I am thrilled to finally share the cover art for Kill the Queen, Crown of Shards #1. Woot! 🙂

Fun fact: Tony Mauro, the cover artist for my Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series, also worked on this cover. However, this is not the model from the Elemental Assassin series.

Pre-order the book: Kill the Queen will be out on Oct. 2. As of right now, there will be three books in the series. Here are the pre-order links:

Amazon Kindle / Amazon paperback / Barnes & Noble e-book / Barnes & Noble print book / Books-A-Million / Google Play / iBooks / IndieBound / Kobo

Book prices: The e-book is $10.99, and the print book is $16.99. However, if you pre-order the print book, you can probably get it a little cheaper since retailers usually give customers the lowest price before release day.

And please do not complain to me about the book prices, especially the ebook price. My publisher sets those, not me, and I have zero control over them. Zero control!

Audiobook: There will be an audiobook, and I will share those links as soon as they are online.

Epic fantasy: I’ve gotten some questions about what genre this book is. Kill the Queen is adult epic fantasy — NOT YA fantasy.

There is sex, language, and violence in Kill the Queen, just like there is in my Elemental Assassin series.

That being said, if you like my YA books, especially my Mythos Academy series, you will probably enjoy this one too. There are some nods to Roman, Norse, and other mythologies in the book, but this is much more of an adult read than my YA series. And like all my other books/series, Kill the Queen features a strong heroine, lots of action/fight scenes, a hint of romance, and magic/worldbuilding, among other things.

Book description: And here is the book description.

The thrilling first novel of the Crown of Shards epic fantasy series combines magic, murder, and adventure when a member of the royal family becomes a contender in a clash for the crown… 

In a realm where one’s magical power determines one’s worth, Lady Everleigh’s lack of obvious ability relegates her to the shadows of the royal court of Bellona, a kingdom steeped in gladiator tradition. Seventeenth in line for the throne, Evie is nothing more than a ceremonial fixture, overlooked and mostly forgotten.

But dark forces are at work inside the palace. When her cousin Vasilia, the crown princess, assassinates her mother the queen and takes the throne by force, Evie is also attacked, along with the rest of the royal family. Luckily for Evie, her secret immunity to magic helps her escape the massacre.

Forced into hiding to survive, she falls in with a gladiator troupe. Though they use their talents to entertain and amuse the masses, the gladiators are actually highly trained warriors skilled in the art of war, especially Lucas Sullivan, a powerful magier with secrets of his own. Uncertain of her future—or if she even has one—Evie begins training with the troupe until she can decide her next move.

But as the bloodthirsty Vasilia exerts her power, pushing Bellona to the brink of war, Evie’s fate becomes clear: she must become a fearsome gladiator herself . . . and kill the queen.

In other words: I’m pitching the book as Gladiator meets Game of Thrones with a kickass heroine.

Praise for the book: Here is what some folks are saying about the book.

KILL THE QUEEN is the definition of epic fantasy: exciting, original, and filled with characters who jump off the page. Jennifer Estep enters the arena and takes no prisoners. Long live the Winter Queen. — Ilona Andrews #1 New York Times bestselling author

Kill the Queen rocked my world! With court intrigue, a cast of fantastic characters, epic political sweep, and a slow-burn romance to die for, this book had me rapt. I only regret I devoured it so fast. And that I didn’t write it. More please! — Jeffe Kennedy, RITA® Award winning author of The Pages of the Mind

Read the first chapter: To read the first chapter, go here, scroll down, and click on the Read Excerpt tab.

I hope that everyone enjoys the look at the cover art and other info. Thanks!