Title: The Prodigal Prince's Fake Fiancé
Authors: Thursday Euclid & Clancy Nacht
Genre: M/M Romance, trans man romance
Release Date: February 9, 2021
Cover Design: Clancy Nacht
Publisher: Eine Kleine Press
Will a trans prince’s fake engagement end in love?
His Royal Highness Morgan Schuyler, an aggressively toppy trans man, wants nerdy Lin Callahan the moment he sees him. When a hurricane in the Atlantic grounds their flight, Morgan seizes the opportunity to share a hotel suite with his petite, cis lust object. Their torrid fling ends with the flight to New York City, but a coffee shop run-in reveals they’re attending the same posh fine arts grad school.
While they’re both still daydreaming about that weekend together, neither will admit it. Feelings are awkward, and Morgan refuses to have them for anyone but his childhood best friend, Carmen. As for Lin...his ex-boyfriend has moved cross-country in an attempt to rekindle a romance that doesn't hit the same since that weekend in France.
When Morgan’s forced to choose between an arranged marriage and presenting his parents with a fake fiancé, he’ll need to navigate his attraction to Lin without catching feelings. How is it possible to want someone so much and yet be so terrified of their emotional intimacy? Maybe that's why Morgan still hasn't told Lin he's royalty...
This 73k contemporary m/m trans #ownvoices romance combines perennial favorite tropes such as the Secret Royal with a Fake Relationship, Stranded with Only One Bed, a Fling in Europe leading to Unrequited Love and a Second Chance, and ultimately a Return to Hometown for a Playboy Prince as True Love mends a Fractured Family.
As it turned out, though, his row mate wasn’t in the bathroom but with the pilot, and when he emerged, Morgan couldn’t help staring.
On the shorter side of average, certainly. Shorter than Morgan. Straight, sandy hair worn long, curling up where it met his button-down collar. Surprisingly fashionable though, really, even if it was super cazh. Skinny jeans, chukkas, the button-down layered over a graphic tee Morgan couldn’t quite make out between the open plackets. His puppyish brown eyes crinkled deeply at the corners in the most precious possible way.
When he caught Morgan staring, he blushed. Actually blushed. And hid behind the messenger bag he carried crossbody but cradled like a baby, as if he was too awkward to cope with being eye-fucked.
God, Morgan wanted to eat him alive. He squeezed his thighs together and willed himself to stay cool, but he was already getting hard. Biting his lip, he inhaled sharply through his nostrils and turned his attention toward the window to look out at the boring expanse of tarmac.
He’d been in Lidonia too long. Months. No parties, no cutting loose, no hookups. Now Morgan was sitting next to this delicious dork for seven hours, and he couldn’t do a damn thing about the throbbing ache inside him.
He needed a fuck. Just…so badly.
And a drink.
Where were the cabin crew? There should’ve been four attendants waiting on them. Could they really all be in the galley?
“Oh, um…” DD wrapped one hand around the strap of his bag. The other pushed his hair behind his ear as he looked back toward the cockpit. “Well, it’s um, the flight’s not going to happen. There’s an…um…weather event in the Atlantic, so nowhere to land.”
DD looked up and around, then toward the back of the plane. “I was going to grab my bag and um… figure something out.”
He appeared strangely guilty, as if the weather event was his fault, which, okay. Maybe he was Catholic? Morgan could relate.
Then DD abruptly headed to the baggage compartment.
A moment later, the pilot’s voice crackled over the speakers. “Hurricane Eileen has grown to a category five in the mid-Atlantic. She’s scheduled to make landfall in New York in the next day or so, and until that resolves, it’s just not safe for us to continue our scheduled flight. My apologies. It’s an act of God, as I’m certain you understand. You all have the JetShare app, and we’ll send a push notification when our flight is rescheduled. It may be tomorrow, but considering the potential weather ramifications of Eileen on New York City, it may be a couple of days. Stay tuned. We’re taxiing back to the terminal now, where the cabin crew will help you with your baggage so you may disembark and enjoy sunny Nice a little longer. Thanks for flying with us.”
The other passengers groaned and grumbled amongst themselves. Morgan wasn’t thrilled either.
Then DD returned, rolling his bag behind him, and took his seat as the jet taxied from the runway back to the private terminal. His face was turned away toward the window as he talked on the phone, making arrangements for somewhere to stay.
Morgan produced his own phone and then floundered. Who should he call? Where would he stay? No way was he going back to Lidonia. It was a short trip, but… no.
Besides, the weather might clear up tomorrow, and he’d have to extricate himself from the familial grasp all over again. No, thank you.
So somewhere local to NCE. Sure, that’d be easy. Nice had a zillion suitable hotels…
Which a quick peek at Morgan’s travel guide app informed him were entirely booked. Like, booked solid. Because of some goddamned festival, combined with peak tourism season, which…
Morgan understood. The Côte d'Azur was gorgeous, and of course people flocked here from all over the world. It was almost as beautiful as Lidonia—not that Morgan was biased—but far more accessible to the average traveler.
Out of bloody-minded curiosity, Morgan changed his app settings to show three-star hotels. Still nothing.
Despairing, he removed the restrictions.
A few shady looking establishments appeared to have rooms, but Morgan couldn’t bring himself to stay somewhere like that. He liked living the ordinary life, but he wasn’t certain it was safe for someone of his particular needs to stay overnight somewhere with such limited security.
His parents would, frankly, demand he come home and never leave again if they found out. Which they might well do, considering establishments like that weren’t known for discretion with their celebrity clientele.
While Morgan had managed to stay out of the public eye thanks to living in the States—and the tireless efforts of the palace PR professionals—sometimes people still recognized him. He hadn’t changed his name, after all, and while most people never put it together, this close to his native soil….
Well.
Goddamn it.
He just couldn’t risk it. It would destroy him if it got out, squelch any hope of blessed anonymity. His Serene Highness Rodolfo would recall him to the Lidonian court, and that would be it for Morgan’s private life. From there on out, he’d be a pawn of the Principality.
As the jet came to a halt, DD unbuckled and started to slip from Morgan’s metaphorical grasp, and that was just not going to happen. If he had a room…
Well.
Morgan’s groin tightened pleasantly. They could certainly make use of a room together.
Rushing to follow, Morgan fell into step behind DD and placed a light hand on his shoulder to get his attention. “Hello, Delicious. Listen, is there any chance you could wait for me to get my luggage? I’d like to talk to you for a moment before we part ways.”
“Oh, um…” DD looked panicked “Yeah. Listen, I’m really sorry about the flight. Just, fuel’s really, you know, it can only hold what it can hold, and diverting is a nightmare. Safer to, um, you know...”
The business set shot DD dirty looks as they passed by. He stepped aside and took a seat, as much of an answer as Morgan was likely to get.
Cabin crew stood at the doorway to storage, matching luggage with annoyed passengers, apologizing as if it was their fault.
Morgan claimed his vintage trunk and turned to face DD. They were the last passengers on board. “I wasn’t blaming you for the flight being delayed. Perish. No, rather, I was curious about your accommodations. It sounds as if you already secured a room, and I am, sadly, without such.”
Approaching Delicious with a wicked little smile, Morgan raised a brow. “Think you could help me?”
Together, Texans and platonic life partners Thursday Euclid and Clancy Nacht write queer novels that span genres, with intense romances and a seamless shared narrative voice.
They published their first co-written novel, the m/m rock star romance Black Gold, in 2010, and now have over a decade of award-winning collaborations under their exquisite belts. Recent titles include the twisted romance His Fake Prison Daddy and the Phisher King series, in which an uptight federal agent and a bratty hacker go from enemies to lovers while solving a hate crime.
Though Elder Millennial trans man Thursday and Gen X gender outlaw Clancy live three hours apart, they are inseparable. Their friendship is a perfect example of the Grumpy/Sunshine trope, which makes Thursday very happy. Clancy thinks it’s all right.
Clancy Nacht is a bisexual genderqueer person who lives in Austin. Many of her books have been honored with Rainbow Awards; Le Jazz Hot won for Best Bisexual/Transgender Romance & Erotic Romance. In 2013, Black Gold: Double Black was a runner-up for a Rainbow Award. In 2015, Gemini won an Honorable Mention for Gay Erotic Romance and in 2016, Strange Times won an Honorable Mention for Science Fiction. Wyatt’s Recipes for Wooing Rock Stars was a finalist in the highly competitive William Neale Award for Best Gay Contemporary Romance. The Phisher King won second place in the Rainbow Award for Romantic Suspense.
The Thursday Euclid is a strange and elusive creature dwelling in the Texas Gulf Coast region. Frequently mistaken for Bigfoot, Chupacabra, or the monster of the week, he is, in fact, a 30-something black sheep with a penchant for K-pop, geekery, and hot and sour soup. When he’s not playing Dragon Age or World of Warcraft, he’s probably watching B-movies or talking to his best friend and frequent collaborator Clancy Nacht. You can find him on Facebook, Twitter, or email him at thursdayeuclid at gmail dot com.
Clancy Nacht
Thursday Euclid
EMAIL: thursdayeuclid@gmail.com
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