Favored Prince

Copyright © 2023 by Abby Knox All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is coincidental. Edited by Aquila Editing Cover Designer: Cameron Hart from Grown With Hart FAVORED PRINCE RECKLESS ROYALS BOOK ONE ABBY KNOX CONTENTS Favored Prince Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Epilogue More by Abby Knox About the Author FAVORED PRINCE A CONTEMPORARY ROYAL ROMANCE Torben As the eldest son and next in line to the throne of Gravenland, my father expects to marry well. But no one in my tiny island kingdom has been able to win the my affections. After one catastrophic royal engagement embarrasses the king, all of us Haart siblings are sequestered in the palace and told in no uncertain terms that it's time to settle down. Find a spouse and start producing heirs, or the palace will no longer finance our clothes, food, travel, or lavish lifestyles. Always the hardest working and most obedient royal, nobody excepts me to rebel and secretly flee to America to find a match. I’ve lived under the watchful eye of palace security and chaperones my entire life, though, and now I’m going to do things on my own terms. The woman of my dreams, the one who makes me fall flat on my face and worship the ground she walks on ... she's another story entirely. She’s got a mind of her own and unfamiliar with what it takes to marry a prince. On the surface, Hailey is the opposite of me in every way, and yet underneath, she is my one and only queen. Hailey Do I believe in true love? Sure. Fate? Absolutely. Whirlwind romances? Swoon! But those things are not for me, Hailey Wild, a 29-year-old single tollbooth worker on the West Virginia turnpike. Or so I assume... Until one day, destiny lines up with a crossword puzzle clue, and I come face to face with a lost driver wearing a laughable disguise. On the one hand, spending time with a handsome stranger seems pretty damn dreamy. On the other hand, this is all pretty dangerous and stupid. But I have a secret of my own: I know who he is. With nothing else on my agenda, I step into the fairy tale. Just for one day. What can it hurt? We all know what happens next. That fairy tale becomes too real. Suddenly, the stranger is making me an unbelievable offer: one that will change 1 Torben The stone bell tower chimes midnight over the packed plaza, prompting the festive crowd’s eruption with cheers, noisemakers and air horns. “Aren’t you special?” The gruff voice next to me in the balcony box drips with irony. Sigurd knows how much I detest this particular tradition. I turn to my right and beam at my brother with a practiced smile that delivers a sneer only a brother can see. “Jealous?” Sigurd’s unmanaged beard twitches. “Jealous of the heir apparent? Brother, I’m grateful to still be a bachelor with no expectations from anybody.” The person to my left finally speaks, slurring his words. “Except psychopathy.” Here we go. The flash in Sigurd’s eyes serves as the first warning. Wanting to defuse this exchange before it becomes a situation, I lean to the left and place a brotherly hand on the shoulder of the slightly teetering Etienne, attempting to force his glassy eyes to focus on me and not on our youngest brother. “Not here. Not now,” I urge Etienne. Our mother, the queen, gives us a subtle side-eye while waving at the cheering crowd. Etienne, undeterred, leans backward to address Sigurd with a wagging forefinger. “The first sign of a psychopath is poor treatment of animals.” The thickly-bearded one simmers next to me. “Where do you think your hangover duck sandwiches come from? Hunters, you imbecile.” Etienne laughs, “Your friend, the gamekeeper, rounds them up for you. Not much of a fair fight if you ask me.” At the mention of the gamekeeper, our baby sister, Princess Flora, looks up from her knitting. She wants to say something, but then changes her mind and returns to her project. On the twelfth bell, the queen leans behind Etienne and hisses to me, “Order.” The crowd bursts into “Happy Birthday, Prince Torben.” I can’t bear listening to this, but I’m happy for a distraction. Our mother has cued me to get control of everyone now, or I’ll hear about it later. I subtly nudge Etienne. “Stop goading Sig. For my sake.” “It’s too easy,” Etienne chuckles. At my right, Sig