Crowns & Courtships Compilation Volume 1 Read online

  Crowns & Courtships Compilation

  Volume 1

  CAROL MONCADO

  Contents

  Copyright

  Heart of a Prince

  Prologue

  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

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Epilogue

  The Inadvertent Princess

  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

  Chapter 32

  Epilogue

  A Royally Beautiful Mess

  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

  Chapter 32

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Other Books by Carol Moncado

  Copyright © 2017-2018 Carol Moncado

  Copyright for Heart of a Prince

  Copyright © 2017 Carol Moncado

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means — for example, electronic, photocopy, recording, for personal or commercial purposes — without written permission of the author(s). The only exception is for brief quotations in printed or electronic reviews.

  This is a work of fiction set in a fictionalized southwest Missouri and a redrawn, fictionalized Europe, as well as islands that do not exist in the real world. Any resemblance to real events or to actual persons, living or dead, is coincidental. Any reference to historical figures, places, or events, whether fictional or actual, is a fictional representation.

  Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, King James Version.

  Cover photos:

  People: maximkabb/depositphotos.com

  Author photo: Captivating by Keli, 2010

  First edition, CANDID Publications, 2017

  Copyright for The Inadvertent Princess

  Copyright © 2018 Carol Moncado

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means — for example, electronic, photocopy, recording, for personal or commercial purposes — without written permission of the author(s). The only exception is for brief quotations in printed or electronic reviews.

  This is a work of fiction set in a fictionalized southwest Missouri and a redrawn, fictionalized Europe & Caribbean. Any resemblance to real events or to actual persons, living or dead, is coincidental. Any reference to historical figures, places, or events, whether fictional or actual, is a fictional representation.

  Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserve worldwide.www.zondervan.comThe “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

  Cover photos: Copyright:

  Couple: lunamarina/depositphotos.com

  Ocean: Copyright 2017, CANDID Publications

  Author photo: Captivating by Keli, 2010

  First edition, CANDID Publications, 2018

  Copyright for A Royally Beautiful Mess

  Copyright © 2018 Carol Moncado

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means — for example, electronic, photocopy, recording, for personal or commercial purposes — without written permission of the author(s). The only exception is for brief quotations in printed or electronic reviews.

  This is a work of fiction set in a fictionalized southwest Missouri and a redrawn, fictionalized Europe & Caribbean. Any resemblance to real events or to actual persons, living or dead, is coincidental. Any reference to historical figures, places, or events, whether fictional or actual, is a fictional representation.

  Cover photos: Copyright: AntonioGuillemF/depositphotos.com

  Author photo: Captivating by Keli, 2010

  First edition, CANDID Publications, 2018

  Thank you for picking up the first Crowns & Courtships Compilation! I hope you enjoy the stories!

  To stay up-to-date on new releases and specials, please join my mailing list: www.carolmoncado.com/newsletter

  To join us for discussions and sneak peeks and all sorts of other fun, please join the Serenity Landing Book Club on Facebook! www.facebook.com/groups/SerenityLandingBookClub

  Carol Moncado

  Heart of a Prince

  Author’s Note

  The first chapter of Heart of a Prince begins in the summer of Summer 2016. This is approximately 18 months before the events of Reclaiming Hearts. The events of Heart of a Prince begin after Hand-Me-Down Princess ends in the late spring of 2016 and before Winning the Queen’s Heart begins in October 2016.

  Therefore, the events after Hand-me-Down Princess in the Monarchies of Belles Montagnes series and the entirety of the Serenity Landing Second Chances have not happened yet. If you have not read those books, there may be some mild spoilers. The two series timelines will converge in Crowns & Courtships book 4, King Benjamin’s story.

  I appreciate all of you and hope you enjoy Princess Astrid and Jordan’s story!

  Carol Moncado

  Prologue

  January 2013

  “I do.”

  Crown Princess Astrid of San Majoria blinked to clear the tears from h
er eyes as Andrei gave his biggest grin.

  Then it was her turn.

  “Do you Astrid Sofia Hannah Esther take Andrei Barnes to be your husband? To have and to hold from this day forward, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?”

  “I do!” She did! She’d longed for this day for years, and it had finally arrived.

  “Then by the power vested in me by the King of San Majoria, I pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss…”

  Astrid didn’t hear the rest of the sentence because Andrei was already kissing her.

  It wasn’t the most intense kiss they’d ever shared, but it was the most meaningful.

  The rest of the day passed in a blur. The night passed, sleeping in her husband’s arms for the first time.

  The first year was one filled with great fanfare for the young couple as they toured the islands of San Majoria and began to put their own stamp on the Cordovan royal family.

  But then…

  Eighteen months after their “I dos” reality crashed down around the crown princess.

  Nearly twenty hours after the other vehicle rammed into Andrei’s side of their car, Astrid stood in a hospital waiting room, her sea-foam green chiffon dress caked in the rust-red blood of the love of her life. Her family was there, but gave her the space she needed. For the time being.

  Astrid stared, nearly unseeing, at the doctor in his light blue scrubs as he used phrases like “we did all we could” and “despite our best efforts” and “brain dead” and the worst of all “organ donor.”

  The intellectual side could understand the terms, their meaning, the life they would pass on. But the part of her that wanted to break down weeping wasn’t ready for the final good-bye. To be the one who gave permission to take his still-beating heart out of his chest and place it in someone else’s.

  But being a member of the royal family had taught her to always look out for the good of her people – whether it was one person or the entire country. And Andrei would want to help as many people as he could, and so she nodded.

  “Can I say good-bye?” she whispered, her heart rending in two.

  “Of course.”

  Astrid followed the doctor down one corridor and then another, the beeps from assorted machines surrounding her and giving her something to focus on.

  He stopped next to a curtained enclosure and motioned to the nurse bustling about inside. The nurse bobbed a curtsy but left, leaving Astrid alone.

  She walked to Andrei’s side.

  The figure lying under the blankets and covered with wires and tubing couldn’t be her handsome husband with his wavy dark hair and laughing chocolate eyes. She gently picked up his hand, still covered with dried blood. Hers. His. Mixed together like their lives had become. The small bandage on her head belied the copious amounts of bleeding she’d done.

  They’d had their problems, serious ones even, but she never would have wanted this. Never would have dreamed she’d face life without him.

  Astrid leaned over, resting her torso on his, his heart still beating under her cheek.

  So much left to say. To do. To be. Together.

  And it was her fault. Not the accident, but he’d only attended the event with her because she’d begged him to. Another chance to show off the most handsome man in San Majoria.

  She’d never dance in his arms again.

  Never wake up next to him.

  Never kiss him.

  Never share the secret she’d been saving for weeks and was finally ready to share in a couple of days – on the anniversary of their first date.

  Astrid sobbed like she hadn’t sobbed since she was a little girl and her favorite dog had been put down. Because once she left this room, this cocoon away from the prying eyes of the media and her well-meaning, sympathetic countrymen, she would need to be stoic. To be a member of a royal family that seldom showed emotion in public. The family who hated that she and Andrei defied her grandmother’s stance on PDA and held hands and embraced openly in public.

  How long she lay there, she didn’t know, but eventually the doctor cleared his throat softly behind her.

  “My apologies, Your Royal Highness, but it’s time.”

  Astrid straightened, but made no effort to wipe her tear-stained cheeks. She leaned over and pressed a kiss to his forehead. Her desire to kiss his lips one last time was thwarted by the breathing tube. She turned and took a deep, steadying breath.

  “Doctor?”

  “Yes, ma’am?”

  “Is there any way we can fudge on his time of death? He would want his organs to go to those who need them most, but I don’t believe I can stand people knowing or believing they received those organs. I think he would want people to know he’d given them, to set that example, but if everyone knows precisely when he died and those who get the organs know when they were called, it would be a fairly simple thing for them to connect those dots.”

  The doctor nodded. “We’ll do what we can, ma’am.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Your father is waiting for you in the hall,” the doctor prodded gently. “It’s time for us to take the duke to surgery.”

  She squeezed Andrei’s hand one more time and laid it gently on the bed. “Good-bye, my love. Godspeed until I see you again,” she whispered.

  Astrid tried to keep her head high and her shoulders back like she’d been taught. Her father waited for her, opening his arms. She crumpled into them as she hadn’t done since she was a little girl.

  “Papa…” Her voice sounded as broken as her heart. “What am I going to do, Papa?”

  If she’d been more coherent, she would have expected an answer like, “Keep your head up as all members of the Cordovan dynasty must.”

  Instead, he tightened his grip around her and spoke softly, “Let us love you, my sweet girl.”

  Behind her, men and women prepared her beloved for transport to the operating room.

  And then they were gone.

  He was gone.

  They were no longer a they. She was now a she.

  A widow.

  And still a Crown Princess.

  She would be expected to marry again, though how she could when her heart had just disappeared down the hall, she would never know.

  1

  Summer 2016

  Jordan Haines gripped the bar and leaned his weight backwards. The wind shifted, again, and he found himself windsurfing toward an unfamiliar beach in a sheltered cove. Posted signs warned that this was a private area, but Jordan ignored them. He knew himself. He knew his body.

  He knew his limits.

  And he was about at the end of his sometimes frustratingly short endurance.

  The time had come to get off the ocean and onto the beach for a rest, until he could call someone to pick him up or get enough of his oomph back to get back out on the waves. The former was more likely, but the latter was his preference. He’d packed some energy bars, just in case.

  A few minutes after ignoring the signs, he sat on the beach, his gear dismantled for the time being. Under a conveniently placed umbrella, Jordan opened his pack to remove the protein bars and water bottles with energy drink flavoring.

  Jordan sat there, mesmerized as the waves moved in then out then in again. He loved the ocean, always had. More and more in the last two years, something about the clear blue salt water called to him like a beacon.

  Especially this water.

  San Majoria, halfway between Bermuda and Puerto Rico, was roughly the same latitude as Palm Beach, Florida, and had beautiful weather year round. Despite its location in the Sargasso Sea, it was often included with the Caribbean countries.

  “Hey!”

  He turned to see a woman walking onto the beach from a staircase a short distance away. Jordan lifted a hand in a friendly wave.

  “What are you doing here? Did you not see the private beach signs? Do you know what private means?”

  She came closer with each step. Slender, with wavy golden-brown h
air, a gorgeous accent, and an attitude. This could be fun. Unless she had him arrested for being on private property.

  Jordan held up both hands in mock surrender. “The wind got a bit out of control, and I needed a break before I could go any further. I promise I’ll be out of your hair soon.” One way or another, he would be.

  The wind swirled her skirt around her knees as she dropped her basket next to him. “You’re under my umbrella.”

  “So you own this property?”

  “My family does, and I asked for an umbrella to be set up down here. For me.”

  Jordan moved to one side. “I don’t mind sharing.”