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    Check out the cover art for Kill the Queen, Crown of Shards #1 …

    I am thrilled to finally share the cover art for Kill the Queen, Crown of Shards #1. Woot! 🙂

    Fun fact: Tony Mauro, the cover artist for my Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series, also worked on this cover. However, this is not the model from the Elemental Assassin series.

    Pre-order the book: Kill the Queen will be out on Oct. 2. As of right now, there will be three books in the series. Here are the pre-order links:

    Amazon Kindle / Amazon paperback / Barnes & Noble e-book / Barnes & Noble print book / Books-A-Million / Google Play / iBooks / IndieBound / Kobo

    Book prices: The e-book is $10.99, and the print book is $16.99. However, if you pre-order the print book, you can probably get it a little cheaper since retailers usually give customers the lowest price before release day.

    And please do not complain to me about the book prices, especially the ebook price. My publisher sets those, not me, and I have zero control over them. Zero control!

    Audiobook: There will be an audiobook, and I will share those links as soon as they are online.

    Epic fantasy: I’ve gotten some questions about what genre this book is. Kill the Queen is adult epic fantasy — NOT YA fantasy.

    There is sex, language, and violence in Kill the Queen, just like there is in my Elemental Assassin series.

    That being said, if you like my YA books, especially my Mythos Academy series, you will probably enjoy this one too. There are some nods to Roman, Norse, and other mythologies in the book, but this is much more of an adult read than my YA series. And like all my other books/series, Kill the Queen features a strong heroine, lots of action/fight scenes, a hint of romance, and magic/worldbuilding, among other things.

    Book description: And here is the book description.

    The thrilling first novel of the Crown of Shards epic fantasy series combines magic, murder, and adventure when a member of the royal family becomes a contender in a clash for the crown… 

    In a realm where one’s magical power determines one’s worth, Lady Everleigh’s lack of obvious ability relegates her to the shadows of the royal court of Bellona, a kingdom steeped in gladiator tradition. Seventeenth in line for the throne, Evie is nothing more than a ceremonial fixture, overlooked and mostly forgotten.

    But dark forces are at work inside the palace. When her cousin Vasilia, the crown princess, assassinates her mother the queen and takes the throne by force, Evie is also attacked, along with the rest of the royal family. Luckily for Evie, her secret immunity to magic helps her escape the massacre.

    Forced into hiding to survive, she falls in with a gladiator troupe. Though they use their talents to entertain and amuse the masses, the gladiators are actually highly trained warriors skilled in the art of war, especially Lucas Sullivan, a powerful magier with secrets of his own. Uncertain of her future—or if she even has one—Evie begins training with the troupe until she can decide her next move.

    But as the bloodthirsty Vasilia exerts her power, pushing Bellona to the brink of war, Evie’s fate becomes clear: she must become a fearsome gladiator herself . . . and kill the queen.

    In other words: I’m pitching the book as Gladiator meets Game of Thrones with a kickass heroine.

    Praise for the book: Here is what some folks are saying about the book.

    KILL THE QUEEN is the definition of epic fantasy: exciting, original, and filled with characters who jump off the page. Jennifer Estep enters the arena and takes no prisoners. Long live the Winter Queen. — Ilona Andrews #1 New York Times bestselling author

    Kill the Queen rocked my world! With court intrigue, a cast of fantastic characters, epic political sweep, and a slow-burn romance to die for, this book had me rapt. I only regret I devoured it so fast. And that I didn’t write it. More please! — Jeffe Kennedy, RITA® Award winning author of The Pages of the Mind

    Read the first chapter: To read the first chapter, go here, scroll down, and click on the Read Excerpt tab.

    I hope that everyone enjoys the look at the cover art and other info. Thanks!

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    Book signing on Saturday, May 5 at Mountain Empire Comics …

    I will be signing books on Saturday, May 5 at Mountain Empire Comics in Bristol, Tenn. as part of the store’s annual Free Comic Book Day events.

    I will be signing books from 10 a.m. to noon. I will have print copies of Spartan Heart, Mythos Academy spinoff #1, to sign, along with some (but not all!) of my other books.

    So if you are planning to attend the signing and want a specific book, please email me and let me know which book you want so I can have it on hand. Otherwise, I usually have the first and the most recent book in a series on hand to sign.

    Free Comic Book Day is a nationwide event where comic book stores offer free comics to readers of all ages, hold costume contests, and much more. If you like comics/graphic novels, then I encourage you to check out your local comic book store and see what all it has to offer.

    At Mountain Empire Comics, the store will give away free comics, and there will be a costume contest and vendors set up on the street outside.

    JULY 28 BOOK SIGNING AT ROB-CON

    I will also be signing books from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, July 28 as part of ROB-CON at the MeadowView Conference Resort & Convention Center in Kingsport, Tenn. The con (which runs from July 27-29) will feature dozens of authors, comic book artists, vendors, and more, so if you love comic books/fantasy/etc., you might want to check it out.

    As always, a big thanks to Robert Pilk for hosting me at these events.

    Hope to see you there! 🙂

  • Books in my TBR pile …

    Can you guys believe that it’s April already? That means that summer (and all its excessive heat) is right around the corner. Sigh. Summer is not my favorite season.

    But in the meantime, there are always more books to read. 🙂 Here are some books that are in my TBR pile right now. Note that the descriptions are from Amazon.

    Good Guys by Steven Brust

    Available now

    A snarky, irreverent tale of secret magic in the modern world, the first solo standalone novel in two decades from Steven Brust, the New York Times bestselling author of the Vlad Taltos series

    “Delightful, exciting, and sometimes brilliant.” —Neil Gaiman on Steven Brust

    Donovan was shot by a cop. For jaywalking, supposedly. Actually, for arguing with a cop while black. Four of the nine shots were lethal—or would have been, if their target had been anybody else. The Foundation picked him up, brought him back, and trained him further. “Lethal” turns out to be a relative term when magic is involved.

    When Marci was fifteen, she levitated a paperweight and threw it at a guy she didn’t like. The Foundation scooped her up for training too.

    “Hippie chick” Susan got well into her Foundation training before they told her about the magic, but she’s as powerful as Donovan and Marci now.

    They can teleport themselves thousands of miles, conjure shields that will stop bullets, and read information from the remnants of spells cast by others days before.

    They all work for the secretive Foundation…for minimum wage.

    Which is okay, because the Foundation are the good guys. Aren’t they?

    At the Publisher’s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

    My thoughts: I haven’t read Brust before, but his books have good reviews, and this one sounds really fun.

    Gunpowder Moon by David Pedreira

    Available now

    “Interesting quirks and divided loyalties flesh out this first novel in which sf and mystery intersect in a well-crafted plot…Pedreira’s science thriller powerfully highlights the human politics and economics from the seemingly desolate expanse of the moon. It will attract readers who enjoyed Andy Weir’s lunar crime caper Artemis.” — Library Journal, starred review

    A realistic and chilling vision of life on the Moon, where dust kills as easily as the vacuum of space…but murder is even quicker—a fast-paced, cinematic science fiction thriller, this debut novel combines the inventiveness of The Martian, the intrigue of The Expanse, and the thrills of Red Rising.

    The Moon smells like gunpowder. Every lunar walker since Apollo 11 has noticed it: a burnt-metal scent that reminds them of war. Caden Dechert, the chief of the U.S. mining operation on the edge of the Sea of Serenity, thinks the smell is just a trick of the mind—a reminder of his harrowing days as a Marine in the war-torn Middle East back on Earth.

    It’s 2072, and lunar helium-3 mining is powering the fusion reactors that are bringing Earth back from environmental disaster. But competing for the richest prize in the history of the world has destroyed the oldest rule in space: Safety for All. When a bomb kills one of Dechert’s diggers on Mare Serenitatis, the haunted veteran goes on the hunt to expose the culprit before more blood is spilled.

    But as Dechert races to solve the first murder in the history of the Moon, he gets caught in the crosshairs of two global powers spoiling for a fight. Reluctant to be the match that lights this powder-keg, Dechert knows his life and those of his crew are meaningless to the politicians. Even worse, he knows the killer is still out there, hunting.

    In his desperate attempts to save his crew and prevent the catastrophe he sees coming, the former Marine uncovers a dangerous conspiracy that, with one spark, can ignite a full lunar war, wipe out his team . . . and perhaps plunge the Earth back into darkness.

    My thoughts: I bought this one for Wheezley (he likes scifi and Andy Weir’s books), but I want to read it too. It’s murder … on the moon! Okay, I like saying that in a dramatic voice, but the book does sound really good.

    Punisher Max: The Complete Collection Vol. 2 by Garth Ennis and others

    Available now

    Collects Punisher (2004) #13-30.

    Nick Fury has a dangerous mission for the Punisher: break into a Siberian nuclear missile silo and steal a lethal retrovirus. But Castle soon sets off a chain reaction that will bring him into conflict with a ruthless Russian general — and take the world to the brink of war. Then, mobster Nicky Cavella returns to plague the Punisher. But when his scheme unleashes a wave of violence that rocks New York to its core, other predators emerge from the darkness. Finally, the Punisher targets a human-trafficking operation that supplies kidnapped girls to brothels. Veterans of Eastern Europe’s ethnic genocide, the cruel slavers are a quarry unlike any Castle has hunted before. They’re ready to go to war to protect what’s theirs — but they’ll soon find out exactly what war with the Punisher means.

    My thoughts: Wheezley is a big Punisher fan, and he gave me this collection to read, since it contains “The Slavers” storyline. Supposedly, the Marvel TV show is adapting that storyline for season two, so I wanted to check it out.

    What about you guys? What books are on your TBR pile right now?

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    Jennifer’s tentative book signing schedule for 2018 …

    4 Comments

    I will be doing a few events and book signings this spring/summer. As of right now, here are all of the events that I have planned for 2018:

    May 5 — I’ll be signing books at Mountain Empire Comics in Bristol, Tenn. as part of the store’s annual Free Comic Book Day events. Exact book signing time to be determined, but I’ll probably be at the store in the morning.

    July 18-21 — I’ll be attending the Romance Writers of America’s annual conference in Denver, Colo. I will be doing some of the publisher signings for conference attendees, and there will be a free, public book signing from 3-5 p.m., Saturday, July 21.

    July 28 — I’ll be signing books as part of ROB-CON at the MeadowView Conference Resort & Convention Center in Kingsport, Tenn. Exact book signing time to be determined.

    The con (which runs from July 27-29) will feature dozens of authors, comic book artists, vendors, and more, so if you love comic books/fantasy/etc., you might want to check it out. Note that I will only be at the con on Saturday, July 28.

    Please keep in mind that this schedule could change, due to life events and other factors.

    Also, before you ask, yes, I would love to travel and do more events, but traveling is expensive, and I am swamped with writing deadlines. So I probably won’t be traveling very much this year.

  • · · ·

    Updates and description for Kill the Queen, Crown of Shards #1, Oct. 2 …

    2 Comments

    I have some updates to share for Kill the Queen.

    1) The book title is still Kill the Queen, but the series title has changed to Crown of Shards. Also, the release date has been pushed back a week to Oct. 2.

    2) The book is up for pre-order:

    Amazon Kindle / Amazon paperback / Barnes & Noble e-book / Barnes & Noble print book / Books-A-Million / Google Play / iBooks / IndieBound / Kobo

    The ebook is $10.99, and the print book is $16.99. There will be an audiobook, and I will share those links as soon as they are online.

    3) Here is the book description:

    Gladiator meets Game of Thrones: a royal woman becomes a skilled warrior to destroy her murderous cousin, avenge her family, and save her kingdom in this first entry in a dazzling fantasy epic from the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Elemental Assassin series—an enthralling tale that combines magic, murder, intrigue, adventure, and a hint of romance.

    In a realm where one’s magical power determines one’s worth, Lady Everleigh’s lack of obvious ability relegates her to the shadows of the royal court of Bellona, a kingdom steeped in gladiator tradition. Seventeenth in line for the throne, Evie is nothing more than a ceremonial fixture, overlooked and mostly forgotten.

    But dark forces are at work inside the palace. When her cousin Vasilia, the crown princess, assassinates her mother the queen and takes the throne by force, Evie is also attacked, along with the rest of the royal family. Luckily for Evie, her secret immunity to magic helps her escape the massacre.

    Forced into hiding to survive, she falls in with a gladiator troupe. Though they use their talents to entertain and amuse the masses, the gladiators are actually highly trained warriors skilled in the art of war, especially Lucas Sullivan, a powerful magier with secrets of his own. Uncertain of her future—or if she even has one—Evie begins training with the troupe until she can decide her next move.

    But as the bloodthirsty Vasilia exerts her power, pushing Bellona to the brink of war, Evie’s fate becomes clear: she must become a fearsome gladiator herself . . . and kill the queen.

    4) And that’s it for now. I should have the cover art to share soon. In the meantime, I hope everyone enjoys the book description. 🙂