New Look for the Eternal Rose Books + Free Short Story

Hi :)

Many of you probably know I blog mostly (and by "blog mostly" I mean run a contest about once a month) over at my Paula Stokes website. In fact I'm running an awesome build-a-book-boyfriend contest over there right now where the winner can see their ideal book boy in a future Paula Stokes novel! But today I wanted to reach out to all of the Secrets of the Eternal Rose fans to make sure you knew you could score a free short story prequel called Disastrous Desire. It's full of glamour and mystery and it has a gorgeous sexy cover that will look fabulous on your e-reader or tablet. See:

“A sensual tale where no one can be trusted and passions kill.”
–Andrea Cremer, New York Times bestselling author of the Nightshade series

Eighteen-year-old Mariabella has recently elevated herself from the rank of common prostitute to the status of courtesan, a respected high-class escort for those men in Venetian society who can afford one. Mariabella steps out to attend a party on the arm of her powerful new patron, certain that the night will be filled with glamour, secrets, and adventure—but the world she has immersed herself in is more dangerous than she believes.

Don’t miss this short story prequel set in the thrilling world of Fiona Paul’s Secrets of the Eternal Rose series. This free story also includes four chapters of Venomous Kiss, the first book in a romantic series tinged with true love and heartbreaking betrayal.

Download from Amazon     Download from B&N   

In fact, the book development team Paper Lantern Lit has renamed and redesigned the entire trilogy, so if you wanted to read this series but you've been struggling to find copies of any of the books, they will be widely available again this spring, starting with the re-release of Venom as Venomous Kiss on March 17, 2016.

In the meantime, feast your eyes on the amazing new covers!

Cassandra Caravello has everything a girl could desire: elegant gowns, sparkling jewels, and a handsome, wealthy fiancé—yet she longs for something more. Ever since her parents’ death, Cassandra has felt trapped, alone in a city of water, where the dark and labyrinthine canals whisper of escape.

When Cass stumbles upon the body of a murdered woman, she’s drawn into the dangerous and tempting world of secret societies, courtesans, killers, and a mysterious street artist named Falco, who could be the most dangerous temptation of them all.

Soon, she finds herself falling for Falco, but his habit of getting into trouble could destroy the perfect life Cassandra has built. Will she find the murderer before he finds her? And will she stay true to her fiancé or succumb to her uncontrollable feelings for Falco?

Formerly published as Venom, Fiona Paul’s first installment of the Secrets of the Eternal Rose is perfect for fans of Libba Bray’s A Great and Terrible Beauty.

In the second installment of the Secrets of the Eternal

Rose series, Cassandra Caravello is trying to forget Falco, the wild artist who ran off with her heart, as she grows closer to her strong, steady fiancé, Luca. But Luca has his own share of secrets. When he’s arrested by soldiers in the middle of the night, Cass’s life is once again thrown into chaos. 

So begins her journey to Florence to prove Luca’s innocence. In the city haunted by whispers of vampirism, secret soirees and clandestine meetings of the Order of the Eternal Rose, Cassandra also finds Falco, who is working for the Order’s eerily stunning leader, the Belladonna herself.

Nothing is as it seems in this seductive mystery, where the truth may be the deadliest poison of all.

Formerly published as Belladonna, the second book in the trilogy is perfect for fans of Jennifer Donnelly’s These Shallow Graves.

Available April 12, 2016

Cassandra Caravello and Luca are fugitives, on the run from the law and the deadly Order of the Eternal Rose. As they pursue the only evidence that could save them, their worlds—and their romance— are torn apart by spiteful friends and murderous enemies.

When Cass finds herself ensnared in the Order’s twisted plot, Falco emerges once again as her only hope for freedom…but this time, Luca has a shocking scheme of his own.

From ancient mercenaries to sly magicians, clever courtesans and vengeful killers, no one can be trusted. In the breathtaking conclusion to the Secrets of the Eternal Rose trilogy, Cass must confront the Order and decide where her heart lies, once and for all.

Formerly published as Starling, this romantic mystery is perfect for fans of Philippa Gregory’s The Other Boleyn Girl.

Available May 24, 2016

Right now you can pre-order all three titles for .99, 1.99, and 2.99 respectively! That's over 1000 pages of swoony Renaissance mystery for less than $6.00. I'm not sure if these prices will go up, so if you're interested in the books, you might want to snap them up sooner rather than later :)

Where I've Been...

Heeeeeeey.

I'm not sure how many people are still reading this blog, but you probably know I also write as Paula Stokes. My first YA contemp, THE ART OF LAINEY, released last month, and I now have five more books and a 100-page e-novella coming out under my real name. Pretty epic, right? I think so ;-) I'll be blogging over at Author Paula Stokes mostly from now on. Come see me--I miss you! :-)

Happy Birthday STARLING!

Hi hi :)

I'm so excited that STARLING flutters into the world today. If you happen to see it at your local bookalicious place (be that a library or bookstore), snap me a pic and tweet it to @FionawritesYA.

I'd talk all about what it's like to finish a trilogy, but I already did that for my friend Stacee at Too Fond of Books, so look for that post on Monday. Speaking of Monday, Australian STARLING releases then. Go get that pretty dress cover, Aussie-types :)

AND

In honor of both Starling's release and @pstokesbooks finally amassing 1000 twitter followers, I am getting ready to do a dual WHERE IN THE WORLD IS?? contest with both Starling and The Art of Lainey. Be sure to stay tuned for that.

Happy reading and writing!

Happy Birthday Nikki: Thoughts on Serendipity

When I was in elementary school, I was obsessed with a series of books by Stephen Cosgrove. One of them was called Serendipity.

Isn't she the cutest? I don't honestly remember the storyline, but I remember this was my introduction to the word serendipity. Even as a seven-year-old, I loved the idea of stumbling across something awesome purely by chance.

This happened to me in June of 2012, at a book event called Teen Author Carnival that took place in NYC. I got invited as Fiona Paul because I was going to be at Book Expo America with the 2012 debut group, the Apocalypsies. I remember being overwhelmed by BEA, being exhausted as I hurried from the conference to the library with a group of other authors. I remember feeling outclassed and outperformed by many of the other writers doing panels with me. They were all so polished, so professional. Me, I was sweaty and shy and scared.

After the panels were over, the authors hung out to sign books. My first book wasn't out yet so I was signing ARCs and bookmarks. One of my editors came up to me and gave me an ARC of Venom that someone had won as part of a box of books but forgotten at the library. "I figured you might want this," she said. My first thought was: Yikes. One more thing to fit in my already overstuffed luggage. But I put it away and kept talking to readers. I was sitting next to Lauren Morrill, another 2012 debut (she's awesome, buy her books!), when a tiny sprite of a girl bounced up to me. "Do you know if they'll be giving away more ARCs of Venom at BEA tomorrow?" she asked.

"I'm not sure." (Authors are usually the last to know anything). I paused. "How old are you?"

"Thirteen," the girl replied.

"Hmm. Venom is technically age 14 and up." I looked at Lauren Morrill. She looked at me. This girl looked younger than thirteen. But she was so cute and enthusiastic and it wasn't like the people at BEA were carding book readers to make sure they were old enough to get the free ARCs. I made one of those split-second decisions. "Here." I pulled out the copy of Venom my editor had just given me. "I just happen to have an ARC with me. You can have it, but if any of the material makes you uncomfortable, just skip over it, okay?"


The girl nodded happily. I signed the ARC for her and she bounded off. That girl was blogger Nikki Wang from the blog Fiction Freak. I didn't think too much about the interaction, aside from praying that I wouldn't get an angry email from Nikki's mom if she found the ARC and deemed it too adult for her daughter.

After I got home from the conference, Nikki emailed me about doing a feature on her blog. I said yes. We got to talking. We got to talking some more. Slowly, via the magic of the interwebz, Nikki and I became friends.

Since then, Nikki has been a such huge motivational and promotional force in my writing career that I wanted to write this happy birthday blog post just to thank her. THANK YOU, NIKKI! Many other bloggers have inspired and promoted and motivated me too, and I am grateful to all of them. But Nikki truly has gone above and beyond, in so many ways. Here's just a smattering of things she is to me:

1. One-girl focus group if I have a question about teenspeak or whether teens do or don't like something.

2. Reviewer extraordinaire. The PenguinTeen catalog even blurbed her:

3a. Epic supporter. She sponsored a readalong with blogger Annabelle from Sparkles and Lightning:

3b. She also made my first fan art for both the Eternal Rose series and The Art of Lainey:

3c. She also personally encouraged her friends to read my books.

3d. She also had me on her blog multiple times to promote my writing.

3e. She's also heading up THE ART OF LAINEY blog tour via the company she started with her friends, Merp Squad.

3f. She's also done a lot of other little things to promote me, like being first to sign up for my street team and tweeting and FB likings and sharing my bookmarks, etc.

4. Graphic designer. She made the banner and button I'll be using as part of a multi-author tour this July. More info on that coming soon.

5. Last, but never least, friend :) Maybe it's weird for a "grownup" to have teens as friends, but I like to think of it as one of the best things about the internet. Cyberspace breaks down barriers that might keep people apart in real life.

I am so glad I made that random serendipitous decision to give my extra copy of Venom to Nikki almost 2 years ago. Whether you're Team Fate or a big believer in free will, I encourage you to remain open to the idea of serendipity. Life hands you amazing things sometimes when you're not even looking for them. You never know--the next person you meet might become your Nikki Wang :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NIKKI! <333

The STARLING BLOG TOUR!!

Guys, guys, I can't believe it's finally time for STARLING to release. I finished revising and editing this book over a year ago, so for the longest time it felt so dreamy and distant, almost like it hadn't happened.

But that time has come to an end as the book gets ready to finally hit the shelves. Thanks to Jean and Book Nerd tours for setting up an awesome tour for me. It's full of Q&As, fun guest posts, and GIVEAWAYS! Here's a link so you can follow along with the merriment!