Opening Scene of The Prince of New York (also now available for Kobo Preorder!)

You can preorder Prince of New York at Kobo here. Reminder: preorders at Kobo are delayed until final file due to technical issues with Kobo’s preorder system. (I apologize for the inconvenience!)

The Prince of New York releases on Friday May 16, 2025! (YAY!)

His Royal Highness Prince Ian Ambrose of New York longed to fade into the background and vanish following the supposed deaths of his parents and the rise of his sister to Queen of New York. While serving as his sister’s advisor creates trouble, it also allows him to turn trash into treasures in his junkyard.

Upon his sister’s primary RPS agent discovering his task force had dropped the ball, Ian is thrust back into the center of politics. To complicate matters, the one woman his heart desires is assigned to keep him organized and on the straight and narrow. Between Madeline’s determination and drive to serve his sister and a trip to California, he’ll be tested like never before.

But when whispered rumors of his parents’ return from the grave reach him, Ian will have to push himself to the limits of his wits, his sanity, and his talent.

Should he fail, he’ll lose his sister and the love of his life along with his kingdom.

Warning: this novel contains difficult subject matter. Read at your own discretion.

You can preorder Prince of New York at Amazon | Apple Books  | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

And just because I can… the opening scene!

The head of my sister’s detail stormed through the palace, and I halted, my eyes widening at the man’s disheveled state. His suit would be retired; magic might be able to repair the tears, but the bloodstains and mud would be a challenge to remove. He marched with the determination of someone on a mission, and I worried for anyone foolish enough to get in his way. “Terry?”

The RPS agent halted, focusing on me. “Your Royal Highness.”

Somehow, I kept from flinching over the reminder I would inherit New York should anything happen to my sister before she had children with Ethan. I focused on his appearance to calm my anxiety over the possibility of ruling a kingdom I didn’t want.

Riding incident? A fight with my sister’s tigers? A hundred possibilities rattled around in my head, and I regretted my decision to come to the palace to do some work for the kingdom.

I should have stayed at home and salvaged what metal and materials I could from my junkyard.

Sighing, I asked, “Do I want to know what happened?”

“My queen wishes to do a mud run. As she has some sense, she decided she wanted to see what was involved first. As I have ‘been slacking’ and ‘could use some exercise after my vacation,’ I was ordered to participate in the course the RPS set up in the yard.” Terry regarded his suit with a dismayed expression. “I believe the RPS was attempting to discourage our queen. If I emerged from their course barely intact, perhaps she might change her mind about participation. All we did was motivate her. She believes I enjoyed myself.”

“You look like you barely survived a murder attempt that happened to take place in a muddy field.” Aware the RPS agent had recently recovered from having been snatched from the palace grounds, an illness, and a rather haphazard adventure across Texas with his Montana princess, I worried a chill might put him back on the injured roster. There were rumors that the Texan RPS, with help from the Mexican RPS, had subjected the man to a living hell as part of his physical therapy. Reaching out, I pressed the back of my hand to his forehead, determining the mud had dropped his body temperature a disconcerting degree.

Concentrating, I focused on his clothes, warming everything up so his core body temperature would have a chance to rise. “That working should last until you are in your room and have a chance to shower. Soak in the tub and get yourself warm. If you’re on duty, I’ll go make myself useful until you’re fit to return without running a risk of catching your death.”

“Fortunately, they took me off duty at the start of the course. Thank you, Ian.”

I recognized the moment the agent had lost his last fuck and needed some normalcy in his life. Chuckling, I patted his shoulder, ignoring the filth that transferred to my hand. “How’d you do on the course?”

“I survived and reached the end without having to skip any of the obstacles. I fear the royal physicians might use it for Rachel’s physical therapy. If they do that, the tigers will surely want to help.” According to the agent’s expression, he’d thought of several more disturbing options. “Bathing them would be good exercise, but she will inevitably become exhausted trying that course. I’m exhausted, Ian.”

“You were also ill,” I reminded him. “And while you likely enjoyed running around Texas like some unchecked hooligan once they stopped torturing you, that was hardly restful. Then you had the scenario against the Texans. You did New York proud on that. Great work.”

“I destroyed the palace’s electrical systems pulling it off,” Terry muttered, bowing his head. “I got carried away.”

I laughed, well aware his Montana princess held the full blame for his performance.

By taking out Jessica, he’d gotten his hands on Olivia, his true target. The tables had quickly turned, and the princess had taken the RPS hostage while the Texan queen had bought the pair time. Olivia had refused to let him out of her sight until confident she’d secured the man as hers.

It amazed me that the RPS agent had escaped his Montana princess long enough to get any work done.

As my sister would lose her mind if Terry became ill again, I gave his back another pat and herded him along. “I’ll try to remind my sister to take it a little easier on you. Who is acting as her detail lead right now?”

“Monty,” Terry replied. “Rachel doesn’t mind him, although she doesn’t fully trust him yet. This should be good for team unity.”

I wrinkled my nose. While I didn’t have anything against Monty for being one of the original New York RPS agents in service of my parents, I also lacked even a scrap of the faith my sister displayed. I blamed her variant of empathy.

She somehow found the good in people and capitalized on it for her benefit. People liked to claim I had empathy as well, but I hesitated to believe it.

Then there was Marcus, who was in the same shoes as Monty, but he did his best to avoid me due to my unfortunate tendency to grimace when we crossed paths.

I tried to undo the damage my parents had done, and that meant going out and helping other kingdoms whenever they had a problem. The whispers about my work bothered me.

Everyone always acted like New Yorkers lacked heart. Most viewed us as greedy, and it went downhill from there.

Nobody realized we’d struggled to survive. In some ways, we still did.

“I’ll talk to your therapist,” Terry warned.

Damned empaths. “I was thinking about how my sister keeps managing to figure out who can be trusted. Her empathy is weird.”

“Her empathy is exactly what it needs to be for her peace of mind. Don’t beat yourself up over something that isn’t your fault, Ian. Have you been going to your lessons?”

The mention of my lessons, such as they were, served as a reminder of a second reason I’d come to the palace to learn my teacher had been called away due to an emergency. “Put in a good word for me when Carrie is back. I showed up.” Had I been wise, I would have checked my calendar.

I’d gotten so used to showing up for my empathy lessons I’d operated on autopilot.

“I’ll make sure she knows you intended to show up for your lessons,” Terry promised. “When are you headed back to your place?”

“I’ll swing by to see my sister before escaping. And before you ask, I didn’t even have any agents hovering today. I think they’ve given up all hope.”

The RPS agent lifted a hand to his temple and rubbed, likely attempting to ward away the headache my words induced. “When was a last time a pair showed up at your place?”

The last thing I needed was Terry involving himself in my business, but the man would verify my every word if he felt there was a need. As such, I could think of a reply that might convince him my agents were doing parts of their job. “My apartment or the junkyard?”

“I’ll accept either.”

If he checked my record, he’d discover I played down the situation—assuming my agents were recording everything accurately. “It’s been a while. I can take care of myself, and they’re bored out of their minds. They asked to be transferred.”

In reality, I didn’t even know who the head of my detail was anymore; I’d gone through six in the past few years. I only had myself to blame; I’d sent my best agents to North Dakota to help the monarchs recover from their kingdom’s civil war. Losing my best agents had begun the snowball.

I figured the current batch of agents had good reason to dislike me.

“I’ll take care of it. Do you even have an aide right now?”

“No.” After Sylvia’s death, I’d changed in more ways than one, and I’d taken to handling as much as possible on my own. While my sister made use of me at every opportunity, the reality of the situation bothered me.

She rarely needed me.

The people loved her, as did the monarchs of most kingdoms. Within a few years, I expected New York would gain a solid position and reputation within the Royal States. I would fade into obscurity, which I accepted readily enough.

I lacked a purpose, and once I found something to do with myself, things would improve.

“I’ll take care of it. I’m glad you’re here, actually. Rachel wanted to talk to you about a political issue. She needs someone to head a project, and she’s hoping that you’ll take on the work. She’s already put together an aide staff for you. When you aren’t traveling on her behalf, it would require you to be in the palace five days a week, but you can pick whatever suite you want. She is of the opinion you’d rather not make use of your old rooms.”

That counted as an understatement. “I can drive in, and when I don’t drive in, I’ll use the suite I like in the dignitaries’ wing.” The suite was new, I had no idea what my sister planned for it, but I’d claimed it the instant I had stumbled upon it.

If I left home early and waited until after rush hour, the drive wouldn’t cost me my sanity—and I could catch a nap in the staff quarters if needed. While Terry meant well, I doubted the situation with the RPS would improve, most of the palace staff hated me for one reason or another, and I would rather be in the comfort of my apartment at the cost of dealing with a commute.

Terry sighed. “Don’t you want to know what the assignment is?”

“Not particularly. If she needs help with a project, I’ll help her with the project. Just send me the schedule. If I’m going to working at the palace, I need to go handle some things at home.”

First, I would go into the junkyard and find something to smash. Once I tired myself out, I would head home, dig through my closet, and figure out which suits still fit me. With luck, nothing would need to be dry cleaned.

“All right. Head home. I’ll talk to your sister once I’m no longer frozen through. Will you be available Monday?”

Having the weekend and a few extra days to work with would ease the sting a little. “Monday works, assuming her project can wait that long.”

“Her project can wait that long. Go while you can. It’s going to be a madhouse here for the rest of the day.”

When Terry said the palace would become insanity, the wise believed him. I delayed leaving long enough to escort him to his suite before heading to the parking garage to escape while I still could.

My sister would eventually remember me. By the time she did, I would be at home, safe from her trembling lip and ability to make me do whatever she needed.

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