YABC is super excited to host the exclusive sneak peek of C.J. Redwine’s upcoming THE SHADOW QUEEN (Balzer + Bray 2/23/16), and epic fantasy retelling of the Snow White fairy tale. The cover was first revealed on EPIC READS, along with 4 other EPIC covers. (Check those out HERE)
First, let’s hear from C.J. about the inspiration behind writing this book.
Hi YABCers! I’m so excited about this book (about the series, really). I was raised on fairy tales. Every week I checked out another volume of Grimm’s fairy tales from the library. (Anyone remember the white book, yellow book, red book etc?) I get excited every time another live action or animated fairy tale hits the big screen because there’s nothing I love more than a good retelling. However … not all retellings are created equal. 🙂 The inspiration for THE SHADOW QUEEN actually came from the incredible disappointment I felt after seeing Snow White and the Huntsman. I ranted for the 45 minute drive home, and finally my husband looked at me and said, “Why don’t you write the story how you want it to be told?”
And so I did.
I wanted Snow White to be an epic battle between two equally powerful females. I wanted the huntsman to have compelling reasons for obeying the queen and to be deeply conflicted. I wanted the prince to fall in love with the princess because of her courage, her intelligence, and her heart, not because he stumbled upon a random corpse in the woods and decided to kiss it. (I mean really.)
So that’s what I wrote. And I’m so very grateful to Sarah Kaufman, my cover designer at Balzer + Bray, for giving me such a captivating cover! I hope you love the cover and the story as much as I do.
CJ
Are you ready to meet THE SHADOW QUEEN? Scroll to see the cover and read an exclusive excerpt, and be sure the enter the giveaway for the first advanced review copy!
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About the book:
Lorelai Diederich, crown princess and fugitive at large, has one mission: kill the wicked queen who took both the Ravenspire throne and the life of her father. To do that, Lorelai needs to use the one weapon she and Queen Irina have in common—magic. She’ll have to be stronger, faster, and more powerful than Irina, the most dangerous sorceress Ravenspire has ever seen.
In the neighboring kingdom of Eldr, when Prince Kol’s father and older brother are killed by an invading army of magic-wielding ogres, the second-born prince is suddenly given the responsibility of saving his kingdom. To do that, Kol needs magic—and the only way to get it is to make a deal with the queen of Ravenspire, promise to become her personal huntsman…and bring her Lorelai’s heart.
But Lorelai is nothing like Kol expected—beautiful, fierce, and unstoppable—and despite dark magic, Lorelai is drawn in by the passionate and troubled king. Fighting to stay one step ahead of the dragon huntsman—who she likes far more than she should—Lorelai does everything in her power to ruin the wicked queen. But Irina isn’t going down without a fight, and her final move may cost the princess the one thing she still has left to lose.
EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT:
“You cannot outrun me.” Irina’s voice echoed down the street. “You cannot hide from me. You can either surrender or die.”
“Your Highness, the dragon needs a scent to follow,” a man said.
“I don’t need a hunter to follow a scent when my prey is so close. I can find them myself.”
“Ready?” Leo whispered as he nodded toward a narrow iron catwalk that bridged the distance between the alley-side corner of the smithy and the brewery next door.
“Ready.” Taking a deep breath, she found her balance and ran lightly down the sloping roof, onto the iron catwalk, and across to the brewery’s roof in seconds.
Irina’s voice rose. “You have chosen death.”
The catwalk creaked behind her, and then Leo was behind her. Moving quickly across the brewery’s roof, staying low and hugging the chimneys for cover. Lorelai followed, her stomach churning as Irina’s voice echoed across the alley below them.
“Nakhgor. Kaz`prin.”
A light as brilliant as fire shot into the air, arced, and then plunged deep beneath the alley’s cobblestones.
Lorelai’s palms blazed with heat in response. She grabbed Leo’s hand and yanked him forward, their boots sliding dangerously against the brewery’s shingles as they fought to get to the next catwalk.
“Nakhgor,” Irina shouted as the cobblestones shook violently. “Find the ones I seek.”
Lorelai and her brother reached the catwalk that led to the harness maker’s workshop as long jagged cracks split the cobblestones beneath them.
Sprinting across the catwalk, Lorelai scrambled up the harness maker’s roof and half-slid down to the other side, Leo right at her heels.
“Kaz`prin.” Irina’s voice filled the air. The cobblestones cracked and crumbled as her spell gained strength. “Bring them to me to face their punishment.”
Lorelai was halfway across the catwalk that led from the harness maker’s to the weaponsmith’s when a score of thick black vines exploded out of the ground.
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Giveaway Details
One winner will receive an ARC of THE SHADOW QUEEN (when available).
During each giveaway, we ask entrants a question pertaining to the book. Here is the question they’ll be answering in the comments below for extra entries:
What do you think about the cover and synopsis?
Click the Rafflecopter link below to enter the giveaway:
The cover’s gorgeous I love the detail and the synopsis sounds interesting. Snow White was one of my least favorite fairytales but I like the inspiration behind this retelling and I’m interested to read it. Maybe this book could revive the fairytale for me, especially since one of the things I hated most was that the prince kissed a random corpse.
The cover is perfect! It’s definitely eye catching. This book is definitely on my TBR list!
The cover is perfect! It’s definitely eye catching. This book is definitely on my TBR list!
Omg I love the cover! You can tell right away that it’s a fairytale retelling. The synopsis kind of remind me of Once Upon A Time series!! (Magic always comes with a price, Dearie!!) I just recently finished it so I’m kind of obsessed with fairytale retellings right now. It would be great if I win this, but even if I don’t, I will definitely add The Shadow Queen to my TBR!!
I love everything about the cover! It’s pure perfection! And CJ Redwine’s the writer this is a must read! Though I haven’t read anything retellings story but I want to read this book!
Gosh! This is so pretty! It’s definitely the best of the Harper cover reveals! 😀 I can’t wait to read it. Loved The Courier’s Daughter trilogy! Logan and Rachel are my OTP! (I used way too many exclamation points in this comment…)
LOVE LOVE THE COVER!
I love the simple, yet elegant cover, and the synopsis sounds really interesting!
This cover is awesome!! It makes me want to find out more about it and the characters in it! 😀
I LOVE THIS COVER SO MUCH.
And this synopsis… Can’t wait for this one!
I absolutely love the cover and synopsis. The apple being black adds so much evil and mystery. Fairy tale retellings are my favorite genre, I can’t wait to be able to read this book it sounds amazing!
This cover is absolutely stunning and perfect.I really love how much it relates to the original fairy tale with the cover. It reminds me so much of the scene in Disney’s Snow White. It also stands out against the snowy backdrop. I’m excited for this twisty love story!
The cover is GORGEOUS. Like, I do not have enough words. But the more I read about the book, the more I NEED it- it just sounds spectacular!
The cover is gorgeous and the synopsis is exciting.
The cover is gorgeous and the synopsis is exciting.
This cover is gorgeous taking a gothic twist on the red apple by painting it black and having it dripping is scrumptious!
WOW. Is the only thing I can say.
The cover is stunning and the synopsis is incredible! I can’t wait to read this one.
I love the cover, I think it looks amazing! And synopsis sounds great, ti will be a good read!
The cover looks so cool! I also immediately connected it to the Snow White story. The synopsis is very intriguing and I’m actually really excited to get my hands on this book!
Also, thanks for the exclusive excerpt.
Fairy tale kind of stuff is kind of hard to resist and oh my gosh WAAANT. And this COVER? A black apple, YESSS.
I, too, always checked out the Andrew Lang colored fairy books, and have never been quite satisfied at the Disney-fied versions that end up on screen. I love the cover of The Shadow Queen and look forward to reading this reimagined tale!
It sounds amazing and the cover is GORGEOUS! Can’t wait to read it!!!
Oh wow…WOW!! That cover is STUNNING and the synopsis gives me the shivers. I can’t wait to read the whole thing!
Ooooo this is such a cool cover! I always enjoy simple covers, like the one for Red Queen. And I haven’t read a Snow WHite retelling in a while so this should be interesting!
I love it! I’m so excited!!!!
I love the black apple on the cover! Fairy tale re-tellings are my favorite so I’m pretty excited about this one!
Oh my gosh! Both are very very beautiful!
I can tell you you had me as soon as I seen this cover its lovely
WOOOOOW! THAT COVER 😐 !!!
I need to read this book, seriously!
The synopsis catched my attention!!!
The cover is really ingenious (apple, a classic), I love the fact that the title looks carved into, or bitten form the apple, rather than the text simply being over it, or below. As for the synopsis, magic is amazing, I love how it’s more of an original version of Snow White (battle of magic between the queen and the princess) as opposed to just another recreation of the classic fairytale.
The cover is really ingenious (apple, a classic), I love the fact that the title looks carved into, or bitten form the apple, rather than the text simply being over it, or below. Also, the black dripping from it really ties the book together, and gives it a darker feel. As for the synopsis, magic is amazing, I love how it’s more of an original version of Snow White (battle of magic between the queen and the princess) as opposed to just another recreation of the classic fairytale.
the above comment posted was mine, I just forgot to put my name, and I wanted to say a few more things
I am beyond excited for this book!! I mean CJ alone but the blurb sounds perfection!!
The cover is amazing and the summary is absolutely amazing! I’m so excited to read this one!
not really my kind of cover
I love the cover and it sounds like an awesome retelling. I’ve loved C. J. Redwine’s other books so I’m really looking forward to this one.
THIS COVER IS SICK. I LOVE the Defiance series and I LOVE fairytale retellings, so you could say I’m just a little excited for this book. 😀
Absolutely looove the cover, that black apple is just perfect. I’m a big fan of fairy tale retelling, really excited to read this one. Loved Defiance trilogy and super excited to read something new from C.J.
Thanks for the giveaway! 🙂
SO FABULOUS!!! That cover is gorgeous, and the synopis is a smart twist on the snow white fable!! Can’t wait!
Gorgeous cover, love the detail of the water droplets, and how the title is on the apple. Very eye-catching, a strong image. I love retellings!
The cover is beautiful and I love fairy tale retellings!
I love the simplicity of the cover. It’s gorgeous! The book sounds absolutely amazing! C J Redwine is one of my all time favorite authors and can’t wait to read this!
The synopsis sounds really really good! I can’t wait to read it. Especially because the cover is so gorgeous and looks very [b]delicious[/b]!!! HAHA!
The cover is amazing and the story sounds like it is going to be a wonderful book!
Gorgeous cover and the synopsis is very interesting ^^ Thanks for the chance! Have a nice day 🙂
[b]LOVE THE COVER[/b]
This cover accomplishes exactly what all authors want to achieve = it draws the eye and makes you want to read the synopsis.
The synopsis is terrific. It gives enough information to make it seem like you have a good idea of what the book is about while still leaving the reader wanting to know more.
GREAT JOB
The cover looks awesome and I can’t wait to read. I love all fairy tale retellings.
THIS SOUNDS ALL KINDS OF AWESOME. The cover is definitely one of my absolute favorites revealed. The apple is sooooo creepy.
Good Lord this looks just awesome! i NEED to read it! loved the cover and the book sound so good!
The excerpt sounded really great, and I’m intrigued by the premise of the story. I like that the prince is also a dragon?! That’s excellent! I’m definitely looking forward to reading this!