One of my favorite paranormal/urban fantasy authors in the whole wide world has just completed her HUGE HIT series the Night Huntress Series and has started a whole new project.
<— Still within the “paranormal” world, this series will be NA (new adult) *waggles eyebrows* 😉 and I don’t doubt… intoxicating. I mean, it’s already promising some serious romance angst! Just look at this bit from the blurb:
“…the one person who believes her is the dangerously attractive guy who’s bound by an ancient legacy to betray her.”
YES!!!!
The first book (The Beautiful Ashes (A Broken Destiny Novel) is releasing tomorrow, and I have some goodies to introduce us to it, today! A fun “Five Fun Facts” post by the author herself AND an exclusive excerpt. But first,
The blurb:
In a world of shadows, anything is possible. Except escaping your fate.
Ever since she was a child, Ivy has been gripped by visions of strange realms just beyond her own. But when her sister goes missing, Ivy discovers the truth is far worse–her hallucinations are real, and her sister is trapped in a parallel realm. And the one person who believes her is the dangerously attractive guy who’s bound by an ancient legacy to betray her.
Adrian might have turned his back on those who raised him, but that doesn’t mean he can change his fate…no matter how strong a pull he feels toward Ivy. Together they search for the powerful relic that can save her sister, but Adrian knows what Ivy doesn’t: that every step brings Ivy closer to the truth about her own destiny, and a war that could doom the world. Sooner or later, it will be Ivy on one side, Adrian on the other, and nothing but ashes in between….
Eeeeeeeep!!!!!
So… are you ready for a few fun facts?
P.S. Here’s a fun fact for you from me, regarding this author. The very first three reviews I ever wrote on this blog were for the first three books in her “Cat & Bones” series. How cool is that!?? Want a second fun fact? When I finished book #1 (past midnight) hitting that CRAZY cliffhanger, I demanded that my husband take me IMMEDIATELY to the 24 hour Walmart so that I could by book #2 and get relief. Ahhhhhh thank goodness for stores that cater to reading night owls like me!
Okay now, fun facts from the author herself!
5 Fun Facts about Jeaniene Frost
I’ve often said that I can’t imagine writing a straight contemporary novel because “normal” escapes me in my real life. That’s why the paranormal genre is such a good fit for me. People expect weird things to happen in a book with supernatural elements, and characters living in paranormal worlds often have their own, odd quirks. Now, when you’re a bit kooky in real life *cough, me, cough* those quirks can draw some strange looks, especially when there’s no paranormal element to blame your behavior on. Such as…
1. I spend a lot of time with people who don’t exist. Seriously, though, I’ve often joked that the only difference between an author and a schizophrenic is a paycheck. Before I got paid to make up elaborate stories about people that only existed in my imagination, I was considered a bit odd. I mean, no one wanted to hear my story ideas, and if I’d pause in the middle of a conversation to jot down whatever inspiration had just struck me, I’d soon find that my conversation with the other person was over.
2. When I’m deep into writing, I’ve been known to ask – and answer – plot questions out loud. My husband has learned to ignore this, and I’ve found that walking the dogs helps avoid looks from the neighbors because they assume I’m talking to my pets. I might also lose track of what’s around me. Or what’s on me. Let me explain: Several years ago, when I was working full-time and still publishing two books a year, I had to get up very early to write. Let the record show that I am not a morning person, so those 5am – 8:30am sessions already took up most of my brain cells. Add me getting deeply into a scene, and you have what happened on one thankfully-breezy morning in 2008. I’d figured out the solution to a plot problem and words were starting to flow when I realized I only had twenty minutes to get to work. So, still thinking about what I was writing, I threw on some clothes and dashed out of my house…only to feel a draft. Then I looked down.
I’d forgotten to put my pants on, so there I stood in only my blouse, underwear and heels. To my everlasting gratitude, none of my neighbors were outside at the moment. To my further gratitude, I’d only made it past my porch in my under-dressed state. I ran back inside and put my pants on, then finally left for work. Ever since, I always look down before I leave my house.
3. I first got the idea for The Beautiful Ashes from a dream. I’ve had vivid, detailed dreams for as long as I can remember, and when I was a teenager, I’d write little story snippets out of them. In fact, a dream gave me the inspiration for my Night Huntress series. The dream that started the Broken Destiny series was about a girl who’d seen strange things her whole life, and only realized that they weren’t hallucinations after she got pulled into a demon realm. I couldn’t immediately start to write that girl’s story because of contact commitments, but instead of forgetting about her, the world and characters grew, until the story felt like it spilled out of me when I finally got to write The Beautiful Ashes.
4. I’ve gotten at least two series ideas from dreams, but that doesn’t mean I write about everything I dream. In fact, I don’t write about most of what I dream. Case in point: years ago, when I was trying to revise the end of my second Night Huntress book to make it more exciting, I had a dream where I was me (unusual; I’m mostly other people in my dreams) and Dream Jeaniene suddenly realized the perfect way to spruce up the end of the book: add dragons! *grin* If you’ve read One Foot In The Grave, you’ll know that there are no dragons at the end of it, nor do any belong there. Sometimes, dream ideas are best left on the pillow instead of on the page.
5. I love to torment my characters. This probably makes me a bad person, but I find it so fun to throw their worst fears right at them. If I can also find ways to put them in embarrassing and/or highly strange situations, so much the better. Take The Beautiful Ashes. Aside from the danger and emotional carnage I put my heroine through, at one point, Ivy is also forced to wear a leather-belt version of a bikini while in the supernatural disguise of a hulking lizard monster. Yes, that could be called cruel and unusual punishment, but I cracked up while writing it. As for Adrian, well, among other things, I take the destiny he’s done everything to avoid and make him fall in love with it…or her, to be more precise.
OH YES EMOTIONAL CARNAGE!!! *gah!!!* I love it. And I know Jeaniene Frost can totally bring it. And the sweet comedic relief. Oh yesssss…. this promises to be amazing!
Now ready for a treat right from that book?
And here is an excerpt:
For the past three nights, I’d fallen asleep listening to Adrian pace. He spent his days in the outdoor carport, claiming that he needed to work on his car. Bullshit. The Challenger was in mint condition, and he could only wax and detail it so many times before it was obvious that he was just avoiding me.
Tonight, I was finding out why.
I got out of bed, hearing his pacing come to an abrupt halt when I opened my door. Too bad. I was done playing the avoidance game. He wasn’t, though. By the time I came downstairs, he was nowhere to be seen and his bedroom door was shut.
Quietly, I went to his door and tried the knob. Locked. My mouth curled. He was the one who’d taught me not to give up that easily when something needed to be done.
I grabbed the car keys he’d left on the counter and went out the front door. I’d barely slid them into the Challenger’s ignition when Adrian came flying out of the house after me.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he demanded, yanking open the passenger door after he tried mine and couldn’t get in. I waited until he’d shut it, then I hit the “lock” button.
The sound was like a gun going off in the sudden quiet. Adrian stared at me, knowing better than anyone that he was now trapped. He was the one who’d rigged the Challenger so that the only exit was through the driver’s side when the doors were locked.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I said evenly, “and neither are you until we have a little talk.”
“What are you doing, Ivy?” he asked, his voice very low.
“Ending our stalemate,” I responded, leaning back into the leather seat. “For the first few days, I thought you were avoiding me because I’d done something wrong. Then I realized it wasn’t my fault, so now I want to know why.”
He looked away. “I haven’t been avoiding—”
“Ooh, lies, looks like we’ll be here a while,” I mocked. “Seriously, Adrian, Costa’s house is on hallowed ground and it doesn’t contain a single mirror, so I’m totally safe. Yet aside from getting groceries the first day, you haven’t left once. If you can’t stand to be in the same room with me, why is it that you can’t stand to leave me alone here, either?”
His hands slowly closed into fists. “Let me out, Ivy. Now.”
“Not until you give me a straight answer,” I countered.
He looked at me, anger sharpening the gorgeous lines and hollows of his face. “I’m warning you, don’t push me.”
“Or what?” I flared. “You have nothing to threaten me with! The only reason I can stand to keep going is because I don’t have anything to lose, so pushing you doesn’t scare me—”
I didn’t see his hands flash out, but suddenly, they were in my hair as he yanked me to him, his mouth scorching mine. I gasped in shock, and his tongue slid past my lips, claiming mine with a passionate desperation that sent heat rocketing through me.
My shock vanished. So did my questions. Desire hijacked my emotions, leaving nothing except a surge of blistering need. I kissed Adrian back, opening my mouth in a silent demand for more. Hints of alcohol flavored his kiss, but beneath that was his taste, infinitely more intoxicating, and I responded as if it was my drug of choice. I moaned as my head tilted back from the force of his kiss. Then he pulled me across the seats until I was on top of him, his strong grip molding me against every muscled inch of his body.
“This is why I stayed away.” Growled against my mouth as his hands started to rove over me with knowing, ruthless passion. “Can’t be near you without wanting you. Can’t stop myself anymore—”
His words cut off as his kiss deepened, until I could hardly breathe from the erotic thrusts and delves of his tongue. I’d been kissed before, but never like this. He wasn’t exploring my mouth. He was claiming it.
And I couldn’t get enough.
And for added *oomph!!* here is the trailer!
Wow! This book sounds great! And the cover is simply stunning.
Rock Addiction sounds like the adult version of Unmaking Hunter Kennedy. I’m all over this one.
And Jeanine Frost – a no brainer for me. Anything she writes goes on my TBR list.
That 1st part was supposed to go on another thread. Dry I’ll copy it over. Didn’t realize These were separate. Maryse is a busy bee.
LOL!!!!
Yep. Oh and I made a fix! It’s not YA this one. It’s NA!!! YAY US. Means possibility of steam!!
Love her Night Huntress series and didn’t know about this new one so thx for sharing!
She is really funny. I was literally laughing out loud (all by myself) while reading her fun facts. Don’t you hate it when that happens? I always try to disguise it as cough so people don’t realize how truly strange I am. But Jeaniene got me . I couldn’t cover it up. I was laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes. Ha! So that’s what it takes to be an author. *snicker* just hilarious
Ha! Just realized it’s after midnight here. So The Beautiful Ashes is now officially downloaded into my library. Ohhh so tempted to drop what I’m reading and start this one.
I’m waiting on this one until some more reviews roll in. I have everything she has published but for some reason the summary of this book doesn’t grab me.
I’ll let you know when I’m done but I won’t guarantee you’ll like what I like. 🙂
Definitely let me know – I’m sure it will be good but I’m dragging my feet for some reason. Sometimes I read too much into the summaries and feel I might miss out on great books based on that assumption unfortunately.
This was another great read by Jeaniene Frost. Ivy and Adrian’s chemistry is out of this realm. I can’t wait for book two, so these two can debunk the curse and get their HEA.
Teresa thanks for the feedback. I can’t wait to read this one!!! So excited about it. Please tell me it doesn’t end sad…I couldn’t bear it if Jeanine Frost did that to us.