She followed a thief to a gaming house.
A dragon followed her home.

Joanna Marlow has a weakness for charming men, but sadly, her current love interest has sticky fingers along with his handsome face. When he filches a family heirloom for his entry fee to a gambler's den, she resolves to reclaim it—ideally without having to confront the scoundrel.

Instead, she unleashes chaos. Her brand of magic, the ability to skip through space like a stone across a pond, lands her in a dragon's conservatory, where the beast takes potent interest in her.

Joanna doesn't expect the smooth-talking serpent to track her to her neighborhood. She certainly doesn't anticipate him setting up a fortune-telling hustle in her back yard. Above all, she would never invite calamity to her own doorstep.

Nevertheless, His Serpentine Excellency worms his way into her household and brings trouble on his heels: a gullible heiress, an amoral crime lord, a snooping crown inspector, and one spoiled-rotten prince who thinks all dragons in the city should belong to him.