Part of Your World (Part of Your World, #1)

by Abby Jimenez

“I love you,” I whispered. And then everything changed.

“I can’t say it. Because I do love you. And that is the fucking problem.” Tears spilled down my cheeks. His eyes moved back and forth between mine. “If you want something badly enough, Alexis, nothing else matters.”

Then a crack of lightning came out of nowhere.

“The universe doesn’t want you to leave,” he shouted. “In fact, I’m going to say the universe wants you to go back inside.”

“Gabby and Jessica were there—” “The wicked stepsisters. I hate those bitches. Ali hasn’t hung out with them in months.

It had been pouring every day since Alexis left.

Dragonflies darted around in the downpour.

“What’s up with this weather? I haven’t seen it like this since the month your grandparents died. This shit’s ridiculous.” I didn’t answer. Because the answer didn’t matter. Nothing did.

When I got home, I peeled off my wet clothes and climbed into bed. It was only six o’clock and I was more weary than tired, but I didn’t want to be awake anymore. I fell into one of those sleeps of the brokenhearted. The kind that breathes in and out, between here and gone.

“So what did Satan want?” “He wanted to apologize.” She set the glasses on my nightstand. “Like, actually?” “I think so.” I sat on the bed. “He’s giving me the house.” “Really?”

My dad was my abuser. He was no different than Neil. And my mom was his enabler. I’d spent my whole life chasing my father’s affection and approval, accepting his hurtful words, letting him get away with it. And I’d always thought Mom was a victim too,

towering floral centerpieces with bejeweled dragonflies in them.

“I’m glad you’ve come to your senses,” he said, going on. “To think you could have been here with that boy.” He chuckled into his glass. I snapped. My head whipped so fast I almost lost my tiara. “Don’t you ever talk about Daniel like that in my presence ever again. Him or Nikki.”

I turned and started for the stage. Then I stopped and looked back at them. “Also, you should know that effective tomorrow I’ve resigned from my position as chief.” Mom’s face fell, and Dad went bright red. “Do me a favor and let Neil know the house is his. I’ll be moved out by the end of the week. I’ll go ahead and disown myself to save you the trouble. Now excuse me. I have to go deliver a speech.”

But today I was a Montgomery. It pulsed through my veins, poured out of me. It felt like I was the final form of everything my bloodline aspired to be. I was better at being a Montgomery than even Derek was—because I’d finally found the calling that anchored me to my birthright. It put fire in me.

“Starting next week, we will be breaking ground on the first of Royaume’s satellite clinic locations.

And it hadn’t even been hard to come up with it once I had my priorities straight, because it was in service to what I cared about most. Daniel, Wakan, Royaume—and then everything else. In that order.

I knew from experience that sometimes when the wake-up call is big enough, you do, in fact, wake up.

We should probably buy this tuxedo,” I said, tugging on his lapel. He pulled on the collar. “It’s really uncomfortable. I’ve never worn one before.” “You should try Spanx.” He laughed.

Omg she was taking off her spanx when he showed up in tbe tow truck

We got married at Doug’s barn. Jane’s catered, and Alexis ordered me a groom’s cake from Nadia Cakes that looked like a raccoon to commemorate how we met. Alexis’s brother and his famous wife came, so we had to get three hundred and fifty NDAs signed.

She shook her head. “I can’t believe the universe sent a raccoon and fog to put my car in a ditch so I’d end up there hitched to the mayor.”

Things in Wakan aren’t always what they seem—the dragonflies, the changing stained-glass window at Grant House, the freak storms.

how does the town become a character in its own right?

The stained glass on the landing is one of them. It’s never described the same way twice, because it’s changing, and nobody remembers what it used to be except for the reader who isn’t under the spell. It also has the ability to make you forget what you’ve seen, and it doesn’t allow itself to be photographed.

The dragonflies mean change is coming.

Daniel and Alexis are both royalty. He’s the last in his line, an impoverished prince on the cusp of losing his castle. She’s a wealthy, albeit reluctant, princess with an enormous and powerful kingdom, the heir to a prestigious throne.

We have Alexis losing a shoe right out of the gate. She’s a redheaded, fish-out-of-water princess with a controlling father—The Little Mermaid, anyone?

Aladdin vibes. The street that Alexis lives on, Chateau de Chambord, is named after the castle that inspired both the 1991 cartoon and the 2017 live-action film of Beauty and the Beast. I did this because Alexis is a beautiful, intelligent woman trapped in a castle with a monster. And of course we have The Princess Bride nods. I just had so much fun writing this book.