Hello book friends!
I am so happy to be part of the cover reveal event for Frozen Hearts and Death Magic, book 1 in the duology Of Fire & Fae, by Day Leitao! Get ready for royal siblings with unique magical powers, family secrets, forbidden love, enemies-to-lovers, and a lot of telenovela-inspired drama! Get to the end of the post for the Giveaway Info!
The book is coming out on January 22, 2022!
About the Book:
It all started with a kiss. A forbidden fae kiss.
Naia was raised in the shadow of her twin brother, the crown prince, who has iron magic much more powerful than hers. But Naia has wishes of her own. They awaken when she finds a white fae almost dying in the woods. She only heard of them in stories; the dreaded race that razed cities to the ground, killed her grandparents, almost rid Aluria of humans—until they disappeared. Now, twenty years later, are they back? Is there another war coming?
But the fae is evasive and secretive—and also alluring and fascinating, more beautiful than anyone she’s ever seen. And then it happens: Naia kisses him—and nothing will be the same again.
In another kingdom, Leah, a necromancer princess, has to find a husband in less than four days, during the Gathering, when royals from all over Aluria meet. Her family makes it very clear that she can pick any prince she wants—except one: Naia’s brother. And it turns out that he’s the one; the one who makes her heart beat faster.
Meanwhile, war looms over the land. One of the kingdoms is amassing immense power. The White Fae might be returning. Amidst it all, Naia and her brother struggle with newfound magical powers, family secrets, and most of all, their own treacherous hearts.
I had the pleasure to invite Day Leitao for a mini-interview! Let's find out more about the book and the magical world within!
Q: What was the most challenging thing while writing Naia? What part of her personality or her life did you find difficult to write?
A: She loves her brother, there's no question about it, but she envies him a little and the challenge is writing her in a way that she doesn't come out like a b*tch for that. I think this is normal in siblings' relationships when they are young, still vying for the parents' attention. Another point that's not really hard, but worries me a little is that in these type of stories, usually the female love interest doesn't have a lot of agency in terms of initiating her relationship or going to live with the "forbidden guy", let's say. I mean, in BatB stories, Belle has the agency to take her father's place, but she's not choosing to live with the beast. She's not saying "you know what, screw this boring village life, I'm going to the castle with that hot guy!". In Frozen Hearts and Death Magic, Naia isn't forced to kiss or to be near River (the fae). I think it's interesting because it makes sense considering she's lived in so much isolation, and I think I wrote this a little about purity culture. One of the themes of the book is that hiding and pretending romantic and sexual desires don't exist is not going to prevent people from having them. So Naia has them. And she chooses the hot fae. I like a lot what it represents, but I realize I'm breaking the trope and I don't know how readers are going to react.
Q: How did the idea of the lore and backstory come to be?
A: Little by little. I wanted to write a book where the relationships with the parents was more prominent, because I think that in my previous books the parents are there, but they're invisible. I wanted to work around families and old wounds. Then from that came the idea of this big island with kingdoms with different kind of magic and the fae as an enemy. In the beginning, I wasn't sure if I wanted the enemy race to be fae or elves. I wanted them to be non-human, just because it gets easier to point them as the "other". But then I wrote the first scene, River started talking, and I realized he was fae. But it's a specific group of fae that lives in this land.
Q: Which character do you feel connected to the most and why? Is it their journey throughout the book? Their personality and past? A: I like Naia's brother, Fel. He has a disability and that's what made his magic become so insanely good. He has to use magic to do simple things, like eat, brush his hair, hold a sword, and so on. I guess I like the idea that overcoming obstacles can make us stronger.
Let's find out more about the author!
Day Leitao is the writer of the YA fantasy series Kingdom of Curses and Shadows. She's originally from Brazil, and lives in Montreal with her son. She loves to write stories with romance, humor, magic, and action, and lets her characters take over her stories.
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Hope you enjoyed the interview! Don't forget to mark your calendars for the book's release on January 22nd!
Till next time, stay safe and keep it magical!
Thanks so much for the awesome interview!