Blurb: What harm could come from impersonating
royalty?
After years on the road conning wealthy nobles out of their
gold, Kiera is ready to give up her life of crime and return to her childhood
home of Cearbhall. She’s got one last job in mind, one that will see her set
for life. What harm could come from impersonating a country princess to marry a
prince and live wealthily ever after? Except her childhood home is nothing like
she remembered. The king has gone senile, his younger sons rule with terror,
and the crown prince is missing. The prince she’s to wed is only interested in
siring an heir, and her future brother-in-law wants to get into her skirts.
Deciding the grifter’s life wasn’t so bad after all, Kiera plots her escape.
Before she can steal away, she’s discovered and thrown into the dungeon with a
crazed wolfborn to die.
Lachlan never thought that he'd see his childhood sweetheart
once his wolfborn affliction set in. Nor did he expect to ever see daylight.
Imprisoned in the dungeon since adolescence, his brothers have usurped the
throne and trail evil in their wake. When Kiera lands in the dungeon with him,
he recovers his will to put things right. Kiera may not remember him, but he
remembers her, and Lachlan vows to save her from his brothers and their
schemes.
Except:
“When is the last con, Brogan? Or am I going to have to
start looking up distant relatives to take me in?”
Brogan frowned. “I don’t know,” he mumbled so quietly Kiera
almost didn’t hear. “If we find the right mark…”
Now it was Kiera’s turn to roll her eyes. That was a phrase
she’d heard before.
“We should go for someone higher up than these merchants.”
His eyes lit up. “Someone like royalty.”
“What? Going after royalty is too dangerous. You can fool a
crooked merchant out of some money, sure, but if you get the wrong family
against you, it’s all over.”
“But why not hit one of the outlying
kingdoms? On the borderlands or the outskirts?” Brogan
started to pace, smoothing a hand over his chin stubble. “One that doesn’t have
ties to the inner royal families in the empire. One that has a lot of wealth
but is still small.”
Kiera forced herself to remain perfectly still. There was
only one such kingdom, and she hoped he wouldn't remember its name.
“Cearbhall?” Brogan smiled. “That’s what it was called, that
little place where you grew up. Cearbhall would be perfect for an endeavor like
that.” Brogan's gaze grew unfocused as he stared past her into the darkness of
the library. He seemed to have forgotten that Kiera was in the room.
She gave a loud ahem to get his attention again.
“Right, Cearbhall.” He clapped his hands together. “You know
what to do.”
Kiera folded her arms across her chest. “I don’t want you to
go there and swindle those people out of anything. They are good people, and
they don’t deserve a visit from you.”
A crooked smile tilted his lips. “Well, seeing as I’m the
only one able to support this little twisted family we have here, I don’t see
that you have much of a choice. I want a plan by tomorrow night. Have fun.”
“Are you scheming again?” Erann shouted from the door. She
stood with her hands on her hips,
glaring in their direction, tapping her foot impatiently
against the floor. “We haven’t even spent the profit from Lord Blackling’s
folly, and you're already planning another job?”
“Come on, Mr. Fletcher, let’s go celebrate.” Brigid waved
Kiera and Brogan both toward the exit.
“Kiera?” Brogan held out a hand.
Kiera shook her head. “You go ahead. I have some more work
to do here.”
“Suit yourself.” He spun on his feet and sauntered back
toward his friends. “I’m feeling lucky. Anyone up for a game of Twenty-one at
Hit the Deck?” He draped an arm over Brigid and Erann’s shoulders and steered
them out of the library. Phelan lingered only a moment, then left as well.
Reluctantly, Kiera headed down the aisle to put back the
book she had just retrieved. Her private research would have to be put on hold
for now in favor of finding information about the royal family of Cearbhall.
She was pretty sure she remembered some of the histories, but she would need
help to fill in the blanks. It was going to be another long night of research,
notes, and black tea.
Author Bio: Elle has been writing fantasy and science
fiction romance for years and an avid participant in the NaNoWriMo. Her first
novel, Stealing the Wolf Prince, is a 2016 RONE Award finalist.
Elle is happily married to a martial arts instructor. She’s
also the mother of two small boys and is constantly talking her husband out of
adopting a new pet. She knits and stamps in her spare time as well as feeds a
latte addiction.
