The time it was about Kingdom of Ashes

Posted February 18, 2016 by Stacee in Blog Tours, Giveaways, Interviews | 5 Comments

Princess Aurora has always been my favorite, so I will automatically read any book that has my girl in it.  I read A Wicked Thing and was definitely intrigued, but I was sucked in with Kingdom of Ashes.  When I saw the blog tour, I couldn’t wait to be a part of it.

KOA

Before we get to Rhiannon’s interview, let’s check out the book!

Kingdom-of-Ashes-GalleyCatAsleep for a hundred years, awoken by a kiss, Aurora’s life was supposed to be a fairytale. But since discovering that loyalty to the crown and loyalty to her country are two very different things, Aurora knows she can only dream of happily ever after. Once the enchanted princess, savior of her people, she is now branded a traitor.

Aurora is determined to free her home from the king’s tyrannical rule, even if it means traveling across the sea to the kingdom of the handsome and devious Prince Finnegan—someone who seems to know far more about her magic than he should. However, Finnegan’s kingdom has perils of its own, and any help he gives Aurora will come at a price.

As Aurora and Finnegan work together to harness her power—something so fiery and dangerous that is as likely to destroy those close to Aurora as it is to save them—she begins to unravel the mysteries surrounding the curse that was placed on her over a century before…and uncover the truth about the destiny she was always meant to fulfill.

Brimming with captivating fantasy and life-threatening danger, the sequel to A Wicked Thing takes Sleeping Beauty on an adventure unlike any she’s ever had before.

Sounds good, right?

right

1. Please give the elevator pitch for Kingdom of Ashes.

The story of what happens after Sleeping Beauty wakes up. Also, there are dragons.

2. Where did the idea come from?

It seems like forever ago now, but the idea came to me a few years ago, maybe around 2009, when every popular book seemed to follow that Twilight “fated love” formula that I hated. I couldn’t believe that you could meet a stranger, be told you’re fated to fall in love and save the world, and react by going “sure, yes, I do love them.” It would be awkward, at the very least, wouldn’t it? Wouldn’t you feel some doubt? Maybe try to rebel against it? There were a lot of potential stories about fate and love that did not involve happily ever after, but characters just seemed to accept it every time.

And Sleeping Beauty is the ultimate “a stranger kisses a girl and fate makes them live happily ever after” story. Once I put the two thoughts together, I knew there was a tale I had to tell. What happens to the princess after she wakes up, if she decides that the prince isn’t so right for her after all? Kingdom of Ashes is a whole novel past that (that’s the story of A Wicked Thing), and is more about her trying to understand her own powers and decide how she wants to use them, but it still has that question at the heart of it. What do you do when you don’t like what Fate apparently has in store?

3. Why do you love Aurora and Finnegan and why should we root for them?

Aurora and Finnegan were completely organic as a couple – I never planned for them to be the big ship of the series, but they were so fun to write, and they seemed drawn to each other every time they were in a room together.

They’re quite contentious and get under each other’s skin, but they challenge one another too. Aurora dislikes Finnegan from the moment she meets him, but the more time she spends with him, and the more she learns about him, the more she realizes that he has a lot more depth than she originally gave him credit for.

4. You get the call/email/letter that says you’re being published for the first time.  Describe the next 5 minutes.

I was sitting in Starbucks working when I got the email from my agent. After reading it several times to make sure it said what I thought it said, I called my mom. I was laughing and crying on the phone, and I’m pretty certain everyone around me thought I was a weirdo.

5. You can only read one book for the rest of your life.  What is it?

Can I have a Harry Potter omnibus edition? If that’s cheating, I’ll pick Order of the Phoenix. Just because it’s the longest of them, and my biggest Harry Potter obsession happened before and after its release.

6. You wake up and discover you are Bella in Twilight.  You know how it plays out. What do you do differently? {Huge thanks to Bookish Broads for letting me use this question}

Ahh this is SUCH a good question! I’d put spikes on the windowsill, so he got a nasty surprise the first time he tried to climb in and watch me sleep like a creeper. And I’d install security cameras. That way I could get his breaking-and-entering ass arrested and save other people from his creepiness too.

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RhiannonRhiannon Thomas is a recent graduate from Princeton University, where she studied English and Japanese, and smuggled bubble tea into the library on a regular basis. She now lives in York, England.

As well as reading and writing YA fiction, she runs the blog FeministFiction.com, where she discusses TV, books, and all kinds of fannish things from a feminist perspective.

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Huge thanks to the ladies at FFBC for the invite and to Rhiannon for taking the time.  Make sure you’re checking out Rhiannon’s website, following her on Twitter and Instagram, and adding her books to your Goodreads TBR shelf.

Definitely check out the rest of the tour stops for all sorts of goodies.  And keep scrolling for an awesome giveaway!

**Good Luck!!**

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5 responses to “The time it was about Kingdom of Ashes

  1. Christina R.

    LOVE how she turned the fairytale around and got her to choose who’s right for her and how she turns into a fighter for her kingdom!

    love the interview!!

    thank you so very much :)

  2. danielle hammelef

    I love retellings of fairy tales and this one sounds so exciting based on the synopsis! Love the cover too!

  3. Gorgeous post Stacee :D Thank you so much for sharing. <3 Love this guest post. And ah, these books seems so awesome :D But.. but.. I don't like that final question, lol :D Edward was the person I loved in all the books. I would not do anything so that he wouldn't be there :) Thank you both for sharing. <3

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