Posts Tagged ‘Crescent City’

Garden of Dreams and Desires — Available Now!

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“With the Crescent City series, Painter proves herself a master of Urban Fantasy, creating a darkly gorgeous new world, richly drawn characters, and nonstop action.”
— Kristen Callihan

“[Kristen Painter’s] rich, modern storytelling lays out an intricate plot layered with plenty of action and intrigue. Exquisite characters lie at the center of this story… From the first page, House of the Rising Sun is truly a superb and exciting read.”
— RT Book Reviews (4.5 Stars), Top Pick!

Readers and reviewers alike have been raving about Kristen Painter’s Crescent City series, and as of this week, the wait is over! GARDEN OF DREAMS AND DESIRES (US | UK | AUS) is available, and now you can collect the entire trilogy from any of your favorite retailers.

New to the series? Read an excerpt from the first book, HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN, here!

Praise for the Crescent City series:

“I tore through Painter’s new series. Best new urban fantasy out there!”
       — Kresley Cole, New York Times bestselling author 

“Urban fantasy fans will enjoy entering Painter’s vividly drawn world.”
       — Library Journal

“Painter creates an intricate, well-crafted plot, along with compelling, distinctive characters and an enthralling twist… this story will definitely have readers turning pages all night!”
       — RT Book Reviews

Cover Reveal – Garden of Dreams and Desires by Kristen Painter

For all you urban fantasy and Kristen Painter fans out there, the wait is finally over!  We are delighted to share the cover by Mélanie Delon for GARDEN OF DREAMS AND DESIRES — the spectacular conclusion to the Crescent City series.

Magic is twisted and chaos reigns in this climactic final novel in the Crescent City trilogy by award-winning author Kristen Painter.

New Orleans is on the brink of war.

Harlow is a ghost in her own body. She has no control, no power — all she can do is watch as her twin sister Ava Mae lives recklessly and foolishly, slowly destroying everything Harlow has worked so hard for.

Augustine needs to focus on his new role as Guardian of New Orleans, as tourists mysteriously disappear off the streets, but all he can think of is rescuing Harlow — Keeping his family safe.

As the Coven grows more powerful, control of the city hangs in the balance and if the witches prevail, no fae will survive.

GARDEN OF DREAMS AND DESIRES will publish April 7, 2015.  New to this fabulous series? Check out the first two (House of the Rising Sun and City of Eternal Night) — out now!

Let the Good Times Roll… City of Eternal Night by Kristen Painter is available now!

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Mardi Gras — a time of fun, frivolity, and anonymity.  It is an event that draws people from around the world, and serves as the very colorful – and very deadly- backdrop for Kristen Painter’s new book in the Crescent City series!

Mardi Gras approaches, bringing with it hordes of tourists eager to see the real-life Faery Queen holding court atop her festival float. When the Queen is kidnapped, it’s up to Augustine, the fae-blooded Guardian of the city, to rescue her before time runs out.

But Augustine’s mystifying protégée, Harlow, complicates the task by unintentionally aiding the forces of evil, drawing danger closer with each step. The Queen might not be the first to die…

Check out an excerpt here.

City of Eternal Night is the second installment in the Crescent City series — an adventure you’re not going to want to miss!  Check out what reviewers and fans are saying:

“Painter creates an intricate, well-crafted plot, along with compelling, distinctive characters and an enthralling twist… this story will definitely have readers turning pages all night!”  — RT Book Reviews on City of Eternal Night (Top Pick!)

“Painter delivers on her promise of excitement and romance in the second installment of the Crescent city Series.” — Publishers Weekly on City of Eternal Night

“…by the end of the book I was awed because the path I thought this book would take, was nothing like how it turned out, and I LOVE when an author can surprise me…. City of Eternal Night was an excellent follow-up to my favorite book of the summer, continuing the story beautifully and keeping us on our toes.” – The Saucy Wenches Book Club

“Between the Fae and the witches, City of Eternal Night features some really fantastic magic…. I can’t wait to see what happens in the next one.” –  Vampire Book Club

House of the Rising Sun – Out This Week!

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The Trouble with New Orleans

Just say the words New Orleans and you probably think of jazz music, cobblestone streets, cemeteries filled with monuments, and scrolling iron balconies. You might also think about vampires, ghosts and who knows what else that might be lurking in the shadows. The Big Easy has a certain reputation for the mysterious. And indeed, it is definitely a place filled with a special kind of magic. The tales that surround this city are part truth, part legend, part good old fashioned story telling.

As a writer, it’s hard not to be mesmerized by this place. I’ve been to New Orleans more times than I can count and it never fails to enchant me in some new way. There are moments when I could easily believe I’ve crossed a threshold where all the creatures of my imagination could truly exist. Maybe it has something to do with the city’s own sense of immortality. Very little changes here, whether it’s the architecture, the colorful presence of art and music, the tantalizing aroma of chicory-laced coffee, or the ever-present sense that an undercurrent of something dark and magic thrums just below the surface.

I promise it’s nothing to be intimidated by. The locals are friendly and the tourist even more so, perhaps helped by the loose liquor laws. Whatever the reason, the city welcomes everyone and has become a favorite for so many authors, myself included.

In my new Crescent City series, it became the perfect setting for my fae characters. A place where mortals and othernaturals could indulge in food, drink, music, love, and war, all while fully aware of each others’ existence.

If you find yourself in New Orleans and want to check out some of the places where the lines between this world and the supernatural seem to blur, take this list with you. A few of these spots show up in my series.

The cemeteries of New Orleans

Sometimes called the Cities of the Dead because their towering crypts and monuments create mini-skylines, a stroll through any one of these final resting places is something you’ll always remember. My favorite is Lafayette Cemetery No. One in the Garden District and conveniently located across from Commander’s Palace restaurant. Both spots make an appearance in, HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN (US | UK |AUS), but the cemetery gets top billing as it’s also the location of the fae’s underground headquarters (via a secret entry through one of its crypts). (more…)

Loving the Old, but Bring on the New!

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Every vampire has heard rumor of the mythical place where their kind can daywalk. But what no vampire knows is that this City of Eternal Night actually exists.

And its name is New Orleans.

For centuries, the fae have protected the city from vampire infestation. But when the bloodsuckers return, the fragile peace in New Orleans begins to crumble.

Carefree playboy Augustine, and Harlow, a woman searching for answers about her absent father, are dragged into the war.  The fate of the city rests on them — and their fae blood that can no longer be denied.

There is nothing as heart wrenching for readers and authors alike as concluding a series and leaving a whole world behind.  But just as all good things must come to an end, new and fabulous things begin!  Kristen Painter, author of the beloved House of Comarré novels, knows this process well as she heads into her second series — Crescent City.  Book one, House of the Rising Sun, debuts next week, and in preparation, Kristen stopped by to talk about the transition process from an author point of view:

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Top Five Reasons Ending an Existing Series is Hard

  1. Worldbuilding – Building worlds is tons of fun. But when you pour extensive amounts of gray matter into a world that’s spanned five novels and one novella, you’re pretty stuck in. You know the place intimately and you can navigate better than Google Maps. Ending the series means you don’t get to play there anymore.
  2. Characters – After a series run, your characters can feel like an extended part of your family. In some cases, you may have spent more time with them than your actual family. Throughout the books, your characters have grown and changed and those that have survived may have even become better people because of things they overcame along the way. You know them like you know yourself. When the series ends, there’s not a lot of chance to see them again.
  3. Readers – Readers get even more invested in a series than the author does sometimes, so for me, I’m always thinking about them when I write. My goal with every book is to entertain, so leaving a series makes me cringe. What if the readers aren’t happy with the ending? What if they still want more? What if the readers don’t like the new books? What if they hate the new hero/heroine?
  4. The New Book – All of a sudden you realize you have to come up with a new series – new worldbuilding, new characters, new conflicts, new plots. That can be daunting when you feel like you put everything you had into the series you just finished.
  5. The Final Book – The last book in a series carries a lot of weight. Writing it means shouldering the burdens of every unanswered thread you’ve created thus far. And some authors *coughmyselfcough* tend to create a lot of threads. All of them have to be wrapped up neatly and you’ve still got to have a conclusion that leaves the reader feeling satisfied. Oh, the pressure! It’s enough to make a writer drink. Or binge eat Swedish fish.

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