Creation

Royally Forbidden #3

by Cleo White

Even in my most far-fetched daydreams, I never expected Prince Charming to be an actual prince.

Sensible, pragmatic people with their heads not in the clouds know real princes don’t look twice at poor art students from Pennsylvania who scrub toilets just to afford paint.

Especially when the prince in question is also their professor, who barely looks at anyone once if he can help it and is just trying to do his job without inviting further associations with his famously royal family.

I may be a dreamer, a romantic, and a little on the whimsical side, but I’m not totally detached from reality.

Me and Prince Leopold? Never going to happen.

That’s what I tell myself, anyway.

The thing I didn’t realize is that even when you stifle a dream, it never really dies. It’s always there, an almost-dark ember, waiting for a little oxygen from a soft-spoken prince to call it back to life, and no amount of “knowing better” can save you when it does.

Leopold Ashwell might not think he’s happily ever after material, but I sure do.

Genres: Romance

Expected publication November 12, 2026

About the author

Cleo White's affinity for all things dramatic and hopelessly romantic began the day she was born, which happened to be in the middle of a record-breaking snowstorm on Valentine’s Day. Her love of literature came soon after, and she spent the better part of her childhood with both a book and a notebook full of unfinished stories in hand. Later in life, she found a love of writing spicy books with complicated characters and dysfunctional family drama. Cleo currently lives in Vermont with her husband and two daughters. When not writing, she can be found hiking, gardening, painting, and consuming excessive quantities of caffeine.