Princess Rinda of Balinore knows of only one way to get her cold father's attention - be an obnoxious, spoiled princess. When she finds out that the king plans to marry her off to a far-flung nobleman, she puts on her best bratty show in front of the entire court. But Rinda's plan backfires, and she soon finds herself married to the most ineligible man ever. Her new husband is monastery raised, poor as dirt, and a traveling minstrel. A very, very bad traveling minstrel.

But Alek isn't what he seems on the surface, and neither is Rinda. She won't take this marriage lying down and schemes to find herself a new husband - a king. But as she and Alek travel together, they learn that not only are appearances deceiving, but goals can change in the blink of an eye, and love can get in the way of the strongest plans....

The Scarecrow King is a romantic retelling of the King Thrushbeard fairy tale.