The Vampire's Gardener (ONC 2023)

A mysterious garden. A forgotten prince. A forbidden romance.
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After losing her job at a large garden nursery, Waverly Harris travels across the Atlantic to spend a few months in England with her grandparents. The coastal village of Chepstow-on-the-Sea is as quaint a community as one can possibly find with a single interesting attraction-a cliffside castle surrounded by a massive, overgrown garden. When a runaway dog leads Waverly into the castle grounds, she meets the owner, the tall, enigmatic Jack Francis. While she finds it strange that Jack lives alone except for a handful of staff, she agrees to transform his garden into something beautiful.

He has been called the lost prince, as few remember his name. But what if this prince did not die as history records but was reborn as a vampire? His Royal Highness The Prince John, son of King George V and Queen Mary of Teck, has spent the last one hundred years moving from one estate to the next, all under aliases. His newest residence is the isolated Bellbroke Castle, considered the perfect place to study the ocean and build boats. When John hires the very human Waverly to tame his garden, he's initially aloof. Still, her enthusiasm and love for plants reawaken old feelings and memories in the ageless prince-and new feelings.

Princes shouldn't fall in love with the staff. Vampires shouldn't fall in love with humans.

Waverly and John are about to break both rules.
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Cover designed by -DeeIsDead-

ONC2023
Prompt 39: On a blind date with a complete mismatch, you're increasingly uncomfortable but too polite to leave. Then an attractive stranger comes over and gives you an out.

[PG-13 for swearing, violence, and fade-to-black intimacy.]