Happy Book Birthday, the Prince of New York! (Plus answering Faith Hunter’s short story challenge and other news!)

The Prince of New York has hit ereaders for those who have preordered, and it is rolling out to everybody as this is posting! (It is 10:30 on May 15, and yes, I’m posting my new release post early. I am getting up early in the morning to go on my ADVENTURE. HOORAY!!!!)

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 purchase Prince of New York at Amazon | Apple Books  | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Google Play | Patreon Store | Smashwords

Please note that some links will not be live until May 16, 2025 rolls around in PST. (Normally, I post in the morning to avoid these problems.)

Happy reading!!

Before I head off on my birthday adventure (for it is my birthday May 16 right along with the book’s), Faith Hunter and I have been exchanging story challenges, and she has dared me to revisit the cupcake dragon story world featuring an incorrect passage fee of a lollipop.

This is 4,000 words of ramble, written precisely three hours before posting, with zero editing. Please forgive the typos!

I hope you like this story in its rawest state. (No plot? No problem!!! This is just fun chaos.)

If you’re new to the cupcake dragon story challenge, you can check out the first post here.

To join Faith’s newsletter, please click here. If you like using your browser rather than email, Faith’s website can be found here. Please check out her wonderful books. She’s one of my favorite authors. If you like urban fantasy, you can check out Skinwalker, the first book of her Jane Yellowrock series. If apocalypse stuff is more of your vibe, DO check out her rogue mage series, which is a trilogy.

And yes, this was a “do whatever I randomly feel like using a lollipop as the catalyst” story. And then I was like “maybe I should continue the world” so I did. It really went off the rails, but it’s cute, and this week is all about the happy vibes and the cuteness, so there you have it.

Lollipops in a Cupcake World: a story story

My magic whispered of a visitor coming to pay tribute, and I regretted having established dominion over my slice of Seattle. My troubles had begun with Darryl, and after feeding him spaghetti and sending him home, I’d begun planning how my parents would fall for involving me with a child of Oscar the Tyrant.

I didn’t need any more interactions with another dragon for at least a week.

My doorbell rang, and heaving a sigh, I got up to find out why the calling dragon hadn’t just left their offering on my doorstep for me to retrieve.

I opened the door, blinked at the lack of anyone there, and blinked again before looking down.

A little girl with dark hair tied into pigtails held up a lollipop. Fortunately for me, it was still in its wrapper, and my guest sucked on one just like it. “I don’t have five dollars or a cupcake. Will you accept this instead?”

While, as a general rule, my magic failed to differentiate between adults and children, it did register when a group of dragons entered my turf together. As I was a generous—and lazy—soul, I often allowed a pair to enter my domain under the same fee.

My working had been clear: only one dragon came to pay me a visit, and she stood on my doorstep, staring at me with dark, imploring eyes.

I crouched to be at her level, smiled, and accepted her lollipop. “As it seems you’re enjoying yours very much, this is suitable passage. What brings you to my stretch of Seattle, young lady?”

The little girl giggled, looked down, and shuffled her feet before she showed off her dress, which was yellow and decorated with embroidered poppies. “Do you think I’m a little lady?”

“Well, you certainly look like one in that adorable outfit.” I had a dress similar, although mine was blue with daisies. I’d pitched a fit as a little girl, refusing to relinquish it despite having grown and could no longer wear it. “I have my favorite dress from when I was your age. Do you want to see it?”

“Is it pretty?”

“I think so.” I rose, opened the door so she could come in if she wanted, and waited to see what she’d do.

Dragons, even young ones, could be wily creatures, and that the little girl had found her way to my doorstep without a parent in tow meant one thing: I dealt with a particularly wily creature.

She bounced in, taking in my spare but cozy entry. “It’s comfortable in here. I like it. My daddy has a big house so everyone knows he’s the boss of his territory, second only to my mommy. Mommy rules all, and she knows it. There is only one dragon my daddy won’t cross, and that’s my mommy,” she announced with pride in her voice. “One day, I will be a big and fierce mommy dragon, too.”

“Do your mommy and daddy know you’ve come here?”

“Nope,” she chirped, and she skipped off in the direction of my kitchen. A moment later, she squealed, “It’s so cute!”

While I might, if the mood struck me, send a ransom letter to Oscar the Tyrant, teasing him that his idiot but handsome son had gotten himself sold into unholy matrimony entering the territory of a mated pair with a single daughter, I had not yet done so. I would be particularly ruthless and still demand my entry fee of five dollars or a cupcake when her parents came to retrieve her—and I do the pair a favor and entertain their wayward hatchling.

I’d put my parents through such things as a little, and I fully intended on teaching my young guest some of my tricks.

I entered my kitchen to discover her standing on her tiptoes to peer into my sink. “It’s so shiny! Mommy’s sink is never so shiny. Are you a metallic dragon?”

Grinning at the thought of the girl thinking I was a metallic dragon for having a clean sink, I went over, scooped her up, and settled her on my hip so she could see the mirror shine properly. I pointed at the product responsible for the stainless steel’s pristine shape. “I cleaned it this morning using that, and it makes it shine really nicely.”

The girl’s eyes widened. “Mommy has nice ladies come and clean for her, and I’m never allowed to watch. Can you show me?”

I set the girl on my counter, opened the doors under the sink, fetched my dish gloves and a new cleaning sponge, and said, “Of course. What’s your name? I’m Buttercup.”

“Buttercups are so pretty! And you’re pretty just like a buttercup. Your mommy and daddy must love you very much to give you such a nice name. I’m Mary, and my mommy claims I have the name of queens.”

“You do,” I confirmed. “First, there’s Bloody Mary, and she earned that nickname, I promise you. Then there was Mary of the Scots, who was a rather tragic figure in history. But there’s a really marvelous queen who was named Mary II. She ruled over England a long time ago, and she held power with William after the Glorious Revolution. There are other notable Marys who ruled long ago, but those three are the ones that interest me the most.”

Mary’s eyes widened. “Oh. I don’t have to wear blood, do I?”

“No, you don’t need to wear blood, nor do you have to drink it. Your mommy likely wants you to be strong and powerful like your namesakes,” I explained before going to work showing her how I cleaned my sink and got into all the little corners. Once I rinsed it everything and dried off the faucet, I put everything away. “I tidy everything up every day, and I do a thorough cleaning on one room a day. That way, I don’t fall behind on my cleaning. I don’t want to pay someone to clean up after me, so I clean up after myself.”

“I always put my teddy bear back on my bed. Is that cleaning?”

“It’s a good start,” I praised. “If you put everything back where you got it, you can keep a place really clean with little effort. Let me show you my dress first, and then I will teach you how to make a mess and clean up after yourself.”

“How am I going to make a mess?”

While having to make my own cupcakes sucked, I could when needed, and I might be able to buy myself time to keep the hatchling in one place until her parents could retrieve us. In good news for both of us, while I was an apex predator who preferred to buy cupcakes ready for consumption, I could bake when needed. “I’m going to make us some cupcakes.”

Mary gasped. “Really?”

“Really. I’ll even make enough cupcakes where your mommy and daddy can have some if they’d like to pick you up. And while we’re waiting for your mommy and daddy to show up, I’ll teach you all the ways I escaped from my mommy and daddy when I was a little hatchling.”

Mary squealed and clapped her hands. “You must be very good at escaping. You live alone!”

“I’m excellent at escaping, and now I have my own territory because I’m a big girl dragon now.” Giggling, I picked her up off my counter and set her on her feet. “I keep my childhood dress in my bedroom, where it reminds my big girl dresses who the real boss is.”

In my bedroom, which I kept clean in the hopes of finally finding a man worth taking home to my mommy and daddy, I showed her my closet full of dresses, and as promised, the little sundress similar to hers. Mary gasped at it, and she took care with touching the hem. “It’s as pretty as you are. You would be so beautiful in it if you had a big girl version of that dress.”

I narrowed my eyes and considered the dress, and then I allowed myself a rather wicked smile. “Have your mommy and daddy taught you about ransoms yet?”

Mary giggled and she bobbed her head. “Mommy says I’m so cute I would be held for a huge ransom, and she gets upset because I’m so cute she might actually pay it. My daddy roars whenever my mommy discusses ransoms, because he doesn’t like ransoms and would rather devour the bad people asking for money.”

I gestured to the dress. “In this case, the ‘ransom’ would be a penalty for allowing you to run away and do what you want. Are you good with your numbers and letters yet?”

“I can read!”

Excellent. I draped the dress over my arms. “You can tell your mommy and daddy that they need to provide us with cupcakes and that they have to make a big girl version of my childhood dress as punishment for not keeping a better eye on you, and you will give them my address and ask for them to come get you.”

“We’ll have all the cupcakes if they bring cupcakes and we make cupcakes, Miss Buttercup.”

“Yes, we will. We better go to the store down the street and buy a lot of milk to wash down our hoard of cupcakes.”

“You’re the nicest dragon ever,” she informed me in a solemn tone.

Mary’s parents wouldn’t think I was the nicest dragon ever once they received their hyperactive daughter back, as when I got the milk, I would also buy cupcakes for us to eat while making cupcakes while we waited to receive even more cupcakes.

I changed my opinion about my week. While I hadn’t needed a stray hatchling at my door, I would have a blast reminding her parents why young, impressionable children should never be left in my care.

* * *

My landline, a relic from a past age and something I kept solely because it drove all other dragons insane, fascinated Mary. As I went with antiquated to drive my father insane, I had to teach the little girl how to use the rotary. Her delight in the clicks pleased me, and she giggled when the dial tone happened as she expected.

“Hi, Mommy!” Mary squealed, and she devolved into peals of laughter. “I memorized your number just like you told me to, and I got to use a fancy phone with a wheel. You put your ringer in the wheel and spin it, and it goes clicky-clicky! I love it, and I want one, Mommy. I’ve been a bad girl, and because you let me be a bad girl, Miss Buttercup says you have to bring cupcakes to her house and make her a big girl version of her childhood dress. It’s really pretty, and she deserves a big girl version of her tiny dress.” She took her time telling her mother where I lived, reminding her that the ransom of cupcakes needed to be paid, and that if her mommy was really nice, she’d bring extra milk because we might run out. “Please ask Daddy to not eat Miss Buttercup. It’s not her fault I wandered into her territory and couldn’t pay the entry fee. She was really nice and accepted my lollipop, but she asks for five dollars or a cupcake, and I didn’t have five dollars or a cupcake.”

After a few minutes, which I assumed was Mary’s mother giving her strict instructions on how to behave, Mary chirped a promise to be good before hanging up the phone. “Mommy says Daddy is going to come, too! They will fly here. They are in San Francisco right now, so it won’t take them too long. Will we have time to make cupcakes?”

“We should. It still takes a few hours to fly that distance,” I said, smiling at her. “Let’s make some cupcakes, and if we run out of milk, we can always skip to the store for more. When your parents get here, I’ll know. What kind of cupcakes would you like?”

“Can we do chocolate and vanilla?”

“As a matter of fact, yes, we can.” I took the girl into the kitchen and began the tedious process of digging out my baking supplies, my recipe cards, and preparing for an afternoon of chaos and madness.

* * *

 Sixteen dragons paid tribute in the form of cash left in my mail box while I made cupcakes with Mary. While Saturdays usually brought dragons to my part of town so they could shop, a good weekend had ten such visitors over two days. In the time it took me to escort the little girl to the nearby corner store to buy milk, four more dragons had paid tribute before skittering off to handle their business.

In the thirty minutes before returning home and Mary’s parents arriving, a total of thirty-six dragons had come calling. The presence of a pair entering my turf tipped me off that company would soon call, as all the other dragons had come alone. Leaving Mary with a fresh chocolate cupcake and some milk, I headed for my mail box to discover mischief afoot.

A pile of wrapped gifts waited on the grass for me, the box was open and stuffed full of cards and envelopes, and there were more than a few extra fives crammed into the box. It took me three trips with reusable bags to get everything inside and into my living room for later investigation.

It wasn’t until I headed out to make certain I’d gotten everything and her parents arrived that I realized the gifts were intended for my next of kin.

Oscar the Tyrant had come calling as a red dragon, and his wife perched on his back wearing the type of ball gown I would contemplate murder to own.

She’d gone with diamonds and sapphires, which brought out the blue of her eyes and contrasted with her dark hair.

Well, I could understand how Darryl had entered the world with his rather delicious appearance.

As a proud dragon of blue heritage, I stood my ground, engaged Oscar the Tyrant in a staring contest, and held out my hand for my passage fee.

Mary’s mother tossed her head back and laughed. “Oh, darling, she’s a bold one.” With graceful movements I envied, the woman dropped off her mate’s back, approached, and swooped in, kissing my cheeks before digging into her clutch, which was encrusted with hundreds of sparkling gemstones. She deposited two five dollar bills onto my palm. “I’m Connie, and this mean old brute is Oscar. Don’t mind him. He loves scaring the piss out of new dragons, and he’s grumpy because you aren’t at all worried about him.”

If Connie wanted to be companionable, I would follow her lead. I would need to thank my parents for having provided me with two viable brain cells and the ability to rub them together to generate a charge. “I’m Buttercup. Mary has been wonderfully behaved, by the way. She learned how to make cupcakes, and she cleaned the kitchen after discovering what happened should a bag of flour be dropped.”

Fortunately for us, the bag had already given up most of its life. Aware I had a child in my kitchen, I invited the old wyrms in, hoping they left my property intact.

On the way past my living room, Connie stopped and burst into laughter. “Did every Seattle dragon come over and give you a consolation prize for having to deal with us?”

“There’s been an unusually high number of dragons paying passage fees today,” I replied, eyeballing the pile. “But you seem like decent folks.”

Oscar entered my home, and to my dismay, he’d transformed into an older version of Darryl, devastating in a black suit with tie.

With a preview of what Darryl might be down the road, I put serious thought into committing to unholy matrimony.

“As decent as you, who could have asked for anything for the return of our daughter, and you want a dress and some cupcakes? I’ll be making the cupcakes and will get the ingredients from the store. I decided that upon learning what your passage fee is. You’re going to be rolling in cupcakes by the end of the day, and there won’t be any to be found in any store for miles.” Connie laughed again, spotted my kitchen, and hurried over to check on her daughter. “Miss Mary, you are something else, young lady! How did you even get here? We took our eyes off you for ten whole seconds.”

“I found her address in my brother’s underwear drawer, and you were the one who told me interesting things could be found in underwear drawers!”

I was about to die at the hands of Oscar the Tyrant and Connie, who deserved a title based solely on her ability to glare her daughter into submission. I gave Darryl credit, though; hiding my address in his underwear drawer would be a good way to keep secrets if he hadn’t been plagued with at least one younger sister. “Connie, I feel you should teach Darryl about the existence of safes. This would prevent him from attempting to keep things in his underwear drawer, thus sparing you from the curiosity of young children. I’m betting she’s an early bloomer and she flew herself over—and she’s clever enough to check the passage-free route to get here.” I laughed, shook my head, and gave the little girl another cupcake as a reward for her absolute godly level of trickery. “If you’re already flying, you should have your parents teach you their tricks because it can be unsafe for little fledglings to fly alone. I saw this as someone who fledged early and got into more than a little trouble. However, I dodged being ransomed, which is probably why I’m still alive to tell the tale.”

Then, as I had zero self-preservation, I retrieved my childhood dress and held it up. “Mary thinks I will be pretty in this. This dress was the first item I deliberately hoarded.”

Connie smiled, and she came over to investigate my dress, taking photographs of it. “Oscar, darling, she’s adorable. After I make cupcakes, I’ll grab Mary, you grab the girl. Clearly, Darryl has been up to something behind our back, and we should turn the tables on him.”

The last thing I needed was to be grabbed by Oscar the Tyrant at the order of his mate. My parents would try to do something about it, and despite their shitty idea of a passage fee, I loved them and didn’t want them to die.

Hopefully, I could rein the woman in without her realizing I sought to contain her. “I can explain that. He made the mistake of entering my parents’ territory, and he didn’t run when he heard the passage fee was to be determined. He was given the choice of unholy matrimony or staining his scales blue for a hundred years.” I snickered, wondering how far I could push my luck with the pair. “He opted for unholy matrimony. I thought about ransoming him while throwing my parents under a bus, but I decided to save his life—and his scales—and told him he would be under consideration for such things.”

Oscar the Tyrant eyed me with interest. “The words you speak are absurd, but they ring of the truth. In fact, you haven’t even breathed a hint of a lie since we arrived. Even your passage fee breathes no lies. You are content with five dollars or a cupcake.”

I nodded. “I love cupcakes, I have enough territory to keep me happy, I work hard for my money, and I don’t need anything else. I might claim another block soon. There’s an unclaimed bakery near my turf. I’ve kept my territory for ten years, and nobody has challenged for it. I have had to remind a few fledglings I’m bigger and meaner than they are, but I sent them on their way after they paid their passage fee.”

I returned my dress to my bedroom, grabbed the family photo album, and brought it over for the mated pair to see. “I value my life, so my parents are Mom and Dad and they lack any other name. If I’m in a great deal of trouble, they’re Momma and Papa. If they’re about to kill me, I use Mommy and Daddy.”

“You are wise,” Oscar the Tyrant replied before flipping through the album. “Ah, this explains it. She’s the hatchling of those azure assholes. They absolutely refused to introduce her, and they didn’t warn anyone she was leaving the nest, so we never got to meet her.”

I pressed my lips together so I wouldn’t laugh. The rest of his commentary made sense, as my parents had opted against socializing me with many other dragons to keep me from becoming just like them, jackasses to everyone outside of the family. Somehow, I’d turned out with minimal assholish tendencies. “Azure assholes?”

“Oh, yes. They’re assholes the match of us,” Connie replied, and she grinned. “And those mean old wyrms set unholy matrimony with you as the terms for our youngling entering their turf?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“I love it. We can give Darryl a hard time and fuck around with those assholes. It’s perfect. She’s just a baby and she’s been holding turf for ten years. Darryl’s her age, and well, I can’t blame him for not having territory. He’d have to leave the roost to do that, and while he bit your ankle last time, he’s… diminutive. That’s your fault, Oscar.”

The old red dragon heaved a pained sigh. “It’s true. One day, he will be a tyrant worthy of the family line, but he’s stuck being a baby for at least a hundred years. He’ll grow quickly after that should he survive. It’s questionable at this point. He’s going to need a sensible dragon keeping him out of trouble so he can inherit my legacy. The other boys are useless and definitely not worthy of being a tyrant.”

I wondered if I should tell Oscar the Tyrant that tyrant was not a positive trait. Then again, I valued my life, so I decided I’d dodge notifying him of my thoughts. “I thought about ransoming him for entertainment purposes,” I confessed.

“If you manage to lure him to your territory again, you may do so,” Darryl’s father replied. “I’ll even put you into contact with some reliable wyrms in the area who would love to kidnap that brat for profit. Plan your kidnapping and ransom wisely. You will be judged on your performance, your demands, and your execution. Connie, try not to destroy her kitchen. While you bake with Mary, I will begin teaching this little one the art of a good hostage situation, extracting the best ransoms, and how to better conquer Seattle. Her turf is a good start, but it’s just that: a start.”

Yep, come hell or high water, my parents would pay for having involved me with the child of Oscar the Tyrant—and I would accept every grain of wisdom from the red dragon to bring them to their knees and exact my revenge. In that, the old tyrant was right.

It was a start, and a good one at that.

Happy reading, everyone. I hope you love the Prince of New York!