> Skip to content
[]
Play sample
  • Published: 21 October 2025
  • ISBN: 9780593817360
  • Imprint: Jove
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 480
  • RRP: $45.00

The Princess and the P.I.




An amateur online sleuth must enlist the help of a jaded PI to clear her name while taking down a shady tech start-up in this exhilarating romantic suspense novel.

Fiona Addai is ready to set her plan in motion. To honor the anniversary of her brother’s death, she’s going to steal back his brilliant invention from the ruthless corporation that stole and claimed it as their own. As a famed Reddit detective known as @Princess_PI, Fiona has used her online connections and sleuthing skills to time every step down to the minute. But with one disastrous misstep, instead of getting justice, Fiona finds herself accused of murder.

Maurice Bennett is no stranger to insomnia. These days, he’s not losing sleep over the cases he’s solving—but running from the one he couldn’t. Instead, he’s been settling for small-time scandals that don’t stir up the guilt he’s buried. But when he spots Fiona Addai at the center of a murder investigation, something clicks. And for the first time in a long while, Maurice feels that old spark of intrigue.

However, Fiona is not the helpless damsel she appears to be. Sure, she needs Maurice’s help to clear her name, but she’s got conditions of her own: she wants a crash course in real-world detective work. Maurice isn’t exactly thrilled. With every late-night stakeout and tension-filled interrogation, their partnership, rife with tension and unexpected chemistry, unravels a dangerous web of corporate crime and familial secrets. To bring the real killer to light, they'll need to trust each other and that might be the most dangerous gamble of all.

  • Published: 21 October 2025
  • ISBN: 9780593817360
  • Imprint: Jove
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 480
  • RRP: $45.00

About the author

Nikki Payne

By day, Nikki Payne is a curious tech anthropologist asking the right questions to deliver better digital services.  By night, she dreams of ways to subvert canon literature. She's  a member of Smut U, a premium feminist writing collective, and is a cat lady with no cats.

Also by Nikki Payne

See all

Praise for The Princess and the P.I.


Praise for Sex, Lies, and Sensibility

"I do not have the words for how deeply I loved this book. It’s the smartest Austen update I’ve read in ages, and the relationship between the main characters is utter perfection. I love, love, love Bear and Nora, and so will everyone wise enough to buy this book."—Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author

"Deeply relatable characters and whip-smart dialogue...Nikki Payne delivers Jane Austen for the modern reader."—Julia Quinn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Bridgerton novels

"Not only does Sex, Lies and Sensibility center on Black and brown lead characters, Payne’s writing also seductively entrances readers into a hilarious and intense web of desire with unexpected twists and turns."—Essence

"In addition to having a great sense of comedy and plot, Nikki Payne is a cultural anthropologist. She does a brilliant job infusing her romances with wit and sharp social observation that is very Austenesque."—NPR

“Readers won’t have to be Janeites to appreciate Nora and Bear’s magnetic connection."—Publishers Weekly, starred review