I am halfway through writing Igniting Cinder, but my brain is weaving multiple fantasy streams and I can’t deny it anymore.

I got an idea.

An idea to blackmail Belle.

Or rather for the Beast to blackmail her and it’s going to be D E L I C I O U S

Despite the preorder dates on Igniting Cinder and Blackmailing Belle (I’m a damn dirty liar – they act more as placeholders) – I am working to get Igniting Cinder out this summer and hopefully Bell will be blackmailed in the fall of 2024

But I’ll keep ya updated!

Why not Rap or Snow you ask? The two female heroines already introduced in the Lost Girls books?

Because the idea for Bell gripped me so completely, I know it has to come next.

And you’ll met her when Igniting Cinder comes out.

Oh. You don’t want to wait? You want to meet her now?

Even though my writing for Igniting Cinder is SUPER MESSY AND ROUGH right now???

You still want to see?

Alright, let’s tag along with Prince Charming and get an inside peek at Igniting Cinder and get our first glimpse of Belle

Enjoy this rough, unedited bit from Igniting Cinder*

Prince Charming

More than one set of eyes track me as I cross the bar, and I feel the gravitational pull of the unspoken invitations. But I’m not here for that tonight.

I’m here to see a girl about a shoe.

Pushing my way up to the bar, looking for a certain violet-eyed human, I’m surprised to find the bar is completely untended. I set my hands on the bar and lean in, looking side to side, waiting for someone to show up.

“Don’t worry,” a woman sitting at the barstool next to me says without looking up from her book. The subtle floral scent of her perfume lingers around the woman.

“I’m sorry?”

The woman looks up at me through a pair of black-rimmed glasses. She’s heavyset, giving her face a full and smooth look. The woman’s skin is a creamy porcelain, dotted with a sprinkle of freckles across her nose and cheeks. Chestnut brown hair is pulled back into a low bun, and she wears a tasteful black turtleneck that downplays yet complements her generous bosom line. Something about her reminds me of a librarian, though her fire engine red lips suggest with some light persuasion she could easily be the naughty kind.

Though in my experience, most anyone could be persuaded to be the naughty kind.

Big brown eyes blink at me and I know she wasn’t expecting what she found.

I traded out the ornate ensembles I wear in the Midnight Kingdom for a more casual suit jacket and slacks. The white button down is only halfway fastened, allowing for the tattoos that expand across my chest and up my neck to be on display. Metal rings adorn each of my knuckles, spike earrings dangle from my lobes, and the piercing that loops over my lower lip is back in.

Her eyes catch on my bare chest, her red lips parting a moment as her eyes glaze over. Then her attention snaps back to the blue bound book in her hand. “I said don’t worry. You’ll get a drink in a minute. They are making their midnight entrance.” The woman’s voice is soft but confident, her words reaching my ears with a soothing tone. If she recognizes me, she doesn’t let on.

Before I can ask her anything else, the lights dim, and the crowd’s murmur dips into an anticipatory hush.