PRUDENCE MARSH IS NOT A NOBODY ANYMORE is a cozy fantasy romance about a bard, Pru, who finally leaves her small town to pursue her dreams of a bigger life, a bandit trying desperately to keep his found family from falling apart, and both of them getting tangled up in a road trip, a legendary heist, and each other.
Dragon’s Rest: It isn’t much, but it’s home!
Dragon’s Rest is tucked away in the Rampart Mountains, far from… well, anywhere, really. Things have gotten better here since Shadowfade, the evil sorcerer, was defeated.
We’ve got a pretty good market in Wingspan Green every week, and a lot of small businesses (my brother Nathaniel would kill me if I didn’t tell you to check out Marsh Apothecary, which has been in our family for generations). Dragon’s Rest has exactly one tavern, The Claw and Hoard, and while it’s definitely fun to perform there, I definitely wouldn’t mind a different venue where I can play music every once in awhile…
I love it here, I really do. It’s my home, and the people here are family. But I’ve always dreamed about what lies beyond a few days’ ride. There’s so much world out there, after all, and I’d love to see it.
Ember Springs: On the other edge of the Ramparts is Ember Springs. In the fall, this place is gorgeous, with golden aspens painting the mountainsides and the vast plains to the east toward Lokoa. The city is walled, with an incredible market (make sure to try the pastries at Bready or Not! Butcher and Ninefinger Nell will not let you down with their delicious food, just tell them Pru sent you!).
But the real star of the show in Ember Springs are the hot springs. You’ll see steam rising from the mountains as you approach, but luckily, you can do a whole lot more than look. Sinking into the steamy pools is heavenly—especially after a long day of travel. Not to mention, once the sun goes down, the ember moss that the city is named for lights up the rocks surrounding the water like a magical, cozy campfire.
Lokoa: I’ve dreamed of seeing the capital city my entire life, even before my brother left to go to school there.
The nine hills set on top of impossibly high cliffs, and the floating docks that rise and fall with the tides of the three moons. I’ve wanted to see the ruins of Old Lokoa and the gleaming Shardstone towers of the Palazzo, which turn iridescent in sunlight like mother of pearl.
There are more bars and taverns and inns and performance venues than I could ever count, and the city is always looking for entertainment.
Lokoa is home to the royal family of Mereth, and this year, they’re holding auditions for musicians to play at the princess’ wedding. This is my chance, I just know it.
The Lune Vault: Deep in the bowels of the Palazzo, somewhere within those high cliffs, lies the Lune Vault, the legendary repository for all the treasures the royal family of Mereth has obtained (through whatever means) over the centuries. It was built by the Dreammaker, the architect who created some of the most mindblowing magical structures in history, and no one really knows how to get in or where to find it, only that there are three keys, each held by members of a secret order known as the Guardiani.
No thieves have ever successfully robbed the Lune Vault.
Yet.
But moons, wouldn’t that make a wonderful story if they did?
Visit all these locations and more in PRUDENCE MARSH IS NOT A NOBODY ANYMORE!
Art credit: Danielle Sylvan from Sylvan Design Co. (@sylvandesignco)
A musician leaves her quaint town in search of a bigger life, only to get tangled up with a mischievous bandit and a royal heist in this delightful and poignant new cozy fantasy romance from the USA Today bestselling author of Violet Thistlewaite Is Not a Villain Anymore.
Prudence Marsh has always known she’s meant for more than playing violin at small‑town taverns, so when she learns of an audition for a royal wedding, she knows this is it: her chance to be somebody. After years of putting everyone else first, Pru sets out to finally pursue her dreams of being a famous bard.
Callum DiCorvo, roguishly handsome cursebreaker and bandit extraordinaire, is content with his life of crime. So content, in fact, that he’s determined to keep things exactly as they are. Cheerfully thieving is all he’s good for anyway.
When Pru collides with Callum and his crew in a roadside robbery that leaves her beloved violin in splinters, she demands to travel with them until they replace it. Before long, Pru finds herself growing close to the motley bunch, especially Callum, whose sparkling banter and crooked smiles tease her like a song she can’t get out of her head.
But the bandits have stumbled upon a heist that could make all their dreams come true—breaking into the mystical Lune Vault at the palace on the same night as the wedding—leaving Pru to decide what’s more important: the dreams she’s held on to for so long, or the ones she’s building right now.
Fantasy Romance [ Ace, On Sale: November 10, 2026, Trade Paperback / e-Book / audiobook, ISBN: 9780593954324 / eISBN: 9780593954331 ]
Emily Krempholtz has never quit her day job to go open a flower shop, but that might be because she works with stories all day for a living, so she’s already doing what she loves. As a bestselling ghostwriter, editor, and book coach, Emily has worked with hundreds of writers as they write and publish their books—and she’s delighted to finally send one out into the world with her own name on the cover.
When she’s not writing or reading, Emily bakes cakes that look like the books she reads and changes her hair color like it’s some kind of mood ring. She lives in sunny Colorado, where you’ll often find her in the mountains—either hiking (and pretending to be a character in a novel) or curled up in a hammock with a good book (and also pretending to be a character in a novel). She’s on a lifelong quest to discover the magic in the world and has a sneaking suspicion that the written word is where she’ll find it.
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