jerin gets in even worse trouble when, in the process of a daring rescue, he falls in love with a royal princess who's as high above his station as it's possible to be.

Ren knows that Jerin is too far below her class to be an appropriate match for her and her royal sisters. But then she hears rumors of a long-held Whistler family secret — one that might provide a way for them to finally be together. Unfortunately, she still has four sisters to convince. And that's before Jerin even comes to the capital — where simmering political tensions will threaten not just their love, but all their lives....