A New York Times bestseller, The Accidental Empress may be the “captivating, absorbing, and beautifully told” (Kathleen Grissom) love story of “Sisi” the Austro-Hungarian empress and wife of Emperor Franz Joseph.

The year is 1853, and the Habsburgs are Europe’s most powerful ruling family. Along with his empire stretching from Austria to Russia, from Germany to Italy, Emperor Franz Joseph is normally young, wealthy, and ready to marry.

Fifteen-year-old Elisabeth, “Sisi,” Duchess of Bavaria, travels towards the about The Accidental Empress Habsburg Courtroom with her older sister, who’s betrothed towards the young emperor. But shortly after her arrival at courtroom, Sisi discovers herself in an unforeseen dilemma: she has inadvertently fallen for and received the heart of her sister’s bridegroom. Franz Joseph reneges on his earlier proposal and declares his purpose to marry Sisi instead.

Thrust onto the throne of Europe’s most treacherous imperial court, Sisi upsets politics and familial loyalties in her goal to earn, and maintain, the love of her emperor, her people, and of the globe.

With Pataki’s wealthy period fine detail and cast of complex, bewitching people, The Accidental Empress gives “another absolutely convincing story” (Mary Higgins Clark) with this glance into among history’s most interesting royal families, dropping new light on the glittering Hapsburg Empire and its own most mesmerizing, most favorite “Fairy Queen.”