The Unofficial Addiction Book Fan Club: k-teen

Cold Burn of Magic (Black Blade #1)
by Jennifer Estep
Publisher: K-Teen
Release Date: April 28th 2015

Genre: Young Adult, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal

Synopsis:

There Be Monsters Here. . .

It's not as great as you'd think, living in a tourist town that's known as "the most magical place in America." Same boring high school, just twice as many monsters under the bridges and rival Families killing each other for power.

I try to keep out of it. I've got my mom's bloodiron sword and my slightly illegal home in the basement of the municipal library. And a couple of Talents I try to keep quiet, including very light fingers and a way with a lock pick.

But then some nasty characters bring their Family feud into my friend's pawn shop, and I have to make a call--get involved, or watch a cute guy die because I didn't. I guess I made the wrong choice, because now I'm stuck putting everything on the line for Devon Sinclair. My mom was murdered because of the Families, and it looks like I'm going to end up just like her. . .

One of my favorite books is Beauty by Robin McKinley. It’s a lovely retelling of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale, which is also one of my favorite stories.

I like Arrow, The Flash, Once Upon a Time, 12 Monkeys, and Person of Interest, among others.

I like the Marvel superhero movies, especially Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

I like The Killers, and one of my favorite songs by them is “All These Things That I’ve Done.”

I love a lot of different foods, especially cheese fries, dark chocolate, and strawberry cheesecake ice cream.

I like the quote “Never give up, never surrender” from the movie Galaxy Quest. It’s such a great motto, especially when you’re having a bad day.

I’m a total fangirl when it comes to superheroes. I could talk about the characters, the comics, TV shows like Arrow and The Flash, and all the Marvel movies for hours on end. LOL.

Tough question! There are so many authors that I would like to meet, but I’ll say Robin McKinley.

Thanks for taking the time to feature my books. Happy reading, everyone!

Hello Jennifer! We are super excited to have you in our FFBC tours.

Thanks for hosting me. I appreciate it!

COLD BURN OF MAGIC is the first book in my Black Blade young adult urban fantasy series. The book focuses on Lila Merriweather, a 17-year-old thief who lives in Cloudburst Falls, West Virginia, a town dubbed “the most magical place in America.” Tourists come from around the world to tour all the magic-themed shops and attractions, as well as see monsters like tree trolls, copper crushers, and more in their natural habitats.

Lila does her best to stay off the grid and avoid the Families — mobs — who control the town. But when she saves a member of the Sinclair Family during an attack, Lila finds herself caught in the middle of a brewing war between the Sinclairs and the Draconis, the two most powerful Families in town.

So basically, the book is about magic, monsters, and mobsters. I hope that readers enjoy getting to know Lila and following her adventures in Cloudburst Falls.

Part of the inspiration for COLD BURN OF MAGIC came from some vacations that I’ve taken over the last couple of years. I always enjoy going on vacation, traveling to new places, and seeing new things.

Somewhere along the way, I thought that it would be cool if there was a tourist town where folks went to see real magic and monsters, a place that was run by these mob Families who were fighting for control of the town. So that was sort of the beginning of my fictional town of Cloudburst Falls and COLD BURN OF MAGIC.

I always enjoy writing action and fight scenes, and there are several of those in this book. Without spoiling anything, I really liked writing the big fight scene at the end with Lila and the bad guy.

One song that I really like is “Human” by The Pretenders. It’s about seeming tough and strong on the outside but still hurting on the inside, which I think relates to a lot of my heroines. I think it’s just a great song.

Well, bacon is Lila’s favorite food, so you might want to fix some BLTs, bacon-wrapped dates, or other bacon food for dinner before you start reading the book. LOL.

DARK HEART OF MAGIC, the second book in my Black Blade series, will be out on Oct. 27. The third book in the series is tentatively set to be published in 2016.

SPIDER’S TRAP, the 13th book in my Elemental Assassin series, will be out on July 28, with book #14 tentatively set to be released on Dec. 29.

I’ll also be releasing FANDEMIC, the fifth book in my Bigtime superhero series, on June 2.

Folks can find more information about all my books on my website at www.jenniferestep.com.

Thank you so much for everything, Jennifer!

Thanks again. Happy reading, everyone! J

Follow the Cold Burn of Magic by Jennifer Estep Blog Tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

Jennifer Estep is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of urban fantasy and paranormal romance.

Her Elemental Assassin series follows the life and times of Gin “the Spider” Blanco, a barbecue restaurant owner who also happens to be an assassin with magical control over the elements of Ice and Stone.

The Mythos Academy series focuses on Gwen Frost, a 17-year-old Gypsy girl who has the ability to know an object’s history just by touching it. She studies at Mythos Academy, a school for the descendants of ancient warriors.

Her Bigtime paranormal romance books feature sexy superheroes, evil ubervillains, and smart, sassy gals looking for love.

Estep’s new Black Blade series is about 17-year-old thief Lila Merriweather, who has a Talent for sight, along with the ability to take magic others used against her to boost her own powers. She tries not to get involved with the Families who control much of the town, but ends up in the middle of a potential turf war.

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Book Addicts!

It's another blogoversary post! This time we have another of my favorite authors. You might have read some posts about her in my site or you might have heard/read her books, 'cause they are simply badass and mind-blowing.

Nina Berry's the author of the Otherkin series, a YA Urban Fantasy series, full of romance, shapeshifters and a world that's simply awesome. So for those who haven't read or heard about this series before, now is your chance. And if you are one of those YA Supernatural lovers, you definitely have to read these books!

We have an interview with Nina that would love to share with you, so we hope you like it and enjoy it. And if you want to read the series? All you have to do is enter the giveaway below 'cause Nina's offering all her books, signed, to one lucky winner. And if you're not fast enough, I might even steal them from you! ;) So have fun and don't forget to do a happy-book dance if you win!

Otherkin (Otherkin #1)

by Nina Berry

Publisher: Kensington

Release Date: July 31st 2012

Synopsis:

Dez is a good girl who does as she's told and tries not to be noticed. Then she rescues a boy from a cage, and he tells her secrets about herself. Now inside her burns a darkness that will transform her.

Everything is about to change--and neither Caleb, nor the Otherkin, nor those who hunt them, are prepared for what Dez will unleash.

Othermoon (Otherkin #2)

by Nina Berry

Publisher: K-Teen

Release Date: January 29th 2013

Synopsis:

Everyone has secrets. I had no idea mine would lead me into shadow. Dez has found the place where she belongs. With the otherkin. With Caleb. Or so she thought. As the barriers between our world and Othersphere fall, a wall rises between Dez and Caleb, leaving her fiercest enemy her only friend.

And maybe something more.

Now Dez must make a devastating choice: keep the love of her life, or save the otherkin from annihilation.

Othersphere (Otherkin #3)

by Nina Berry

Publisher: K-Teen

Release Date: December 31st 2013

Synopsis:

Dez thought she knew who her mother was, who she was. Thought she had friends, a boy who loved her, and a school where she finally fit in.

But across the veil linking our world and the next lurks a monster which can annihilate. . .or liberate her. Now she must confront it there with help from one boy who loves her and one who can't stand the sight of her.

Dez thought she understood her tiger form, her deepest self. But in this treacherous place, she'll have to choose between the two halves of her soul--and determine which world survives.

Othersphere is the third and final installment in Nina Berry's acclaimed young adult Otherkin series, which blends romance, fantasy, and action in a powerful story of friendship and self-acceptance.

Hi Nina! We are really happy to have you in our blogoversary event.

It’s awesome to be here. Congratulations on the anniversary!

It’s about a girl named Dez with a back brace who discovers she can shape-shift into a tiger, which leads her to discover the secret world of shapeshifters, the otherkin, and those who hunt them. While uncovering the mystery of who she really is, Dez makes friends and allies, falls for a boy with his own strange powers, and becomes the target of ruthless enemies who will literally tear the world apart to destroy her and her kind.

So it’s mostly a paranormal adventure with generous helpings of romance, friendship, and action. Read it and you’ll get everything from first kisses to helicopter crashes to (I hope) connecting to the awesome beauty of the world around us.

I had a back brace when I was a teen, and I knew that I wanted to write about that experience somehow because it had a profound effect on me. At the same time I wanted to write a separate story about a girl who shifts into a tiger because how cool would that be? Then I figured out how to bring the two ideas together. Dez has a lot of issues about her body image because of the brace, and shifting into a tiger forces her to confront those issues in a whole new way.

That was the seed that started it all. Then I had to create a world where all that was possible, and that included other types of shapeshifters and their enemies and the other world from whence they get their power. So the stories just grew and grew as I fleshed out the characters and the world they live in.

Dez is a six-foot tall redheaded teenager with self confidence issues who learns to become a leader, a friend, and a girlfriend over the course of the books. The best thing about her is her willingness to do what she thinks is right, even if it means losing friends, family, and the boy she loves. The worst thing about her is that she can be kind of bossy and isn’t always right about what’s “best.” She’s flawed, but she’s loyal, kind, and brave, so that helps.

Among the many worlds that inhabit our universe, Othersphere is the world that lies closest to ours. The veil between our world and Othersphere is thinnest in places where great energies have been expended – like where the Tunguska meteor struck in Siberia in 1908, or where the US tested atomic bombs in the Nevada desert. So sometimes, under special circumstances, it’s possible for certain creatures to cross the veil between the worlds.

It’s from Othersphere that the otherkin draw their ability to shapeshift and, in the case of callers of shadow like Caleb, where they get their wizard-like ability to change the shapes of objects and people. They draw upon the shadow of power Othersphere casts into our world.

For the enemies of the otherkin, the Tribunal, Othersphere is literally hell itself. Readers get a chance to visit themselves in the third book in the trilogy, helpfully titled OTHERSPHERE, so they can make up their own minds.

I had to research everything from tigers to eagles to quantum physics! The good news is that I really enjoy research. I learned a lot about shapeshifting lore in many different cultures, and I drew upon some names and legends I read about in Mongolian mythology. In one section of an old Mongolian epic poem, a clever King battles a tiger as big as a mountain. That certainly gave me ideas.

I’ve been lucky to travel to a lot of fabulous places, so even though I didn’t draw upon any of my favorite places specifically, I did use some of the landscapes that linger in my mind, particularly for when the characters go to Othersphere. But Dez’s house in Burbank is a variation on a house some friends of mine live in, and of course, she and her friends go to some places inspired by Las Vegas and the Sierra Nevada mountains in California.

You can read the mentioned post about Nina's favorite places in the world by clicking here.

Intense, visceral, stormy at times, but it becomes a relationship where they completely understand and accept each other – warts and all. Even though the attraction is there right away, the trust is not, so it takes awhile for a real love to form. It’s not all sunshine and kisses because they’re both very strong-willed. But ultimately it works because they not only love each other, they understand and respect each other.

I could never pick a favorite book! That’s like picking a favorite child. The first one is special because it was my first book ever published, but the other books allowed me to expand the story in such cool ways that I love them too.

I must say, my favorite moment is in the first book, and it’s not romantic or pretty or sweet. It involves a conflict between and eagle and a helicopter full of armed men. And the eagle wins. I think I love that scene because it’s one of the first I visualized completely. For me, the message behind it is – nobody messes with Mother Nature. I can see the movie version of it in my head. And it’s pretty cool.

Another impossible choice! The second one, for OTHERMOON, is probably my favorite. Green’s my favorite color, and the tree branches (is that the Lightning Tree maybe?) around the moon make me very happy.

That’s a tough question. I listened to different songs during the different books to get me in the right mood, but the only one I always listened to to get me pumped before writing a big action sequence, was Uprising by Muse. The otherkin are the underdogs in all their fights, particularly because they’re so fragmented and filled with distrust for each other. Dez sees how they need to unite against their common enemy, but it takes longer for them to get over their tribal differences. So for me Uprising is a sort of “underdogs of the world – unite” anthem.

I didn’t do a playlist for these books, but I highly recommend Vivaldi’s Four Seasons (all four of them, depending on your mood and the season you’re in) for reading (or writing) music for these books. One of the themes of the books is nature versus technology, and Vivaldi really connects me to nature. The version by the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, conducted by Sir Neville Marriner is excellent.

No film version in the works yet, but from your lips to the universe’s ears! I don’t think of actors when I write, but after a book is done, it’s fun to think about a fantasy cast. My favorite pick for Dez is Shailene Woodley. Go big or go home, right? And for the reckless Caleb, I really like Thomas McDonnell.

I’m writing a new series for Harlequin Teen - historical thrillers about a disgraced teen movie star who gets caught up in intrigue and danger in Berlin of 1961, just as the Berlin Wall is going up. The first book is called THE NOTORIOUS PAGAN JONES, and it’ll be out June of 2015, with the second book out the following year. I’m having a great time writing and researching it!

Nina Berry is the author of the acclaimed YA paranormal OTHERKIN series from KTeen and the upcoming historical thriller PAGAN JONES series from Harlequin Teen. She grew up bodysurfing in Hawaii, learned to throw snowballs at the University of Chicago, and now lives and works in Hollywood, pretending to lead the glamorous life.

When she’s not traveling, reading or tweeting links to save the tiger, she writes all kinds of things, some of which might surprise you.

Nina blogs at ninaberry.com, and you can follow her on Twitter @Ninaberry or hang out with her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/writerninaberry.