A Prince in the Pantry

Prince Timour Mirza, an heir to the Persian throne, is visiting England on a diplomatic mission to choose a wife. Brought up in a world where his every move is dictated, Timour longs for one night of freedom. Pearl Smith was raised amid London's ton, but a reversal of fortune has left her father languishing in debtors' prison. Now, on the night of the grand ball, she has been reduced to working below stairs at the Whitwell House in London's fashionable West End, the unwitting victim of a former friend's venomous envy. Curious about the life of everyday people, Timour trades his clothes and his position with a companion and escapes the masquerade ball. With the absence of his royal regalia, his darker skin and his beliefs draw unwanted attention. Stunned and humiliated by women she thought were her friends, Pearl flees the mansion. But the last thing she expects is to become the champion of a tall, dark stranger. And in the hours that follow, as a full moon bathes London in a May glow, Pearl and Timour will find that love can come when it's least expected.

May McGoldrick, Nik James,and Jan Coffey are pen names for USA Today bestselling authors Nikoo Kafi and Jim McGoldrick. Together, they have crafted over fifty fast-paced, conflict-filled historical, contemporary, and Western novels, and two works of nonfiction. Nikoo's education and training was in engineering. She worked in robotics and submarine shipbuilding. Before earning a PhD in sixteenth-century Scottish and English literature, Jim pursued a hundred and one jobs, including a decade in submarine construction. Storytellers at heart, Nikoo and Jim were always searching for careers that gave them time for both family and writing. Then, after thirteen years of marriage, they recognized each other's creative strengths. Nikoo is all about characters and feeling. Jim is about action and sense of place. Their first attempt in writing fiction together produced their award-winning novel, The Thistle and the Rose. Since then, their stories have touched the hearts and minds of millions of readers all over the world. Their work has been translated into over a dozen languages and counting. Nikoo and Jim are four-time Rita Finalists and the winners of numerous awards for their writing, including a Will Rogers Medallion Award for Traditional Western Novels, the Daphne DuMaurier Award for Excellence, the Romantic Times Magazine Reviewers' Choice Award, three NJRW Golden Leaf Awards, two Holt Medallions, and the Connecticut Press Club Award for Best Fiction. The authors make their home in California.