Exclusive Cover Reveal- DAWN STUDY by Maria V. Snyder & A Giveaway!

Hey everyone! I am sooooo freaking excited about this!!! I am helping Maria V. Snyder reveal the cover for DAWN STUDY on today! It's absolutely gorgeous and I adore her and her books! Check it out and make sure to enter to win a copy of DAWN STUDY when it comes out in December!

Now on to the reveal!

Title: DAWN STUDY
Auhtor: Maria V. Snyder
Publication Date: January 31, 2017
Publisher: Mira Books
Pages: 384
Find it: Amazon | B&N | iBooks | Goodreads

New York Times bestselling author Maria V. Snyder brings her Poison Study series to its exhilarating conclusion 

Despite the odds, Yelena and Valek have forged an irrevocable bond—and a family—that transcends borders. Now, when their two homelands stand on the brink of war, they must fight with magic and cunning to thwart an Ixian plot to invade Sitia. 

Yelena seeks to break the hold of the insidious Theobroma that destroys a person's resistance to magical persuasion. But the Cartel is determined to keep influential citizens and Sitian diplomats in thrall—and Yelena at bay. With every bounty hunter after her, Yelena is forced to make a dangerous deal. 

With might and magic, Valek peels back the layers of betrayal surrounding the Commander. At its rotten core lies a powerful magician…and his latest discovery. The fate of all rests upon two unlikely weapons. One may turn the tide. The other could spell the end of everything.

About Maria:

Maria V. Snyder changed from being a meteorologist to a novelist in 1995, when she began writing to keep her sanity while raising two children. Since then, she has published numerous freelance articles in magazines and newspapers, and teaches fiction-writing classes at the local college and area libraries. The classes give her the wonderful opportunity to encourage fellow writers, and to keep improving her craft.

Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Maria always had a fascination with big storms. Dreaming of chasing tornados, Maria earned a bachelors of science degree in meteorology at Penn State University. But she discovered, much to her chagrin, that forecasting the weather wasn't one of her skills. In order to chase tornados you had to predict where they might form. Creating fantasy worlds where she has complete control of the weather was more agreeable to her.

Maria's research on food-tasting methods with an expert chocolate taster, her husband, turned out to be a delicious bonus while writing Poison Study.

Maria has a brown belt in Isshinryu Karate, and enjoys playing volleyball and the cello. Traveling in general and via cruise ship in particular are her biggest distractions from writing. Maria has traveled to Belize, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Europe, Mexico, the Caribbean and through the Panama Canal.

Maria lives with her husband, son, daughter and yellow lab, Hazelnut, in Pennsylvania where she is at work on more LUNA novels. She is also pursuing a master's degree in writing popular fiction from Seton Hill University.

Where you can find Maria:

Website/Blog/Facebook/Goodreads

Giveaway Details:

3 winners will receive a paperback of DAWN STUDY (will be shipped in late December), International.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Dying To Read (162)-LONG MAY SHE REIGN by Rhiannon Thomas

Hey y’all thanks for stopping by to see my Dying to Read post and of course as always I have to give credit to the lovely Jill over at Breaking the Spine for the Waiting on Wednesday Meme!

I loved Rhiannon's debut series A Wicked Thing so I'm really excited to see how this one is!! Also isn't that cover gorgeous?!?!

Title: LONG MAY SHE REIGN

Author: Rhiannon Thomas

Release Date: February 21, 2017

Publisher: HarperTeen

Pages: 432

Formats: Hardcover, eBook

Find it: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | iBooks

Freya was never meant to be queen. Twenty third in line to the throne, she never dreamed of a life in the palace, and would much rather research in her laboratory than participate in the intrigues of court. However, when an extravagant banquet turns deadly, and the king and his courtiers are poisoned, Freya suddenly finds herself on the throne.

Freya may have survived the massacre, but she is far from safe. The nobles don’t respect her, her councillors want to control her, and with the mystery of who killed the king still unsolved, Freya knows that a single mistake could cost her the kingdom – and her life.

Freya is determined to survive, and that means uncovering the murderers herself. Until then, she can’t trust anyone. Not her advisors. Not the king’s dashing and enigmatic illegitimate son. Not even her own father, who always wanted the best for her, but also wanted more power for himself.

So what do you think? Will you be adding this to your pile? What are you dying to read this week?

100 HOURS by Rachel Vincent Cover Reveal Blitz + Giveaway

I am so excited to share the awesome cover for 100 HOURS, the first book in a new trilogy by New York Times best-selling author Rachel Vincent, which releases on March 28, 2017 from Katherine Tegen Books, along with a note from the author about her upcoming novel and an amazing giveaway.

Scroll down to take check out the gorgeous cover, read what Rachel Vincent has to say about 100 HOURS, and enter for a chance to win. And be sure to share your thoughts about the cover in the comments!

---

The Cover Revealed

Title: 100 HOURS
Author: Rachel Vincent
Release date: March 28, 2017
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Pages: 368
Formats available to pre-order: Hardcover

Find it: AMAZON | GOODREADS

Description:

Maddie is beyond done with her cousin Genesis’s entitled and shallow entourage. Genesis is so over Miami’s predictable social scene with its velvet ropes, petty power plays, and backstabbing boyfriends.

While Maddie craves family time for spring break, Genesis seeks novelty—like a last-minute getaway to an untouched beach in Colombia. And when Genesis wants something, it happens.

But paradise has its price. Dragged from their tents under the cover of dark, Genesis, Maddie, and their friends are kidnapped and held for ransom deep inside the jungle—with no diva left behind. It all feels so random to everyone except Genesis. She knows they were targeted for a reason. And that reason is her.

Now, as the hours count down, only one thing’s for certain: If the Miami hostages can’t set aside their personal problems, no one will make it out alive.

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A Note from Rachel Vincent

In my upcoming YA suspense 100 HOURS, Genesis and her cousin Maddie come from opposite ends of the privilege spectrum, but when they wind up kidnapped for ransom during spring break in Colombia and have no one else to count on, they discover they have more in common than either of them thought.

If you’ve read any of my previous releases, 100 HOURS probably seems like a departure for a Rachel Vincent book. And that’s what I thought, back when it was just me and an idea. But as I wrote the story and got to know the characters, I realized that even though this book is set in the Colombian jungle and these characters have no supernatural abilities, 100 HOURS is very much a book about the themes that draw me in over and over. Survival. Family friction and loyalty. High-stakes pulse-racing action. Twists, turns, secrets, and revelations. Girls who can fend for themselves—and for anyone else who needs help.

---

About Rachel Vincent

Photo credit: Kim Haynes Photography

Rachel Vincent is a former English teacher and an eager champion of the Oxford comma. She shares her home in Oklahoma with two cats, two teenagers, and her husband, who’s been her # 1 fan from the start. Rachel is older than she looks and younger than she feels, and she remains convinced that writing about the things that scare her is the cheapest form of therapy—but social media is a close second.

WEBSITE | BLOG | TWITTER | TUMBLR | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | GOODREADS

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The Giveaway

Courtesy of the author, there is a blitz-wide giveaway for…

• ONE (1) winner will receive a SIGNED SET of a paperback copy of THE STARS NEVER RISE + an ARC of THE FLAME NEVER DIES

Giveaway is US only. Must be 13 or older to enter. Giveaway ends on July 11th at 11:59 PM Pacific. 

Enter in the Rafflecopter below...

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Top Ten Tuesday (71)- My Top 10 Skincare Products, Nail Polish, Makeup, & Clothes

Hi thanks for stopping by!!! And welcome to my Top 10 Tuesday post! 

Thanks to the lovely ladies at The Broke And The Bookish for creating this weekly meme!

Here's this week's topic.

June 28: FREEBIE WEEK

Since I always share about books and TV shows & movies. I thought I'd do something different today! I'm going to share some of my favorite skincare products, nail polish, makeup, & clothes!

1. Perfectly Posh Big Fat Yummy Hand Creme. So I know most of us readers don't like to use hand cremes and then read because it either leaves grease marks on our eReaders or in our books but I have found the ultimate hand creme! Not only does it smell delicious it doesn't leave that greasy residue! It also leaves my hands silky smooth! There's a ton of different scents to choose from but this one is a favorite! Here's a link if you want to check them all out! https://posh_about_it.po.sh/products/bfyhc

2. Your Skin But Better™ CC Cream with SPF 50+ by It Cosmetics! Don't let that price tag scare you away. It's totally worth it and it lasts forever also you can put it on as thin or thick as you want. I prefer a thin layer it covers perfectly! There's also a shade for every skin tone.

3. I am a huge fan of Gel nail polish because it lasts much longer than regular nail polish but some of the ones out there are super expensive! Then I came across 2 lines that are affordable and work great! The Sinful Gel Tech Polish and the Wet n Wild 1 Step WonderGel™ Nail Color! The awesome thing about these is that there's a ton of colors to pick from AND the price range is between $3 and $6 and you can get them at stores like Target, Walmart, Rite Aid, Walgreens, etc!

4. Perfectly Posh Face Products. I hate how dry my skin gets during the summer especially after being out in the sun all day and swimming. So I love to come in the house and wash my face and moisturize immediately. I also like to treat myself to a relaxing face mask! Here's some of my favorites for that! Here's a link for the face wash & moisturizer https://posh_about_it.po.sh/products/look-natural & Face Mask https://posh_about_it.po.sh/products/face-masks

5. Australian Gold Sunscreen. So it's summer and we all want a good sunscreen right? I love this one! The Australian Gold Continuous Spray Sunscreen! Not only does it smell wonderful but it has coverage from SPF 4 to SPF 50 and some of them have bronzers in them and they don't leave a filmy stick residue on your skin! My fave is the SPF 15 with bronzer! You can get these at all major retailers too like Target, etc.

6. Ok so I totally used to be a t-shirt and blue jeans girl and I still love my jeans but I have fallen completely in LOVE with LuLaRoe! From the buttery soft leggings, shirts, and skirts they have a style for every body shape! They don't have a website as it's a product sold by independent distributors but I happen to know a few. They sell on their facebook pages and on perisocpe! Here's a link to their pages and you can find their periscopes there! And everything is very affordable!

LuLaroe Mindy Herbert

LuLaroe Holly Overby

7. The eye line from IT Cosmetics! I had been looking for a mascara that both volumized and lengthened for a long time and I finally found one in Hello Lashes!! I will never buy another kind of mascara! Also I love the eyeliner and eye shadow palates! 

8. One last Perfectly Posh product because I can't stop talking about how amazing they are!!! Remember above about the hand creme? Well they have body butters too and they're not greasy at all! They also leave your skin super soft! And the best part? The scent lasts forever! Not like Bath & Body Works stuff that has alchol in it so the scent is gone really quick! I don't have a personal favorite scent with this line I love them all! Check em out! https://posh_about_it.po.sh/products/skindelicious

9. I am a huge flip flop fan! But I hate ones that are just flat and don't offer any support. So when I found the Reef Sandals I was a very happy camper! They offer arch support and aren't ugly! My favorites are the Reef Dreams but I have a few other pairs too!  

10. One more thing I can't live without is sunglasses! I wear glasses every day because I'm blind as a bat but even before I needed prescription glasses I was a hug fan of wearing sunglasses for eye protection! And I use the hate how expensive they were and how the cheap ones were kinda ugly! Then I found out you can buy super cute ones online that are very affordable (and if you wear prescription glasses you can have you prescription added too!) Check out these sites they have some super cute ones!

Glasses Shop

Coastal

Firmoo

39 Dollar Glasses

So what about you? What are some of your favorite skincare, makeup, clothes, etc? And check back next week for my Top Ten Books I Enjoyed That Have Under 2000 Ratings On Goodreads !

Hugs,

Jaime

Blog Tour- EMPIRE OF DUST by Eleanor Herman An Interview & Giveaway!

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on blog tour for EMPIRE OF DUST by Eleanor Herman! I freaking LOVED this book so hard!! I have an interview with Eleanor to share with you today! And make sure to enter the awesome giveaway for a set of the series! 

Haven't heard of THE KING SLAYER? Check it out!

Title: EMPIRE OF DUST (Blood of Gods and Royals #2)

Author: Eleanor Herman

Pub. Date: June 26, 2016

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Pages: 432

Format: Hardcover, eBook, audiobook

Find it: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Goodreads

In Macedon, war rises like smoke, forbidden romance blooms and ancient magic tempered with rage threatens to turn an empire to dust 

After winning his first battle, Prince Alexander fights to become the ruler his kingdom demands—but the line between leader and tyrant blurs with each new threat. 

Meanwhile, Hephaestion, cast aside by Alexander for killing the wrong man, must conceal the devastating secret of a divine prophecy from Katerina even as the two of them are thrust together on a dangerous mission to Egypt. 

The warrior, Jacob, determined to forget his first love, vows to eradicate the ancient Blood Magics and believes that royal prisoner Cynane holds the key to Macedon's undoing. 

And in chains, the Persian princess Zofia still longs to find the Spirit Eaters, but first must grapple with the secrets of her handsome—and deadly—captor. 

New York Times bestselling author Eleanor Herman entwines the real scandals of history with epic fantasy to reimagine the world's most brilliant ruler, Alexander the Great, in the second book of the Blood of Gods and Royals series.

Grab the FREE novella VOICE OF GODS Now!

Amazon | B&N | iBooks

&

The novella QUEEN OF ASHES for $2.99!

Amazon | B&N | iBooks

Now on to the interview!

Hi Eleanor! First I want to say welcome back to Two Chicks on Books! I loved LEGACY OF KINGS and EMPIRE OF DUST and can’t wait to read what’s next! I am so happy that you could stop by for a visit!

For the readers: can you give us a little recap of LEGACY OF KINGS and the characters? Do you have any actors that come to mind? (For each of the actors Eleanor has for her dream cast I will link to their IMDB page)

Alexander: Macedon’s sixteen-year-old heir needs to prove himself worthy of the Crown. In his first major battle, he will face the best warriors in the world. He finds himself strangely attracted to a peasant girl, Katerina, who helps him quite unexpectedly in the battle, shifting the tides of war. Actor: Daniel Sharman.

Katerina: Comes to Alexander’s palace with a secret mission: kill the queen who killed Kat’s mother. She can’t marry Jacob, the boy she loves, until she has wreaked her revenge. Kat’s plans take a strange twist, and in the kingdom of Halicarnassus she learns about the powerful magic that has always been percolating in her blood. Actress: Emma Watson.

Hephaestion: Alexander’s best friend, Heph is fiercely loyal but finds that his pride and passion often stand in his way. Will the prince forgive him for his betrayal on the battlefield? Actor: Jack Falahee.

Jacob: Wants to make Kat proud of him so she will become his wife. But the path he chooses to do this makes him an enemy of Macedon, rendering his one goal in life impossible. Actor: Matt Lanter.

Cynane: Alexander’s warrior half-sister will do anything to rule and lead armies. Anything. Actress: Caitlin Stasey.

Zofia: Alexander’s Persian fiancée, the runaway princess makes a long journey east to find the Spirit Eaters and change her fate. Actress: Shay Mitchell.

Queen Olympias: Alexander’s manipulative mother wants one thing only: for her lover, trapped in snake form, to come back to her as a man. Actress: Charlize Theron.

What about book 3? Do we have a title yet?

Yes! Book 3 is called Reign of Serpents, and on the last page of Empire of Dust you will understand why.

Who was your favorite character to write (mine was Heph lol)? What about your least favorite?

I love writing all of them. They are, of course, different aspects of myself in concentrated form. It was hard developing each one as a different person at first, but much easier for Book 2. Now I’m halfway through Book 3 and I’ve completely got them down! I like how Alex’s mind works—sort of like an ancient Greek computer, searching for the logical answers. He lives very much in his head. Heph is more human, living in his heart and consequently making mistakes as we all do. I adore Kat’s bravery and spunk, and Jacob’s loyalty and cleverness. I love Zo’s journey because it’s not just the miles she puts in on the Royal Road, it’s a journey of learning who she really is and what she can be. And I adore writing the bad girls—Cynane, so fiercely ambitious for power in a man’s world, and Olympias, especially now that karma is catching up to her.

What is your favorite passage/scene in EMPIRE OF DUST?

I love writing battle scenes so the fight in the tunnel was a load of fun. For this battle I read several ancient books written on warfare and borrowed some of their strategies. I also love the Egyptian scenes where Kat and Heph are sliding down the Nile, amazed at what they are seeing. I enjoyed creating the accursed city of Sharuna and the creepy Ushabti warriors.

What kind of research did you have to do for the story?

I read several books about Egypt in this time period. It wasn’t the heyday of the pharaohs; they had built the Pyramids two thousand years earlier and by the time of Empire of Dust the Persians had conquered Egypt. But it was a timeless land still steeped in ancient traditions. I really want the reader to feel a marked contrast between the vastly different cultures of Macedon, Persia, and Egypt.

What are you reading right now? Or what do you have on your TBR that you’re dying to read?

I just finished read Amy Lukavic’s Daughters Unto Devils, a story, as one reviewer wrote, that blends Stephen King with Little House on the Prairie. I was on the treadmill and couldn’t put it down and when I finished after two hours I could hardly step down from the treadmill my legs were so sore. Before that, I read Cait Reynold’s Angel Hands, a historical romance about what happens to the Phantom of the Opera after the opera burns. I fell in love with the phantom, despite whatever was going on under that mask. Next on my list is Julie Kagawa’s Talon series.

Who is your ultimate Book Boyfriend?

I so loved Augustus Waters from The Fault in Our Stars.  He was supportive, funny, smart and amazing, even though he had lost a leg to cancer, even when the cancer came back. I was so sad thinking about the man he would have become, a great husband, father, employee, boss, community activist, etc. There was this hole in the world for me when he died. What a loss. What a waste. I know he was a fictional character but I still think I will never get over him dying. My eyes are stinging just typing this.

If you were to write another YA series from a different time in history what would you write and why?

I think ancient Egypt now that I have done so much research about it, and not just for Empire of Dust, but for Queen of Ashes, the novella of the immortal Princess Laila of Sharuna, whom Kat and Heph travel down the Nile to meet. Queen of Ashes is available to download free on August 1.

Thanks so much Eleanor for answering my questions! I can’t wait to read book 3!

About Eleanor: 

Before the Game of Thrones craze swept the nation, Eleanor Herman was hard at work entertaining readers with her extensive research on courtly intrigue and romance. She is the New York Times bestselling author of Sex with Kings, as well as three other works of nonfiction: Sex with the Queen, Mistress of the Vatican, and King Peggy.

Obsessed by all things royal and historical, she lives in McLean, Virginia with her husband and four extremely dignified cats. Legacy of Kings is her first novel.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest

Giveaway Details:

2 winners will receive a paperback of LEGACY OF KINGS & a hardcover of EMPIRE OF DUST, US Only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

6/20/2016- The Cover Contessa- Interview

6/21/2016- Zach's YA Reviews- Review

6/22/2016- Fiction Fare- Guest Post

6/23/2016- My So-Called Book Reviews- Review

6/24/2016- Two Chicks on Books- Interview

Week Two:

6/27/2016- Lisa Loves Literature- Review

6/28/2016- A Dream Within A Dream- Guest Post

6/29/2016- Mundie Moms- Review

6/30/2016- Once Upon A Twilight- Review

7/1/2016- Curling Up With A Good Book- Interview

Grab book 1 now!

Dying To Read (161)- BLACK ROSE by Bree Barton

Hey y’all thanks for stopping by to see my Dying to Read post and of course as always I have to give credit to the lovely Jill over at Breaking the Spine for the Waiting on Wednesday Meme!

There's no cover for this one yet I keep hoping it will be revealed soon! I've had this one on my TBR forever and since I have been sharing 2017 books I wanted to share this one!

Title: BLACK ROSE

Author: Bree Barton

Release Date: 2017

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Pages: ?

Formats: Hardcover, eBook

Find it: Goodreads 

Bree Barton's BLACK ROSE trilogy, pitched as Graceling meets Pride and Prejudice, about a girl who, on the eve of her marriage to a prince, discovers she has dark, forbidden magic, magic that her powerful family's sole purpose was to destroy.

So what do you think? Will you be adding this to your pile? What are you dying to read this week?

Blog Tour- AND I DARKEN by Kiersten White An Interview

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on blog tour for AND I DARKEN by Kiersten White! I really liked this reimagining of Vlad the Implaer as a girl if you want to see my review for the book it's HERE! I have an interview with Kiersten to share with you today! 

Haven't heard of AND I DARKEN? Check it out!

Title: AND I DARKEN

Author: Kiersten White

Pub. Date: June 28, 2016

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Format: Hardcover, Paperback, eBook, audiobook

Find it: Amazon | Barnes& Noble | iBooks | Goodreads

NO ONE EXPECTS A PRINCESS TO BE BRUTAL. 

And Lada Dragwlya likes it that way. Ever since she and her gentle younger brother, Radu, were wrenched from their homeland of Wallachia and abandoned by their father to be raised in the Ottoman courts, Lada has known that being ruthless is the key to survival. She and Radu are doomed to act as pawns in a vicious game, an unseen sword hovering over their every move. For the lineage that makes them special also makes them targets.

Lada despises the Ottomans and bides her time, planning her vengeance for the day when she can return to Wallachia and claim her birthright. Radu longs only for a place where he feels safe. And when they meet Mehmed, the defiant and lonely son of the sultan, who’s expected to rule a nation, Radu feels that he’s made a true friend—and Lada wonders if she’s finally found someone worthy of her passion.

But Mehmed is heir to the very empire that Lada has sworn to fight against—and that Radu now considers home. Together, Lada, Radu, and Mehmed form a toxic triangle that strains the bonds of love and loyalty to the breaking point.

Now on to the interview!

Hi, Kiersten! First, I want to say welcome to Two Chicks on Books! AND I DARKEN was absolutely fantastic, and I can’t wait for everyone to read it! And I am so happy that you could stop by for a visit!

Can you tell our readers a little bit about AND I DARKEN?

Hi! Thank you for having me! And I Darken is the first book in a new epic historical trilogy. It stars Lada and Radu, a brother and sister who are political prisoners in the Ottoman Empire in the 1400s. I decided to write a series filled with assassination attempts, violent successions, fratricide, arranged marriage, impalements, and other very current teen issues. Gotta stay on trend, and nothing says trend like reimagining a relatively obscure medieval Romanian prince as a princess instead, am I right? (Seriously, though, the more I study history, the more I realize things never change. That’s what’s fun about writing genre—you get to explore modern issues using another world.)

So do you have a title for book two yet?

Yes! My brilliant editor, Wendy Loggia, came up with the titles for all three books. In the middle of a massive title brainstorm, she emailed her ideas and I got chills, they were so perfect! But I can’t tell you . . . yet. :)

Being an amateur scholar on this particular subject, I know the history pretty well, so this is something I have been wanting to ask you. Why do a gender swap of Vlad Dracul? Wasn’t he fascinating enough as he was?

No, he wasn’t. All men can be improved by the addition of ovaries.

Just kidding! (Mostly.) What I wanted to explore with this series is how good people get to the point where they can justify atrocities in pursuit of their goals. I loved researching Vlad the Impaler because he was so deeply nationalistic, and everything he did made a sort of twisted, bloody sense. He had to fight so hard for every inch of his land. But then I thought, what if he had been a girl? She would have had to fight so hard for every inch of everything, ever, simply because she wasn’t a man, and that’s when it clicked. Plain and simple, it was history to me until I wondered how it would have been different if Vlad had been Lada. And then it changed from history to story, and I had to write it.

Who was your favorite character to write? Who was your least favorite?

Honestly, I loved writing every single character. It’s a large cast, much bigger than I usually work with, and they all brought different things to the story. So far Lada does seem to be the favorite character of most readers. I think it’s because I gave her absolute permission to be unrepentantly awful—angry, violent, brutal—and I didn’t try to soften her. There was always the temptation to pull her back—give her some redeeming sweetness, or make her beautiful, or do SOMETHING to make her traditionally appealing. But I didn’t, and I’m delighted that readers appreciate her in all her raging glory.

What kind of research did you have to do for the story?

All the research. So much. I did research on Vlad, on Mehmed, on Constantinople, on the Ottoman Empire, on Islam, on Orthodox Christianity, on Vlad and Mehmed’s contemporaries, and on actual historical women who were able to rise to positions of tremendous power. You name it, I researched it. Part of me thought these books would be a little easier because history had already done so much of the plotting for me. The part of me that thought that was an idiot. Such an idiot.

I was fortunate in that I had already been to Romania and visited all of Vlad the Impaler’s historical sites. (We really didn’t plan to do a Dracula tour, but we ended up around his old haunts and so made a point of seeing them.) We visited a church that his father was patron of, climbed 1,300 steps to the remains of his mountain fortress, and visited his birthplace and his capital. So much is still the same, and walking through his history was so inspiring. My only regret with this series is that I haven’t been able to visit Constantinople (now Istanbul). Someday! Until then, I will continue to frequent countless strangers’ photos on the Internet.

Who is your ultimate book boyfriend?

Here’s the sad thing. I’ve hit the point in my life where I read things like Maggie Stiefvater’s Raven Cycle series and I don’t want to bed any of the characters, I want to PUT them to bed with a glass of warm milk and all the parental love and support they aren’t getting. I’m such a mom.

What inspired you to write YA?

I think the most innovative, interesting, and frankly just plain fun writing is happening in YA. That’s the community I wanted to be a part of, the stories I wanted to tell, and the readers I wanted to tell them to. No book I read as an adult had anywhere near the impact on me that the books I loved as a teen did. If I could do that for someone else, I can’t think of a higher privilege as a storyteller!

I also love the themes and questions of YA. Who am I? Who do I want to be? How do I get there? Teens are coming into their own and starting to be in a place to really make decisions for themselves for the first time in their lives, and those questions are universal—both intimate and huge. There’s no more exciting age to write about and for.

Lightning Round Questions

What are you reading right now? Or what do you have on your TBR that you’re dying to read?

Nnedi Okorafor’s LAGOON. I’m itching to read Leigh Bardugo’s SIX OF CROWS!

What Hogwarts house would the Sorting Hat place you in?

Teen me was all Ravenclaw. Adult me would be a hard call between Ravenclaw and Slytherin.

Twitter or Facebook?

Twitter.

Favorite superhero?

Jessica Jones.

Favorite TV show?

Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

Sweet or salty?

Sweet.

Any phobias?

Trypophobia. Google it. You’ll know REALLY fast if you have it, too.

Song you can’t get enough of right now?

“Genghis Khan” by Miike Snow.

Thanks so much, Kiersten, for answering my questions! I can’t wait for everyone to read AND I DARKEN!

CLAIM THE THRONE. Visit AndIDarken.com to order now!

About Kiersten:

Kiersten White is the NYT bestselling author of the Paranormalcy trilogy, the Mind Games series, Illusions of Fate, The Chaos of Stars, In the Shadows with artist Jim Di Bartolo, and the upcoming historical reimagining, And I Darken. She has one tall husband and three small children and lives near the ocean, where her life is perfectly normal. Visit her at www.kierstenwhite.com.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads

AND I DARKEN Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, May 30^th through Friday, July 8^th (Mondays through Fridays)

Monday, May 30^th: Icey Books, Review

Tuesday, May 31^st: Bookiemoji, Guest Post (Character Profiles)

Wednesday, June 1^st: Seeing Double in Neverland, Review

Thursday, June 2^nd: Alexa Loves Books, Playlist Post

Friday, June 3^rd: Awesome Book Nut, Review

Monday, June 6^th: Jessabella Reads, Review

Tuesday, June 7^th: The Eater of Books!, Top Five Roundup

Wednesday, June 8^th: Across the Words, Review

Thursday, June 9^th: Pandora’s Books, Sneak Peek for Book Two

Friday, June 10^th: Tales of the Ravenous Reader, Review

Monday, June 13th: A Midsummer Night's Read, Review

Tuesday, June 14^th: The Irish Banana Review, Top 10 Guest Post

Wednesday, June 15^th: Stories & Sweeties, Review

Thursday, June 16^th: Jenuine Cupcakes, Author Mystery Guest Post

Friday, June 17^th: The Soul Sisters, Review

Monday, June 20^th: Winterhaven Books, Review

Tuesday, June 21^st: Two Chicks on Books, Q&A 

Wednesday: June 22^nd: The Book Swarm, Review

Thursday, June 23^rd: Read. Sleep. Repeat., Top Five Fantasy Books Kiersten Loves to Re-Read

Friday, June 24^th: Please Feed The Bookworm, Review

Monday, June 27^th: Comfort Books, Review

Tuesday, June 28^th: Fitshun, Q&A

Wednesday, June 29^th: Addicted Readers,Review

Thursday, June 30^th: Lindsay Cummings, Movie Casting Post

Friday, July 1^st: Rabid Reads, Review

Monday, July 4^th: Reading Teen, Review

Tuesday, July 5^th: YA Bibliophile, Guest Post (Trip to Romania)

Wednesday, July 6^th: Carina’s Books, Review

Thursday, July 7^th: Mundie Moms, Author Mystery Guest Post

Friday, July 8^th:  My Friends Are Fiction, Surprise Post!