“Rom, I’ve wanted to be stuck with you for ages.”
“You’ll have a title again,” he reminded her. “You’ll have to endure being called Lady Griffin and making occasional appearances at court.”
“I’ve made my peace with that,” she pointed out, “and besides, it also means that no one will ever propose to me again, which more than makes up for any potential aggravation.”
“At least they’d better not,” Rom growled, rising to his feet and pulling her tightly to his chest. “Because I’ll…” he stopped.
“You’ll what?” Brenna asked, smiling up at him.
“Never mind me,” he said, grinning suddenly. “If they’re smart, they’d be more worried about what you would do to them.”
“That’s right, and don’t you forget it,” she said, or at least she meant to say it, but was interrupted somewhere in the middle by Rom’s kiss. It was fierce, yet tender, and when he lifted his head again Brenna was sure the whole world had shifted and would never be the same.
“Wait, did you ever actually say yes?” he asked curiously.
“More or less,” she assured him.
“I’d prefer a more. Just in case your brother decides to take offense at my suit.”
“Kyril?” she scoffed. “He’s my younger brother. He doesn’t get to take offense. And besides, if he decides to be difficult, I’ll threaten to tell Ilani how he got his reputation as the most scandalous flirt ever to grace the Andari court. And also, yes.”
Rom picked her up and twirled her around, happier than she’d seen him in ages. “Are you going to want to go back in there and dance now?”
“I’m sure we can think of something better to do to celebrate our engagement,” she demurred. “Like chasing down smugglers, or capturing a murderer or two.”
“And I thought I loved you before,” Rom said softly, looking down at her with glittering eyes.
“Want to go jump off a roof?” she asked with a smile.
“Anything,” he answered. “As long as it’s with you.”
THE END
Thank You
Thank you for reading! I have loved writing this series and getting to know its characters and I hope you have enjoyed going on this journey with them. For more of their adventures, check out the rest of the series, or sign up for my newsletter to be the first to find out about new releases.
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http://kenleydavidson.com/books
A Special Offer from Kenley
Download this Exclusive Prequel Novella from Kenley for free!
The Countess & the Frog
A tale of romance in unexpected places... When independent and opinionated Lizbet discovers she has an unwelcome suitor, will she be too distracted by her royal nephew's antics to look past what she thinks she wants and find true love?
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The Series
The Andari Chronicles is a series of interconnected fairy tale retellings that evoke the glittering romance of the originals, while infusing them with grit, humor, and a cast of captivating new characters. If you enjoyed the world of Andar, be sure to check out the other books in the series:
Recommended Reading Order:
Traitor’s Masque
Goldheart
Pirouette
Shadow and Thorn
Daughter of Lies
Traitor’s Masque
A breathtaking fantasy romance inspired by Cinderella…
Trystan spends her days in bleak isolation, with little hope that she will ever be free from her stepmother’s cruel whims. When a wealthy and influential neighbor offers her both a fortune and her freedom, Trystan must decide whether to pay the price. Who is she willing to betray in order to gain her independence? What is she willing to sacrifice in order to pursue her forbidden relationship with the compelling young man whose face haunts her dreams?
Trapped between the desire for love and the fate of her kingdom, Trystan attends the glittering Royal Masque, where she learns that her actions may have betrayed her prince, and thrust them both into a nightmare of conspiracy and deception.
If she is to have any hope of redemption, Trystan must escape a dangerous web of duplicity, espionage and intrigue, though she may be forced to sacrifice her own happy ending to prevent her kingdom from falling into the hands of a ruthless adversary.
Buy Traitor’s Masque Here
Goldheart
An enchanting fantasy romance inspired by Rumplestiltskin…
All Elaine Westover ever wanted was to be left alone. A shy but brilliant artist, her only desire is to paint in peace, but when she is forced to accept a commission in order to save her family home, she must confront a client as villainous as he is rich. After a chilling encounter reveals his twisted ambitions, he imprisons her and threatens to destroy everything she loves unless she meets his demands.
Held captive in a house haunted by tragedy and despair, Elaine fears that neither her courage nor her skill can save her from a dark and terrifying fate. To defeat her captor and win back her freedom, Elaine must accept the aid of an enigmatic stranger, who may be hiding his own reasons for wanting her to stay.
Buy Goldheart Here
Pirouette
A stunning romantic fantasy inspired by The Twelve Dancing Princesses…
Princess Ilani is an outcast, shunned since her seventh birthday for possessing forbidden magic. But when her twelve sisters are trapped by a deception that threatens to tear their father’s empire apart, Ilani must come out of hiding and join forces with a devilishly charming foreigner whose motives remain shrouded by secrecy and mistrust.
Lord Kyril Seagrave is on a covert mission into the heart of the Caelani Empire, where he finds himself adrift in a realm of impenetrable mystery and dangerous magic. Armed with nothing but determination and a set of ill-matched companions, Kyril soon realizes there is far more at stake than he could have imagined, and one misstep could prove disastrous not only to Andar, but to the beautiful and indomitable princess he would give his life to protect.
Kyril and Ilani must decide whether to trust one another as they fight for their lives, their future, and the future of Caelan itself. As darkness gathers and deadly plans come to light, the princess once forgotten by her people may be the only one who can save them from the ambitions of a treacherous adversary.
Buy Pirouette Here
Shadow & Thorn
A spellbinding romantic fantasy inspired by Beauty and the Beast…
An exiled king. An elusive thief. And the treasure they would give their lives to possess…
After more than twenty years in hiding, Alexei is returning home. His kingdom is destroyed, his people dead or enslaved, and the magic that once protected them lost to all but memory. His only hope to provide sanctuary for the few who remain is the uncertain word of a traitor, a broken man who claims to know the hiding place of Erath’s greatest treasure. To find it, Alexei will have to return to the place where Erath fell, and brave the shadowed halls of a castle that echoes with the ghosts of his past.
Zara is a woman without a future—a treasure hunter, and a thief who hates to steal. Trapped by fate in an abandoned castle, she encounters a destiny she could never have predicted, and uncovers a treasure far greater than she could ever have imagined.
When their paths collide, Alexei and Zara may both have a chance to atone for past mistakes… unless they kill each other first. Brought together by enemies both expected and une
xpected, they will plumb the depths of an unimaginable betrayal and forge the foundations of a love they would risk anything to keep.
Buy Shadow & Thorn Here
Also by Kenley Davidson
A Beautiful Curse
A Retelling of The Frog Bride
(Book 4 of the Entwined Tales)
Follow your heart…
But you might just end up snacking on flies.
When a bumbling fairy godfather gifts a humble woodcutter’s fourth child with extraordinary beauty, she spends the next eighteen years trying to hide it—behind a book. Now, Elisette is ready to follow her dreams and become a scholar, but her admirers keep getting in the way of her ambitions. Ellie knows better than to rely on her fairy godfather, but she’s desperate enough to risk asking him for help. The trouble is, Mortimer isn’t feeling very helpful. In fact, he’s downright irritated…
After a bit of vengeful fairy magic, Ellie discovers that webbed feet and green skin are even harder to manage than beauty. No one cares what happens to a frog, except maybe quiet, unassuming Prince Cambren, who has enough troubles of his own.
Will Ellie find a way to break her curse and live happily ever after? Or will she spend the rest of her life eating flies and living in a pond at the back of the palace garden?
Buy now on Amazon!
The Daragh Deception
A Romantic Science Fiction Adventure
(Book 1 of Conclave Worlds)
Daragh is a corporate colony world—an unspoiled planet filled with opportunity. For shy colonist Emma Forester, it represents her last hope. On the run from a terrifying past, she’s determined to keep her head down and her secrets buried, until she encounters brusque corporate soldier Devan Rybeck. He’s clearly suspicious of her motives, but she can’t afford to be distracted—by his questions or his stormy gray eyes.
When Devan first meets Emma, he's convinced she’s too fragile to thrive on a barely settled planet. But then a vicious attack opens a window to her mysterious past, and it becomes clear that neither Emma nor Daragh are all that they pretend to be. Emma’s flight into the dangerous and unpredictable wilds of Daragh prove just how much steel she's hiding beneath her quiet exterior, and just how far she's willing to go to protect her secrets.
Devan must race against time to bring her back, before those secrets come to the attention of a merciless enemy bent on protecting a corporate investment. If he fails, there will be no escape from the coming darkness—either for himself or the woman he would die to protect.
Buy now on Amazon!
About the Author
Kenley Davidson is an incurable introvert who took up writing to make space for all the untold stories in her head.
She loves rain, roller-coasters, coffee and happy endings, and is somewhat addicted to researching random facts and reading the dictionary (which she promises is way more fun than it sounds). A majority of her time is spent being mom to two kids and two dogs while inventing reasons not to do laundry (most of which seem to involve books).
Kenley is the author of The Andari Chronicles, an interconnected series of fairy tale retellings, and Conclave Worlds, a romantic science fiction series.
She also writes sweet contemporary romance under the pseudonym Kacey Linden.
kenleydavidson.com
[email protected]
Acknowledgments
When I wrote Shadow and Thorn last year, I planned for it to be the last of the Andari Chronicles for a while. I was happy with where the story ended, and felt comfortable leaving that world to its own devices until I had written a few more books. But, as they often do, a few characters kept nagging me for their own stories.
Brenna was one of them, so after three books in other worlds, I couldn’t help returning to write her a happily ever after of her own. As is usual when my stories begin, I had not yet met all of the characters. Even Louise was no more than a shadowy shape in the background of Brenna’s life, so I was very much surprised to learn what she’d been up to for all those years and what sort of man Brenna was going to fall in love with.
I suppose the lesson here is that I should never underestimate the power of a strong character to find their own story. There will no doubt be more in the coming year—Blaise is growing impatient, Parry Norelle is growing up, and it won’t be forever before Rowan finds a way out of his prison. But for now, I hope you have enjoyed getting another glimpse of Andar before I’m off again to sail through rifts in space and meet more of the quirky inhabitants of Echo Creek.
I have a few new people to thank this time around, but I can’t even begin to talk about this book without crediting my usual team of co-conspirators…
- Janie, my editor, whose hyphenation super-powers never cease to amaze me (should super-powers even have a hyphen?)
- Tiffany, who read it twice in order to reassure me that it really wasn’t as terrible as I thought it was.
- And Jeff, who didn’t even roll his eyes once when I told him exactly what kind of model I needed for the cover design.
In addition to my always-supportive beta team of Mary, Chloe, Larry, and Chandra, I am also deeply and permanently indebted to the ladies of The Indie Bunch, my amazing crew of author friends who have joined together to encourage each other on our authorial adventures. K. M. Shea, Brittany Fichter, Shari L. Tapscott, Aya Ling and Melanie Cellier—you ladies are an inspiration and a joy to share this journey with. Since meeting you all, I have laughed far more than I’ve cried at the crazy ups and downs of writing.
My gratitude also goes out to Lanie, who found so many incredible ways to make this story better and encouraged me not to give up even when it seemed like the book was never going to come together. I am so looking forward to writing alongside you in the future.
To Melanie—your last minute read through was incredibly helpful and I am so thankful for the gift of your time and expertise.
And finally to my readers, as always, I am deeply grateful. You continue to make it possible for me to do what I love, which is a gift that cannot be overvalued. I am thankful every day for your reviews, your tweets, your messages, and your emails—they remind me that my stories are not simply words on a page, but a way of connecting with people I would never otherwise have a chance to meet.
Thank you!
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