Lyndsey Hall's Blog, page 3

Release day: The Wicked Prince by Celeste Baxendell

The fourth Once Upon a Prince book is here, and this time it’s the fabulous Celeste Baxendell and The Wicked Prince: A Robin Hood Retelling!

Fancy reading an enchanting enemies to lovers fairy tale romance?

The Wicked Prince on Amazon

Blurb:A righteous outlaw. A wicked tyrant. A marriage to save their crumbling kingdom.

As regent, Prince John has a never-ending list of problems, including his brother’s expensive war and his subjects’ utter hatred of him. But the biggest thorn in his side? The outlaw Robin Hood.

With an ultimatum from his brother—deal with the outlaw once and for all or be sent to the frontlines to die—Prince John needs a solution and fast. Upon discovering everything they thought they knew about the criminal was wrong—most surprising, Robin Hood is a woman—Prince John’s brilliant scheme is born.

Marry the outlaw. Secure his safety… even if he condemns himself to a wife that despises him and fascinates him in equal measures.

Robin has never come across a trap she couldn’t escape, but when Prince John proves himself as her equal, it’s time to put that to the test. She’d made a vow to fight his tyranny, and the ring on her finger won’t change that.

As long as she believes he is every wicked thing the world says he is, her heart is safe, and even though she might be the greatest thief in the world, it isn’t like he has a heart for her to steal…

The Wicked Prince, a retelling of Robin Hood, is book 4 of Once Upon A Prince, a multi-author series of clean fairy tale retellings. Each standalone story features a swoony prince fighting for his happily ever after.

The reviews for this one are SO GOOD so far, I mean a full 5 stars on Amazon? You know that means it’s a great read! Celeste Baxendell has so many absolutely incredible books, so if you’re a big fan of intense but sweet fairy tales, then you’re in luck, because you’ve got hours and hours of happiness ahead!

Happy reading, friends.

Lyndsey

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Release day: The Golden Prince by Alice Ivinya

The third Once Upon a Prince book is here, and this time it’s the wonderful Alice Ivinya and The Golden Prince: A Rapunzel Retelling!

Ready to become entangled in this fabulous fairy tale romance?

The Golden Prince on Amazon

Blurb:

A perfect prince. An engagement to save a kingdom. Too bad it’s all a lie.

Prince Thomas has always been the perfect prince, but now that his kingdom is falling to famine, he must prove his worth and restore the blessing of Spring. All he has to do is find a mysterious woman from a painting and marry her. It’s a quest he’s been born for. He has everything: the looks, the talent, the perseverance. No matter what peril she is in, he will find and rescue her. And he’ll do so with style.

If Maisie has learned one lesson in her life, it’s not to trust anybody. Having been hurt countless times, she lets people see her mask and no deeper. Her practice at deception makes her a master thief, but now she is forgetting which parts of her are real. However, one thing is certain: she does not need any prince to rescue her. In fact, she needs nobody at all.

The hounds of Winter are gathering, leaving death in their wake. The famine is spreading. If Prince Thomas doesn’t marry Maisie, the kingdom will fall. But how can he learn to love somebody with a shattered heart?

The Golden Prince, a retelling of Rapunzel, is book 3 of Once Upon A Prince, a multi-author series of clean fairy tale retellings. Each standalone novel features a swoony prince fighting for his happily ever after.

If you haven’t read anything by Alice before, this is a perfect place to start as it’s a standalone, short novel with all the usual heart and humour of Alice’s wonderful tales. Once you’re done with The Golden Prince, check out Crown of Glass and Feathers of Snow!

Happy reading, friends.

Lyndsey

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Release Day: The Beggar Prince by Kate Stradling

It’s time for the second book in our Once Upon a Prince series! This week it’s Kate Stradling’s The Beggar Prince: A King Thrushbeard Retelling.

Haven’t got yours yet, or were waiting on the paperback? Get it here now:

The Beggar Prince on Amazon

So far, both of the first OUAP books to release have become instant bestsellers, which is absolutely mind blowing and incredible! We’ve been so lucky to have a great team and even better readers supporting us, so thank you to everyone who’s bought copies, preordered, reviewed the books and posted about our series on social media. You’re all amazing!

Blurb:

An unwilling suitor. A mocking princess. A marriage they both abhor.

Diplomacy and a demanding mother send Thorben of Hauke to a neighboring kingdom, there to present himself as candidate for marriage to their princess. Beautiful Leonie of Elisia is famous for insulting every suitor she receives, and Thorben banks on her dismissing him as well—which she does, with vicious aplomb.

This time, though, her ridicule proves her father’s breaking point. The King of Elisia vows that Leonie will marry a beggar, and Thorben departs inwardly applauding the punishment… until a terrible storm deposits him tattered and bedraggled at the castle’s kitchen door. Before he can weasel out of his mishap—or even pull rank—the marriage is done.

But what’s legal in Elisia might not be in Hauke. Disguised as a beggar, Thorben leads Leonie home to secure an annulment.

If he’s lucky, he’ll get it without revealing his true identity… and before losing his heart to his exquisite but sharp-tongued bride.

The Beggar Prince, a retelling of King Thrushbeard, is book 2 of Once Upon A Prince, a multi-author series of clean fairy tale retellings. Each standalone story features a swoony prince fighting for his happily ever after.

What are you waiting for? Go and meet Thorben and Leonie!

And then check out Kate’s other brilliant books. I highly recommend Deathmark!

Happy reading,

Lyndsey

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Vote for Enchanted Flames in the All Author Cover Contest!

Hi friends! I’ve got a big favour to ask of you today, but don’t worry, it won’t cost you a penny.

Our latest charity anthology, Enchanted Flames is currently in first place in the All Author Cover Contest, and we’d really appreciate your vote.

We’re neck and neck with another cover and it’s going to be a close run thing all the way to the end, so all support is really appreciated!

Click the cover below to vote:

Thank you so much if you voted! As a charity anthology, we don’t take any royalties as all profits go to the World Land Trust’s Wildfire Appeal, and therefore we can’t afford to spend much on advertising Enchanted Flames. The first prize of free advertising for the book would help us to reach so many more readers and raise a lot more money for forest conservation. As of right now, we’ve raised over $200 for communities affected by wildfires and voting for our cover in the contest will help us to reach our goal of $1,000 raised in the first year.

Thank you, friends!

Lyndsey

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Release Day and Author Interview: The Unlucky Prince by Deborah Grace White

I can’t believe the first release day for the Once Upon a Prince series is finally here! Happy book birthday to The Unlucky Prince by Deborah Grace White!

If you didn’t get round to preordering, or you were holding out for a paperback, you can grab it here now:

The Unlucky Prince on Amazon

To celebrate release day, I had a chat with the lovely Deborah, so keep reading to find out all about Deborah’s writing process and her upcoming releases!

Hi Deborah! It’s so nice to chat with you properly after a year of working together on OUAP. Why don’t you start by telling us a little bit about yourself?

I’m from Adelaide, in Australia, but I lived for some years of my childhood in California. I’ve loved stories as long as I can remember, and have always been an avid reader. After school, I studied to be a lawyer, which I really enjoyed, and I worked in that field for a few years before my husband and I decided to start a family. After our second child was born, I took a sidestep into writing, and properly got stuck into some stories I had in my mind. Now I get to have the best job ever—being at home with our three young kids while also writing the stories I love!

Wow, you’re a truly multi-talented woman! What made you choose fiction writing after a career in the law?

As I said, I’ve always loved reading, but when I was younger, the main type of writing I used to do was actually poetry. I tinkered with writing stories during my school years, but didn’t pursue it seriously. It was after I had kids that I had the headspace to actually give it a proper try, thanks to the change in routine from full time office work. My sister and father are also both published authors, so they were hugely encouraging and helpful in the practical details of self-publishing, which otherwise may well have defeated me!

That’s amazing! So, novel writing is the family business? I love that. What are your favourite books, as a reader?

Far too hard to choose! I have many old favorites, especially the historical romances (for want of a better category?) that I grew up on, including works by LM Montgomery, Louisa May Alcott, Jane Austen. I’ve also always loved fantasy, enjoying classic authors such as CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien since earliest memory, and loving growing up alongside the Harry Potter books.
In terms of more recent books, I really enjoy fantasy romance. I like clean but deeply engaging romance, I love adventure, danger, and intrigue, I like dragons and magic, and I always want a happily ever after! Some of the tropes I’m a sucker for are a good guard/princess romance, and a good childhood sweethearts separated until adulthood romance. I also love chosen one and lost heir tropes, even though I know they’re used to death! They still do it for me.

Me too, the chosen one trope will always be a favourite of mine, no matter how many iterations I read! And the guard and princess romance trope is absolute gold. Tell us a little bit about your debut novel and what inspired it.

My first published book was Heir of the Curse, Book One of The Kyona Chronicles. It’s a coming of age fantasy story about a pair of friends raised as closely as brothers who discover that one of them is the lost heir to the throne, and go on an adventure. Even though it was my first book, I still love these characters and this story!

The dragons were really fun to write, and one thing I really enjoyed about that book (and the whole Kyona series) was the crisscrossing timelines. The story of the main characters is interwoven with stories of the last of the great kings before the bloodline was lost some two hundred years earlier, and for me, those extra layers added a richness to the story that made it all the more enjoyable to write. I loved the book Holes by Louis Sachar when I was in school, and was inspired by how brilliantly timelines are woven together in that book to try my own version of it. Albeit in a substantially different genre.

My only regret in Heir of the Curse is not giving the romance a little bit more focus than I did. It took me a few books to fully recognize and acknowledge how important romance is to me in my stories! But it’s there, even if it’s not as central as it is in my later books. The follow up trilogy to The Kyona Chronicles, The Kyona Legacy, has the same world, the same dragons, the same interwoven timelines…but more focus on the romance.

It can definitely take a few books to really find your niche – I’m only one trilogy in and I’m still not sure I’ve found mine! I love the sound of the dual timelines in your first series, I’ll have to check it out. Where do you find inspiration for your stories, characters and settings?

In normal life, I suppose. People are people, and there’s constant inspiration around me for that. I also find it helpful to just enjoy other people’s creativity—be it books, movies/TV shows, music, whatever—to help inspire my own creativity. Not that I watch/read/listen to other art with any particular focus or pressure on it. I just enjoy it, and it sparks my own thoughts. I’ve also always loved travel. My husband and I took a year off life to backpack around the world before we had kids, and those experiences definitely help fuel both my stories and my settings.

A year of travelling pre kids sounds incredible! I’ve been lucky to travel lots throughout my life too, I studied Spanish at University and lived in Spain for a year, and you’re so right that those experiences and other cultures are such a good source of inspiration. Would you say your a plotter, pantser or plantser?

I think I’d have to say plantser! It’s not uncommon for me to dive in with no planning whatsoever, but once I get a little way in, I’ll stop and plan a few chapters, then go off-road again! And so on throughout the book.

I need a really good road map before I even start the engine! But I do love a good detour. What are you working on at the moment?

I’m actually just starting a new series! It’s a YA fantasy series set in the world of my fairy tale series The Singer Tales (although it’s not a fairy tale series itself). I also have lots of editing still to do on the two as-yet-unreleased books in The Singer Tales.

So, there’s lots to look forward to for fans of The Singer Tales! And your books in general. YA Fantasy is my favourite genre, so I’m excited for your new series! Before I let you go, what one piece of advice would you give aspiring authors?

If you love writing, keep doing it! The best way to get experience in writing is to keep writing. And also to find people willing to read and give you feedback, and to learn (believe me, I know it’s hard!) to take that feedback seriously and not personally, and actually let it improve your craft.

Such good advice, it can be really hard to receive feedback and constructive criticism in the beginning, but it’s such an important and necessary part of growing as a writer. Thank you so much for chatting with me today Deborah! And congratulations on the release of The Unlucky Prince. Where can we find you online and stay in touch?

My newsletter and my Facebook page are the best ways to keep up with what’s going on with my writing. I also keep my website up to date, and you can find cool freebies on there, like bonus chapters.

Website: https://deborahgracewhite.com
Newsletter signup: https://deborahgracewhite.com/mailinglist/
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/DeborahGraceWhiteAuthor

That was so much fun! Deborah is such a huge inspiration to me and so many others, so it’s been a privilege working with her on OUAP this past year. And now, my copy of The Unlucky Prince is calling me, so I’m off to find out if the frog gets the girl.

Happy reading,

Lyndsey

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Once Upon a Prince Bingo Giveaway!

Who’s up for a round of bookish bingo? Click the bingo card to enter and be in with a chance of winning a full set of Once Upon a Prince paperbacks!

May the odds be ever in your favour!

Lyndsey

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Cover Reveal: The Poisoned Prince by Kristin J. Dawson

I’m so excited to reveal the FINAL cover for our upcoming fairytale retelling series, Once Upon a Prince!

If you’re a fan of Snow White retellings, you are going to absolutely LOSE IT over this one!

A huntsman torn between his duty, his family, and his love of an orphaned girl with dangerous secrets must save the kingdom from a mad queen in this friends-to-lovers retelling of Snow White.

This book is one of twelve in our upcoming series of well-known fairytales retold from the Prince’s point of view. The Poisoned Prince will be released on 3 November!

BlurbA royal huntsman. An illegitimate daughter. And one heart ​— delivered on a platter​.​

Max ​is ​​training to become the royal huntsman​, a respected position his lineage has held for generations. Orphaned Snow​ is an unremarkable palace servant of questionable origins.

Although Max banters with Snow every morning, ​and she can sense his mood at a single glance, the best friends are thrown apart when the king winds up dead. Under the queen’s rule, the kingdom devolves into chaos — and Snow is a threat to be eliminated. When Snow is betrayed, Max ​risks everything to save her life​, despite the painful discovery of the secrets she’s been hiding. With the help of seven dwarven allies, they must all work together to dethrone the mad queen.​

But as the queen’s magic strengthens, so do the risks. 

The longer Max juggles the traitors, lies, and unstable queen, the more he realizes he must choose between his family and the woman he’s grown to love. And it’s painfully clear that he can’t save both.

The key ​to saving the kingdom ​may lie in Snow’s unraveling of her past, ​​but ​her​​ heart lies in the hands of the queen’s huntsman.

The Poisoned Prince, a retelling of Snow White, is book 6 of Once Upon a Prince, a multi-author series of clean fairy tale retellings. Each standalone story features a swoony prince fighting for his happily ever after.

And that, as they say, is all folks! All twelve, absolutely stunning covers are now out in the world, all twelve incredible, fairytale romantic fantasy novels are available to preorder, and will begin releasing on 29 September!

We can’t wait to share our stories with you, but there’s plenty more fun to be had between now and release day. Keep a weather eye on the horizon kids, we’ve got lots of exciting things planned…

Lyndsey

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Cover reveal: A Fated Quest by Selina R. Gonzalez

Hello, hello lovely readers! I’m writing this while sitting at the kitchen table of my auntie-in-law’s beautiful home in Jersey (the Channel Island, not the US) , sipping my coffee and looking out at the glorious sunshine.

We’re here visiting for a few days, exploring the island, taking in some culture (I dragged Matt to a vineyard for a tour and wine tasting, I loved every minute, and got to drink double the wine! Hehe), eating untoward amounts of incredible, fresh seafood, and just soaking up the relaxed, joyful atmosphere of the place.

Jersey definitely enjoys a slower pace of life than England, and I really want to absorb some of that mentality and take it home with me. At least for a few weeks, until school starts again!

Today, I want to share the gorgeous new cover of my lovely writer friend Selina’s upcoming novel, and the third book in her Miraveld Chronicles series, A Fated Quest!

When a prized firebird is stolen on his watch, a prince undertakes a deceptively simple quest that leads him on a wild adventure where a talking fox aids him as he tries to find the bird, save a damsel, and best a witch.

How fantastic does that sound? It’s coming out in just over a month, on September 21st, and is currently available for pre-order on Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C9SNTQCQ

And signed paperback and hardcover copies are available only for US and Canada (sorry UK friends!) direct from Selina’s site: https://selinargonzalez.com/books/quest 

Paperbacks & hardcovers will be available from Amazon & other online retailers around release day.

Fancy claiming some exciting goodies? Submit your proof-of-purchase for the Kindle book pre-order, pre-order from Selina’s site, or purchase a print copy once they’re available from other retailers and submit proof-of-purchase here: https://selinargonzalez.com/pre-order-campaign/ 

Blurb:

Prince Gareth of Eynlae longs to be a knight and escape the compromise and cowardice of the royal courts, and especially his father, who seems to care more about his crown than his children. After defying the king one too many times, Gareth is granted his wish and sent to serve as a knight…but guarding a quiet border castle is tedious compared to his favorite legends. 

When a prized firebird goes missing on Gareth’s watch, he eagerly volunteers to recover it. His hunt leads him into the neighboring kingdom of Aedyllan, where he falls into a witch’s trap and is forced into a deadly game of hidden motives and confusing prophecies. It may be up to a self-righteous prince, an intellectual fox, and an enchantress knight to stop the witch.

But in a world of multiplying injustices and the inexorable pull of fate, should the villainess’s quest to activate a fae curse even be stopped? Gareth will have to examine his pride and unforgiving nature if he’s to become the hero he’s always aspired to be.

Inspired by the fairy tales The Golden Bird and Tsarevitch Ivan, the Firebird, and the Gray Wolf. 

The cover art was created by the incredibly talented Tatum Cito (@tatumly.art on IG) and the design/typography is by Deranged Doctor Design.

If you love young adult adventure fantasy/romantic fantasy, and fairy tale retellings, you’ll love this book, and the rest of the Miraveld Chronicles! This book can be read as standalone, but you may miss things that tie in to the first book, A Thieving Curse, so it’s recommended to read that one first. Book two happens concurrently to book three, so it’s not essential to read it before this one, but you might want to!

You can keep up to date with Selina and her releases by subscribing to her emails: https://selinargonzalez.com/newsletter-subscription/

Happy reading, friends!

Lyndsey

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Cover Reveal: The Shoeless Prince by Jacque Stevens

I’m so excited to reveal the next cover for our upcoming fairytale retelling series, Once Upon a Prince!

The autumnal vibes in this one! The chemistry! The cat! I actually beta read The Shoeless Prince and LOVED it, so I can tell you with complete confidence that this story is incredible and you’re going to love it too.

In this retelling of Puss In Boots, a shoeless miller’s son makes a fateful bargain with a mysterious “magic cat” on his quest to romance a princess, become the hero his kingdom needs, and fit into a very fancy pair of hunting boots.

This book is one of twelve in our upcoming series of well-known fairytales retold from the Prince’s point of view. The Shoeless Prince will be released on 17 November!

BlurbA shoeless son of a miller. A high-fashion tabby. An adventure far more than they bargained for.

Leo is not a normal cat.

Archie Miller might be a dreamer, but he’s seen the complex mousetraps the stray barn cat builds, and he knows he’s right. When his late father wills him the “magic cat” as his only inheritance, Archie is ready to prove it, making a deal with the supposed faerie to gain his fortune.

But the ornery brown tabby has plans of his own. And when Archie ends up entangled with a shapeshifting ogre and a reckless royal beauty, it seems he has unleashed more magical mayhem than he can handle.

Can the shoeless son of a miller romance a princess, become the hero his kingdom needs, and fit into a very fancy pair of hunting boots? Or will all his dreams become a toe-pinching nightmare?

The Shoeless Prince, a retelling of Puss in Boots, is book 8 of Once Upon a Prince, a multi-author series of clean fairy tale retellings. Each standalone story features a swoony prince fighting for his happily ever after.

We’ll be revealing a new cover every week until all twelve are out in the open, so keep your eyes peeled for more of the Once Upon a Prince series covers!

Lyndsey

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P.S. Next week is the FINAL cover reveal! But we’ve got lots of fun stuff planned for the few weeks before the first book is released in September!

Cover Reveal: The Silver Prince by Lyndsey Hall (that’s me!)

The day has finally arrived! I’m so excited to reveal the next cover for our upcoming fairytale retelling series, Once Upon a Prince. It’s mine!

The Silver Prince has been so much fun to write, it’s got a great mystery interwoven with shadow magic, meddling gods, political intrigue and a cute sister relationship. I really hope you all enjoy it!

A prince with shadow magic must team up with a cursed princess to bring peace to their rival kingdoms in this retelling of Twelve Dancing Princesses.

This book is one of twelve in our upcoming series of well-known fairytales retold from the Prince’s point of view. The Silver Prince will be released on 10 November!

Blurb A soldier who conjures shadows. A princess cursed to dance. A mystery none can solve. 

The people of the Silver Isle are brutes. Savages who live in darkness for half the year. They are not to be trusted, or so Princess Isadora has been raised to believe. As Crown Princess of the Golden Isle, she is the shining light of her kingdom. But Issy is hiding a dark curse that cannot be broken. And all who attempt it end up dead… 

Anders is a son of the Silver Isle, a soldier afflicted with shadow magic. This alone carries a death sentence when he steps off a ship into the port capital of the Golden Isle and finds himself in the dungeons beneath the Gilded Palace.  

Now his life hangs in the balance. Can he solve the mystery of the curse and earn his freedom? Or is he doomed either way?  

In the glittering, royal city of Orovía, danger doesn’t lurk in the shadows, it hides in the light. Can a Golden Princess and a Silver Prince work together to uncover the truth before it’s too late? And will their fragile alliance be enough to unite their rival kingdoms? 

The Silver Prince, a retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses, is book 7 of Once Upon a Prince, a multi-author series of clean fairy tale retellings. Each standalone story features a swoony prince fighting for his happily ever after.

We’ll be revealing a new cover every week until all twelve are out in the open, so keep your eyes peeled for more of the Once Upon a Prince series covers!

Lyndsey

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