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Isabella August – Faerie Lords Series Reading Order + Fun Facts & a quick excerpt!

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<— OMG LOOK at this gorgeous fantasy romance series!! Steamy and sexy and full-on intense. If you’re in the mood to lose yourself to a new world and marathon read, there are four books out right now (each one can be read as a standalone) and the author just released this book bundle!!

The author is today’s Friday Finds newsletter sponsor, and she’s celebrating her book bundle release with a personal touch! Some fun facts about the series (including songs that she’s chosen – I linked those up to their music videos), about her need to write these + a short & sweet (or should I say sexy!!) excerpt.

Let’s get to know the author and these books via these “Fun Facts” she’s sent us! 😀

ABOUT THE GENRE

I’ve always loved a good faerie tale. I should probably specify what I mean by that — as much as I enjoy Disney movies (who doesn’t?), I’m specifically talking about old school faerie tales like Tam Lin and The Goose Girl. These stories always had a kind of dark, sinister edge to them, but most of the time you could still expect to see the heroes off to happily ever after.

As an adult, I naturally went looking for some modern faerie tale romances… but there just aren’t enough! After gobbling up some Holly Black and a few other authors, I ended up at loose ends, and finally decided to write my own dark, modern faerie tales.

ABOUT THE BOOKS

Each book in this series has a slightly different flavor to it. Because I make prolific use of old school faerie tale elements, you might catch glimpses of plot elements that remind you of certain faerie tales, but don’t quite fit into any single retelling. Both Crown of Frost and Crown of Glass have elements from The Snow Queen, while Crown of Briars definitely winks at Sleeping Beauty once or twice.

MUSICAL CHOICES

Music is so important to my writing, I’ve got at least one playlist for every book I write — and I’m constantly searching out more to add to my library! Because of this, if you comment below with a song you think would make for an excellent romance, I’ll add it to my playlists and enter you in a drawing to win a free copy of the box set!

I couldn’t possibly list every song I use here, but I’ll give you just a taste of what I’ve been writing to for each book, below.

Crown of Frost | Possession (Sarah McLachlan)

If you’re looking for the darkest, most domineering hero, you’ll want to start with Liam, in Crown of Frost. Slowly losing his humanity, Liam has been overcome by the desire to possess beautiful things — the heroine included. If he falls prey to those tendencies, they’ll both end up suffering… but what a tempting possibility!

EXCERPT: CROWN OF FROST

Liam’s hand tightened in her hair. Those icy eyes burned into her, possessive. “I want you,” he whispered. “So much. But I want to own you too, El. I can’t separate the two. I’m going to hurt you.”

He was right. It was a terrible idea. Elaine knew that. But her body was hot, her mind spinning, her heart in her throat. With that kiss, Liam had reached inside her and stolen a piece of her soul.

Or maybe he’d given her back a piece that she’d been missing.

“I don’t care,” she breathed. “Own me. Just for tonight.”

Crown of Briars | Spark (The Bird and the Bee)

Simon, from Crown of Briars, is a more subtle, understated hero. Though he has plenty of raw power, Simon is also socially adept — an expert at polite insults and careful maneuvering. Simon is wickedly patient, but beneath that careful exterior is a fiery passion waiting to be discovered.

Crown of Glass | New York (Snow Patrol)

Nothing outdoes Crown of Glass for sheer, desperate longing. Gabriel is a tragic, brilliant hero who covers his love with a flippant attitude. His unflagging loyalty leads him to dark places, but he’s always got a joke ready to diffuse the situation. Gabe and the heroine both need one another… but only one of them is willing to admit it.

About the series:

BLURB

Stolen away. Hiding from the past. Searching for a future. Wicked faeries have broken their lives… but every good faerie tale eventually has a happily ever after.

Crown of Frost: Taurus witch Elaine Halstead barely escaped the coldest, darkest faerie realm in existence — but while the veil between worlds stole all memory of her capture, her dreams are still haunted by a man with icy blue eyes. When the man of her dreams finally tracks her down, he surprises her by begging for a favor. And while Elaine’s memories of Liam are sparse, she finds herself drawn to him in a way that suggests he’s the very opposite of her enemy.

Crown of Briars: Scorpio witch Zoe Carter has spent long years trying to avoid a dark secret — but one thing she can’t avoid is Simon Leclair. Though he serves a wicked faerie queen, Simon always seems to go out of his way to protect Zoe — and every time he smiles at her, it’s enough to wipe away all her good sense. When Zoe’s dark past returns for her, Simon is her best chance at survival. But how can she risk losing her heart to a man who’s already given up his soul?

Crown of Glass: Cancer witch Jenna Wright is frozen in time, unable to move forward. Years ago, her best friend Gabriel sold his soul to the Lord of the Looking Glass, and committed a terrible crime. Ever since that night, Jenna has been trying to understand what drove him to such awful lengths… and what, if anything, she might do to bring him back. When Gabe reappears in Jenna’s life, it’s clear that the faerie bargain has shattered his sense of self — but no power in the world could make him forget how much he cares for her. If there’s any way to bring back the man Jenna loves, she’ll take it… but if she isn’t careful, she might end up trapped in the Looking Glass along with him, forever.

All of these urban fantasy romances have a happy ending, and contain no cheating. The books in the series can be read in any order.

SERIES READING ORDER (though each book can be read in ANY order) 😀

P.S. I just found THIS fun fact, right off the author’s Facebook page that made me giggle (and get excited since I’m from Montreal too!!). In fact, I’m giggling throughout her Facebook page as she reveals her own personal “Montreal life” snippets (that I can TOTALLY relate to). She’s so funny!!

But regarding her writing process and this series she said:

My puns! What shall I do about my precious puns?!

While writing today, I have stumbled onto an interesting train of thought. Just like Crown of Briars, Crown of Whispers is set in Montreal, where bilingualism is the norm. Certain scenes only make sense when you understand that someone has switched from English to French in the middle of the conversation. For instance, some of you might remember the line: “I have been fished?”

I’ve sometimes contemplated translating my books fully into French for release in other countries. How on earth would THAT work?

I’ve also got the very special problem of portraying when characters switch languages, when everything in the French translation seems to be equally “in French.”

“I don’t know” and “Je ne sais pas” signify different languages in the original version. In a French version, they would both just be “Je ne sais pas.”

It’s such a strange thing to get my brain around. 🤔 I feel like someone must have run into the problem before now, though. I think I shall dub this the “Bon Cop, Bad Cop” singularity.

Tee hee!!! Y’all should follow her! I just did. 😀

LINKS

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