The alert readers among you – some of you people are amazing how fast you find stuff! – have noticed that I have covers and copy up for two new releases coming this year. These are the first two in the high fantasy trilogy I’m doing with Rebel Base Books, Kensington’s new Science Fiction and Fantasy imprint. (They just launched in January 2018.) The trilogy is called The Chronicles of Dasnaria – I told you before that it was The Lost Princess Chronicles, but we changed that – and the first book is PRISONER OF THE CROWN, not Princess of Dasnaria as previously reported.
The reason for these changes? Well, it turns out that any time you put “princess” in a title, people go running straight to Young Adult (YA) in their heads. Including cover artists, it turns out. The first cover for PRISONER OF THE CROWN was way too Disney princess for the content of the book. A major problem!
Because…
And this is the entire point of this post and I hope you all will help in sharing this widely!
THIS TRILOGY IS NOT YA!
In fact, it’s not even fantasy romance.
There’s dark shit in these books, people. Lots of rape/abuse triggers, too.
Here’s the copy for PRISONER OF THE CROWN (releasing June 12, 2018):
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She was raised to be beautiful, nothing more. And then the rules changed…
In icy Dasnaria, rival realm to the Twelve Kingdoms, a woman’s roleis to give pleasure, produce heirs, and question nothing. But a plot to overthrow the emperor depends on the fate of his eldest daughter. And the treachery at its heart will change more than one carefully limited life…
THE GILDED CAGE
Princess Jenna has been raised in supreme luxury—and ignorance. Within the sweet-scented, golden confines of the palace seraglio, she’s never seen the sun, or a man, or even learned her numbers. But she’s been schooled enough in the paths to a woman’s power. When her betrothal is announced, she’s ready to begin the machinations that her mother promises will take Jenna from ornament to queen.
But the man named as Jenna’s husband is no innocent to be cozened or prince to charm. He’s a monster in human form, and the horrors of life under his thumb are clear within moments of her wedding vows. If Jenna is to live, she must somehow break free—and for one born to a soft prison, the way to cold, hard freedom will be a dangerous path indeed…
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Okay?
The husband is a monster. He’s not an alphahole, not a hero-in-disguise, not a villain tranformed and redeeemed. This is Jenna’s story and no romance AT ALL in this first book.
Here’s the copy for the second book, EXILE OF THE SEAS (out September 4, 2018):
It’s a bit spoilery, but hey, so is the title, right? And if you’ve read THE EDGE OF THE BLADE, you knew what happened to her anyway, so…
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Around the shifting borders of the Twelve Kingdoms, trade and conflict, danger and adventure put every traveler on guard . . . but some have everything to lose.
ESCAPED
Once she was known as Jenna, Imperial Princess of Dasnaria, schooled in graceful dance and comely submission. Until the man her parents married her off to almost killed her with his brutality.
Now, all she knows is that the ship she’s boarded is bound away from her vicious homeland. The warrior woman aboard says Jenna’s skill in dancing might translate into a more lethal ability. Danu’s fighter priestesses will take her in, disguise her as one of their own—and allow her to keep her silence.
But it’s only a matter of time until Jenna’s monster of a husband hunts her down. Her best chance to stay hidden is to hire out as bodyguard to a caravan traveling to a far-off land, home to beasts and people so unfamiliar they seem like part of a fairy tale. But her supposed prowess in combat is a fraud. And sooner or later, Jenna’s flight will end in battle—or betrayal . . .
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So, as you can suss from this, there’s not really romance in this one either. Although, there is the beginning of a something something that you keen romance-sniffers will detect. And the third book…
Well, I’m writing WARRIOR OF THE WORLD (out January 2019) right now, so we shall see!
<insert evil laugh here>
Okay, who are we kidding? You all know I love an (eventual) happy ending. But, you know, if you see readers putting these on their YA shelves on Goodreads or Booklikes, talk them out of it. Really, they’ll be glad you did. These books tell a heroic tale, but our heroine goes through some bad stuff that I didn’t want to flinch away from or gloss.
All that said, I think the trilogy is a fantastic journey and I can’t wait for you all (those who won’t be triggered, that is) to read it!
In addition, the TOR booth will be giving away 30 Galley proofs of THE ORCHID THRONE on Saturday, 7/20/19 at 10am. I’ll be there to sign and chat, so come on by!
