Wanted to share with you a just-finished scene in The Surprise Princess (The Wedding Series, Book 5), which should be out in the next month. In this scene, Katie meets her very distant cousin Karl, hero of The Forgotten Prince (The Wedding Series Book 6), which will be out in 2016.

You can preorder The Surprise Princess now, but The Forgotten Prince is in line behind Last Ditch (Caught Dead in Wyoming, Book 4) and two Wyoming Wildflower stories, so I have to be patient — because I really like Karl. He was a teenager in Not a Family Man and it’s so cool to see how he’s grown up (verrrrry nicely) and has become a prince to boot!

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From THE SURPRISE PRINCESS (The Wedding Series, Book 5)

The Brocade Room was kept dim – couldn’t have it become the Faded Brocade Room, she supposed – so Katie’s first impression was of how he stood.

Easy, but ready to move at any second. It caught at something in her chest. It was an athlete’s stance. It made her abruptly and deeply homesick for the players and coaches – she wouldn’t think of him – she’d seen stand just that way so many times.

“Hello,” she said as she advanced and he turned toward her. Then she could see he wore jeans. Jeans. Her homesickness nearly knocked her over. Jeans and a t-shirt and—Oh, my God, were those cowboy boots? “Oh, excuse me, I was looking for –.”

“Hi, I’m Karl.” He strode forward, grasped her hand and pumped it. “You must be Katie.”

He was as at home in his attire as King Jozef was wearing his crown. And he was genuinely, thoroughly American.

“You’re Prince Karl?”

Madame would not approve. But he seemed to, judging by his grin.

“Yep. I can see what you’re thinking.” She had no idea how he could see what she was thinking, because she didn’t think there was anything as coherent as a thought in her head. “I should have my hair slicked back and a pencil-thin mustache, right?”

Startled, she said, “Why?”

“Ronald Colman. Douglas Fairbanks. Errol Flynn.”

“What about them?”

“They’re my image of what a prince should look like. Although… I’m not so sure Flynn ever played a prince. Pirate, yes. Prince, no. Either way, we agree I’m not anybody’s image of what a prince should look like. Or–.”

“I didn’t–.”

“—sound like. Yep. I’m an American. Born in Wyoming.”

“Wyoming? But how… Sorry, it’s none of my business.”

“Sure it is, since King Jozef is hoping we’ll hit it off and get married.”

“Married? What? No. Oh, no. He doesn’t–”

“Sure he does. But don’t worry, I won’t knuckle under unless we decide it suits us. So, you want to hear the Ballad of Prince Karl, a cowboy from Wyoming and a prince of someplace you never heard of?”

Her head was spinning. But she got out the one word necessary.

“Yes.”

“Good. Let’s get out of here. Just let me grab my hat.”

“You really have a cowboy ha— Oh, wait. We’re supposed to have lunch–.”

“Got that taken care of. Let’s go.”

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