The Not-So-Ugly Stepsister Gets Her Guy: The Princes of Manhattan, #0.5

By Edwina Darke

In this modern, Manhattan fairytale, the Not-So-Ugly Stepsister gets her happily ever after.

 

Dani Swan is used to the guys she likes falling for her sister, Cyn. It's a common side effect of having a gorgeous, golden haired, real-life fairytale princess for a stepsister. But when Dani crashes Cyn's dinner date with her hot new coworker, Juan A.K.A. Vet McDreamy, the disappointment is almost too much to handle. He'd be the perfect guy for her, if only he wasn't in love with her sister.

 

Juan Rodriguez is smitten by his beautiful new coworker, Cyn, right up until he meets her sister. Dani is smart and sassy and sexy as hell and Juan can't stop thinking about her. But how can he convince Dani that she's the only woman for him, when she knows he wanted her sister first?

 

As Juan plans to win Dani over, she's getting ready to make a move of her own. But getting a grand gesture right isn't easy and the course of true love never did run smooth… 

 

Author's note: A swoony, snarky romantic comedy with a sassy heroine who is determined not to let her heart be broken again and a devoted hero who just wants to show her how special she is.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WrittenHouse Publishing
• Release date: May 4, 2021
• ISBN: 9781949408089

Book preview

The Not-So-Ugly Stepsister Gets Her Guy

The Not-So-Ugly Stepsister Gets Her Guy

A Princes of Manhattan Side Story

Edwina Darke

WrittenHouse Publishing

Contents

The Not-So-Ugly Stepsister Gets Her Guy

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

The Ice Prince

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

A Note From The Author

About the Author

The Not-So-Ugly Stepsister Gets Her Guy

Chapter 1

Daniella Swan grew up as the stepsister to a real-life fairytale princess. Cyn was tall, golden-haired, heart-breakingly beautiful, adored by animals and humans alike, and such a good person that at times it made Dani’s teeth itch. But Cyn was also stubborn, incredibly sensitive about money, and guarded the few grudges she held the way a dragon guarded its hoard. She was Dani’s best, loyalest, and truest friend.

Who piggybacked Dani home and held her hair back the first time she got so drunk she was sick? Cyn. Who made a ten-hour round trip home from college to buy Dani ice cream and Baileys when the boy she’d thought she’d marry cheated on her with another girl? Cyn. Who unfailingly answered Dani’s phone calls, never told her she was too much of a smartass, and always, always, always had her back? Cyn.

So Dani loved her real-life fairytale princess stepsister and gave up measuring herself against someone who didn’t try and won anyway. She accepted Cyn for her many virtues, few faults, and the annoying way she left a trail of broken hearts and shattered hopes in her wake and never seemed to notice. By the time college was over, and they were both living in the same city again, Dani had made her peace with all of it.

But then she’d met Doctor Juan Rodriguez.

The first time she’d met him, it had seemed like nothing special. It had been in late June. Cyn had only returned to the city a few months ago, and Dani had just begun her surgical residency. Dani had emerged from the bowels of New York-Presbyterian hospital, blinking and squinting into the faint strips of sunset that peered around the tall buildings.

It was the end of a forty-eight-hour rotation, and her eyes had that dried-out, grainy, exhausted feeling. But Dani had scrubbed in on a coronary bypass and an appendectomy and was way too wired for sleep.

What she wanted was food and an audience that would appreciate how awesome her shift had been.

I’m a genius and I’m hungry. She texted her sister. Feeeeeeeed me.

There was a pause, and dots appeared. Sure. Having dinner with a friend. Come join us.

Dani clicked on the restaurant link Cyn sent her. It was conveniently only about a twenty-minute cab ride away and was even on her way home. It was also the kind of trendily casual yet intimate place that would make a perfect first date spot.

It wouldn’t be the first time Cyn had gone on a date without realizing it. Hell, it wouldn’t even be the first time she’d invited Dani to crash one of her dates without realizing it. The perils of being an oblivious heartbreaker.

What’s your friend’s name? Dani texted in reply. And is he okay with me joining you?

His name is Juan, and he says the more the merrier.

Poor sucker, Dani said to the sweltering summer air and hailed a cab.

She found Cyn and her latest casualty at a small booth in the rear of the restaurant and thought, Wow, this one is hot, even by Cyn’s standards.

Mr. Tall, Dark, and Gah-Gah-Gorgeous leaned across the table and smiled a crooked, twinkling-eyed smile that would cause most girl’s underwear to float gently toward the floor. His open-collared white dress shirt set off the deep bronze of his skin and hugged a set of broad shoulders perfect for leaning against. He also had the kind of biceps that Dani just wanted to sink her teeth into it. His thick curly black hair had been gelled into submission except for one Superman curl that flopped across his forehead.

Aroooogah! Dani thought and did her best to pull her heart-shaped eyes back into their sockets.

She would not get yet another crush on yet another guy who was crushing on her sister. She had been down the road before. Hell, she’d practically lived on this street during high school, and she knew how badly the location sucked.

Besides, if Cyn had any sense, she’d drag this Harrison Ford reboot back to her place and bang him like a screen door.

Of course, Cyn had no sense. Made obvious by the fact that she was wearing casual jeans and a plain white T-shirt on what was clearly meant to be a date with one of the hottest men in Manhattan. But then Cyn had a figure most frequently seen on the cover of a Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, so she still looked untouchably gorgeous.

If Dani were a good person, she’d sneak out and leave them to it. But Dani was only a mostly okay person on her non-sleep-deprived days, so she kept going.

Hey there, supermodel, she called cheerfully over the low jazz and clink of silverware. How’s tricks?

Cyn turned toward Dani, and her face lit up. The delight turned her sister from gorgeous to goddess, and her dinner date’s charming mask slipped for a second.

The look of longing suited him, Dani decided and resolutely ignored the stab of disappointment that slipped between her ribs. Heartbreak would probably look good on him, too. It was his soulfully dark eyes with their sinfully long lashes.

He was going to get so much tail once Cyn was through curb-stomping his heart. If she curb-stomped his heart. Maybe she’d deign to notice this one.

Dani would like to notice him right through a mattress.

Dani, I’m so glad you could join us. Cyn beamed and scooted around the booth, making room for Dani to sit. Juan, this is Dani, my very talented sister, the surgical resident—

She may have mentioned that once or twice already, Juan said with a wink. A pleasure to meet you, Dani.

My sister is awesome, Cyn said with pride. It’s my job to make sure everyone who meets her knows it. And Dani, this Juan. He volunteers at the shelter with me and has been showing me the ropes.

You’re a vet like Cyn? Dani asked while she processed the fact that hot guy was in fact hot animal doctor guy who volunteered at an animal shelter in his spare time. Seriously, was this guy created in some fantasy lab?

I am, he said. My mother wanted me to be a plastic surgeon. But I am the better looking of her sons, so I had to let my brother have something.

Kind of you. Dani felt a pang of empathy for Juan’s unknown brother as she settled in beside Cyn. She knew what it was like being a duck related to a swan. Did he become a plastic surgeon?

No, Juan said. He invented a new type of surgical sponge while he was in college. He patented it and then dropped out to become a professional rock climber.

She blinked. How did your mother take that?

He bought her a house to cushion the blow. Juan shook his head, but his smile was fond. He always was the smarter of the two of us.

But you got the looks, Dani said. That’s not nothing.

"Is professional rock climbing