Warrior Innocent Cover Reveal

So...it only took me 4 years to finish this series, but it's done and I cried for two months after I wrote "The End". BUT my pretty unicorns are saving the day for the last time...or are they?

Bwahahaha

Anyway! Here is my cover. It's releasing soon and I can't wait!

Blurb:

Fighting a battle you’re certain to lose sucks. Doing it in secret while everyone thinks you’re a traitor sucks worse.

Scout has saved her sister and as promised, Lil Bit has brought Iros an army. An army of innocents. Scout, Trey, Ashra and Torz are in charge of training this child army and making them into mighty warriors. Meanwhile, their parents are still trapped in Aptavaras with no hope of escape.

Until Ariston gives Scout an offer she can’t refuse.

Now, she’s waging an internal war--follow her heart or follow orders? She believes she can save lives and maybe end this war, but everyone else…

Everyone else believes she’s leading them straight into Ariston’s waiting arms.

Meet the Character Monday--Kylin!

Okay it's time we do someone I don't absolutely adore, yes? So here's Kylin. Unlike Brittany from the Feudlings series, Kylin is not based on anyone I know. Maybe she's just the culmination of every mean girl I ever came across in high school. I don't know. What I do know is that Kylin isn't as evil as I make her out to be. She wasn't so...angry before. But it's gotta suck being with a guy you've been in love with since 7th grade, and knowing he's still in love with his ex, right?

Even still. Girl's got fangs and claws (metaphorically speaking, of course), and she's not afraid to use them!

How she appears in my head

Name: Kylin

Age: 17

Book/Series: Warrior Beautiful/Riders of Paradesos

Job: High school student, future fashion designer, Trey's girlfriend, calorie-counter, angry human in Paradesos

Hometown: Columbia Falls, MT

Family: Kylin is an only child. Her parents split up when she was a baby. Daddy pretty much pays her off but never has a thing to do with her. Her mom is a model who travels the world. Her grandmother is an icon in the fashion industry and as soon as Kylin graduates high school, she's going to work for her.

Appearance: 5'4", very thin, blond hair, blue eyes. Always dressed like she just stepped out of a fashion magazine.

Best Friend: She has a whole clique of girls she hangs out with. Before her obsession with Trey, Kylin didn't need a best friend or a boyfriend to make her complete--she had her girls and that was good enough.

Boyfriend: Trey, although she has a thing for his best friend Kason, too.

Meet the Character Monday -- Lil Bit

Lil Bit is the most adorable little character ever. From Warrior Beautiful, she's eleven, looks like she's eight, and is treated like she's six. In almost every scene I write with this girl, I end up with goosebumps or chills.

Lil Bit is "special". Her parents and teachers think she's crazy because she sees things. Monsters, unicorns. Things no one else can see. Only her big sister, Scout, believes her and tries to protect her, but even Scout can't save her from the demons.
Only the unicorns can do that.

I love Lil Bit because she's tiny, but she's wise beyond her years and then suddenly she's right back to being a little girl. She gives Ashra and Scout strength when they don't have any of their own. She believes in the good of all people, no matter what they've done. Basically, Lil Bit is my hope and faith in humanity, all rolled up into one little girl.

Name: Veronica. AKA: Lil Bit:

Age: Eleven

Book Series: Warrior Beautiful/Riders of Paradesos

Job: Little Sister. She warns of the demons coming and is thought by the unicorns to be the great warrior who will lead them to the end of the war. Believer in good, giver of strength.

Hometown: Colombia Falls, MT

Family: Two parents who think she's the golden child, but also think she's crazy. One big sister who thinks she's the greatest thing ever.

Appearance: 3'9", slender, big brown eyes, thick lashes. Dark brown hair. Looks like her daddy.

Best Friend: Scout. And the mysterious white unicorn that even Paradesos has never heard of.

Boyfriend: Not for at least twenty years, or so Scout says.

Meet the Character Monday--on Tuesday--Trey!!!

So yesterday I had a school visit. And then, because I went to the school visit while I had mono, I came home and got really sick.

AND FAILED TO POST MY MEET THE CHARACTER.

I'm so sorry. *hangs head in shame*

So I'm posting it on Tuesday. Let's all pretend I actually posted it yesterday and I'm not a slacker.

Meet Trey!

Trey is my most favorite boy I've written. I adore how much he loves Scout, how he keeps hoping even though it's killing him, how he'll go to the ends of the earth (literally) for her. I love how tortured he is, and how loyal. Plus, he's super cute.

This is what he looks like in my head:

Yes. It's Colin Farrel. I love him. I also don't know how to spell his name.

Name: Trey

Age: 17

Book/Series: Warrior Beautiful/Riders of Paradesos

Hometown: Columbia Falls, Montana

Family: He has awesome parents and two younger brothers. All three boys look almost identical, but as the oldest, Trey is still the biggest and he reminds them of that constantly. He thinks his brothers are a pain, but when they get taken by the soul stealers, Trey is devastated and will do anything to save them.

Appearance: 6', broad, big football player. Spiky black hair, dark brown eyes. He always wears nine leather bands on his wrist for reasons unknown (until Warrior Everlasting, when they are explained.)

Best Friend: Cole. He's the running back for the football team. He's also taken by the soul stealers, as are most everyone in their town--as punishment for Trey and Scout helping Iros.

Girlfriend: Kylin. She's small, blond, and a fashionista who has one pet peeve--Scout. For good reason, since pretty much the entire world knows Kylin's boyfriend is still in love with his ex-girlfriend.

Meet the Characters Monday -- Scout!

Today, I'm introducing Scout. She's the main character from the Riders of Paradesos series. She's pretty much Ari's exact opposite. She's small and physically broken and has no magic of her own, but she has an indomitable spirit and she will not give up. The one thing they both have in common is their fierce loyalty to their family and loved ones.

This is what Scout looks like in my head

Scout has a lot of my personality. She's non-confronational. She's quirky (Yes, that's what I am, quirky. Not weird). She holds on to emotional pain like it can save her...she can definitely hold a grudge! Her ex-boyfriend, Trey, left her in a hospital for three months when he almost killed her in a car accident, and no matter how much she loves him or how sorry he is, she can not forgive him.

But she's way cooler than I am. She has a really special bond with her little sister, Lil Bit. She also has an open mind and an ability to soothe even the most angry of battle unicorns. And when the time comes that she needs to ride into battle on mythical beasts that only the innocent can see? She doesn't hesitate for a second. This girl sees what has to be done and does it.

That's why I love her.

SO. Meet Scout:

Age: 17

Book/Series: Warrior Beautiful/Riders of Paradesos

Job: Unicorn Rider, specifically Ashra's rider. Saver of the innocents' souls. Student competing for the highest GPA in her school against her ex-boyfriend, Trey.

Hometown: Colombia Falls, Montana

Family: She has two parents and a little sister, Lil Bit, who "sees" things and has been treated like she's half insane her entire life. Only Scout treats her like the gifted soul that she is, and when Lil Bit sees the coming demons, only Scout can try to save them all. Only, Scout can't fight them alone and the unicorns show up late.

Appearance: 5'6". Athletic, slender--she's a dancer. Long, honey brown hair and sea green eyes.

Best Friend: Lil Bit and Ashra.

Boyfriend: Trey is her ex-boyfriend, but she can't get over him, no matter how hard she tries.

My Warrior Beautiful Release Day!

I love, love, love, LOVE this book. So much. I'm so excited it's here and I can share it with everyone! Check out this gorgeous cover by AM Design Studios!

*dies happy*

Here's the back cover blurb:

Working with the ex you secretly love to save the souls of the innocent is almost as bad as working with a mighty battle unicorn who would be thrilled to watch you plummet to your death.

Scout is used to pain. Her body has been broken, her heart has been broken, and the only thing keeping her together is her relationship with her younger sister. Lil Bit believes in unicorns and terrifying monsters she calls soul stealers. But unicorns and monsters aren’t real…are they?

When Lil Bit falls prey to the mysterious disease sweeping the country, Scout has two options – believe the doctors who say it’s a pandemic or believe Lil Bit, who says it’s the soul stealers. She chooses her sister and goes looking for the unicorns who are supposed to save them. What she finds aren’t the cute pastel mythical creatures she expects. Battle unicorns are big and tough and full of attitude. Who knew?

Unicorns are real and so are the monsters. Soul stealers are reaping the souls of the innocent, and the unicorns are fighting to stop them. But to save the world, they need the help of humans – the enemy they’re dying to protect. And first to sign up for the fight is the ex-boyfriend Scout’s heart won’t stop loving, no matter how determined she is to hate him.

And here's one of my favorite parts in the book:

She tipped her head, and the candlelight glinted against her silky, honey-brown waves. Her hair had always been his undoing.

When they’d been together, he couldn’t keep his hands away from

her hair. Or her face. Her lips, her eyes…

“What was that on your shoulder?” She was speaking and

he had to drag his mind away from the past and try to figure out

what she was saying.

“My shoulder?”

She crossed the short space between them, hesitating, and

touched his shoulder. “Here.”

He nearly choked. She wasn’t supposed to see that. But now

the sea foam-green eyes were watching him with open curiosity

and her lips were parted... he couldn’t tell her ‘no’. Not then, not

now, not ever. He looked away, staring at the floor as he rolled the

black sleeve of his shirt.

“Forgive me,” she read in a whisper, her finger tracing the

hard black letters tattooed on his arm. Without looking from the

words, she said, “When did you get this?”

“After… while you… before you left the hospital.” His entire

body shook against her soft touch as she traced the ‘F’ again. Did

she realize what she did to him? What she still did to him, even

after all this time? No other girl had ever affected him the way she

did with just the barest touch of her fingertip.

You can buy Warrior Beautiful anywhere ebooks are sold, and print is coming soon!
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Astraea Press