Stableshoes by Jo Morgan Sloan

Why would a prince need a ball to pick a bride? He's in love with the palace stableman, of course! Prince Darian has met all the requirements necessary to claim his father’s throne; at least, he thinks he has, until his sinister cousin Bertram reveals a law that states Darian must marry by his twenty-fifth birthday, or lose the crown. With only four weeks to find a bride, Darian turns to his beautiful, irreverent, clever friend Ashley for help before a grand ball is to be thrown in his honor. But there is another who catches the prince's living in perpetual silence is Eric, the stronghold stableman, whose kindness disrupts Darian’s plans to hide his nature. Each day that passes is another day closer to Bertram’s takeover, and he’s counting on Darian to fail. While Eric has the prince’s heart, the stableman also carries a secret mark that could jeopardize Darian’s claim to the throne. To protect the nation he loves from a tyrant, Prince Darian must choose between true love and living a lie.

Adult • Fantasy/Mythic, Retelling, and Folklore • Diversity Representation/LGBTQ+/Own Voices • Romance/Fantasy • Diversity Representation/LGBTQ+

Content Warning: Content Warning: This book contains descriptions of on-page non-sexual violence, minimal on-page threats that imply sexual assault, internalized homophobia, off-page animal death, and on-page death of humans from natural causes. All sexual content in this book takes place between consenting adults. This special edition is explicit at times (open-door). The royal family in this book engages in colonization to grow their political reach. This does not represent the author’s views on colonialism, and they encourage all readers to educate themselves on the humanitarian impact colonialism has today.