Maddox Sinclair has run out of options. No job means no health insurance -a death sentence for a type one diabetic like herself. She flees to the forest to make a desperate deal with a dryad queen: kill the Redwood King and be cured of the illness that threatens her life. In the redwood treetops, Prince Castor, is cursed- anyone who loves him is doomed to die. Like Maddox, he has made an equally unwise pact with his brother, the Redwood King: get a mortal to fall in love with him by solstice and be free of his curse forever. When Maddox mistakes Castor for the king, sparks fly and troubles ensue. Each must decide what is more important-survival and freedom, or the love they (kind of, almost) feel in their traitorous, vile hearts. Darkly funny and brimming with magic, These Vile Hearts by Melody Robinette manages to be both wicked and warm, beguiling and moving-a richly woven story of survival and fate.