Book excerpt: Once upon a time there was a handsome sixteen-year-old prince who was the heir to one sixth of the world and to the largest private fortune on earth. Once there was a beautiful golden-haired princess who came from a small German duchy. They met and their love forever changed the course of history. This is their story, told in Alexandra's voice, the tale of Nicholas Romanov and Alexandra of Hesse, who became her Imperial Highness Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia, the last Empress of Russia. Long before the tragedy there was the romance, the one-of-a-kind fairytale story of two beautiful young people who met, loved, and were given everything that money could buy, combined with nearly limitless earthly power. They must have lived happily ever after. Didn't they ...? Part II: 'The Empress of Tears, ' covering the years 1895-1904, will be published in the early summer of 2016.