Sofie Wilde’s bestselling fantasy romance series has been breaking bestseller records and readers’ hearts for years. Declining all film and TV adaptation offers until the series end, Sofie is primed to become a worldwide phenomenon as the tenth and final book is set to debut after the annual romance readers convention takes place in Chicago next week. As buzz continues to build toward the book’s release, Sofie is asked to headline the event for the first time. It’s a career milestone. One she won’t let anyone take from her, especially ‘the next Sofie Wilde.’

That’s what they’re calling her — Hartley West, the self-published debut author who writes in the style of Sofie Wilde. Except she doesn’t actually ‘write’ anything. After Hartley admits to having used AI to create her novel, plugging in Sofie’s name as the prompt, Sofie’s ready to watch Hartley be skewered on social media. Except in this unpredictable world, Hartley is instead lauded for being innovative, for being such a skilled editor to take what the AI churned out and massage it into a story that’s just as compelling as Sofie’s — maybe even more so.

After her unhinged rant unintentionally goes viral, Sofie loses her keynote, and she’s starting to lose all her support. That loss is Hartley’s gain — as her book sales start soaring, she’s given the headliner spot. Sofie is livid. And she’s not the only one. As the convention begins, Sofie is surrounded by her fellow authors who also fear for their futures, their livelihoods, their art being stripped away, one AI prompt at a time. Something must be done. This has to be stopped. Now. With the clock ticking down to Hartley’s keynote, Sofie enlists her fellow authors in a plan to stop Hartley, vowing, ‘‘The next Sofie Wilde’ — over my dead body. Or hers.’