Nicolette s awful stepsisters call her Mechanica to demean her, but the nickname fits: she learned to be an inventor at her mother s knee. Her mom is gone now, though, and the Steps have pushed her into a life of dreary servitude. When she discovers a secret workshop in the cellar on her sixteenth birthday and befriends Jules, a tiny magical metal horse Nicolette starts to imagine a new life for herself. And the timing may be perfect: There s a technological exposition and a royal ball on the horizon. Determined to invent her own happily-ever-after, Mechanica seeks to wow the prince and eager entrepreneurs alike.".