{Interview} Jennifer Anne Davis, author of THE KEY @AuthorJennifer

Tags

clean teen publishing, epic fantasy, fantasy, interview, jennifer anne davis, romance, young adult

Today I have the awesome, amazing author of the True Reign series as well as The Power to See and The Voice. The Key, the first in her young adult light fantasy series, is currently free on all channels, so grab it while you can!

You are the author of the light Young Adult fantasy True Reign series as well as paranormal suspense and contemporary. Do you think there is a consistent theme or element in all your stories? What has led you to write such diverse genres?

There most definitely is a consistent element in all my stories, regardless of genre. I always write about a strong female character that is up against seemingly impossible odds. However, she is able to overcome adversity by believing in herself, never giving up, and learning to trust her family and/or friends. However, I will say that after writing such varying genres, I’ve discovered that my strength is in fantasy, and I plan to stick with these types of books in the future.

What has been the biggest highlight of your career as an author?

Having my first book, The Voice, win some awards! I’m honored that it received an award from The Romance Writers of America a few years back, it’s a finalist in the 2014 Next Generation Indie Book Awards (YA category), and the winner of the San Diego Book Awards: Best YA Novel. When I first started querying this book, I didn’t have much success. Many agents told me that no one would read a book about a broken girl who learns to overcome her past to be a role model for others. I finally found a publisher who believed in the story and I’m thrilled by the reception the book has received. It’s immensely gratifying.

Has there ever been a time when a reader drew a conclusion from one of your books that was completely different from what you intended? What was it?

Yes. For The Power to See, I’ve had some readers upset that it’s an actual book with a plot and not about sex. Since the main character is in her early twenties, the book falls into the illustrious New Adult category. Many people automatically assume the books is a romance novel, and that’s far from the case. The Power to See is a crime drama. While there is a romantic element in the novel, it is not the driving force of the book.

Complete this sentence: Before I start writing a new novel, I must…

Think about the story and characters for a solid month before I can even think of writing. I have to get to know my characters, understand who they are, what their personality traits are, what they look like, etc. I think about them in different situation and settings until I get a good feel for the book and the plot starts to unfold in my mind.

Oddest thing to have inspired you:

That’s a tough one. I’m not sure. I know watching my kids at MMA makes me want to write a lot of kick-butt fight scenes.

Will Scarlett or Robin Hood?

Will Scarlett

What’s a question you’ve always wanted to be asked in an interview? What’s your answer?

Honestly, I don’t know. I am a very private, quiet, boring person. Interviews typically frighten me because they take me out of my comfort zone.

Bonus question: Can you tell us anything about what to expect in the True Reign spinoff series?

I’ve just started to write the synopsis for that one! I don’t want to give too much away, but the story will be told from Allyssa’s point of view (first person). Allyssa is Rema and Darmik’s daughter. She will be the strongest female character I’ve ever written and I can’t wait for you to meet her! She is going to be loads of fun to write.

Also, Nathenek will play a major role in the book as well. He acquires a unique apprentice who causes all sorts of mischief in the book. The evil villain will be someone you don’t expect! The spinoff will be filled with action, adventure, and some sweet romance.

Jennifer graduated from the University of San Diego with a degree in English and a teaching credential. Afterwards, she finally married her high school sweetheart. She is currently a full-time writer and mother of three highly energetic children. Her days are spent living in imaginary worlds and fueling her own kids’ creativity.

Stalk Jennifer

Website  |   Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Pinterest |  Tumblr

Read my review of The Key

Read my review of Яed

Read my review of War

Review: War (True Reign, #3) by Jennifer Anne Davis

Tags

clean teen publishing, indie author, jennifer anne davis, true reign, war, ya, young adult

When Rema chose to be crowned queen and join the rebel forces, she knew she’d face the fight of her life. What she didn’t expect was to be kidnapped by an Emperion assassin and taken to the mainland to be executed in front of the emperor. How can she save Greenwood Island if she can’t even save herself?

Darmik knows he doesn’t have much time to rescue Rema. He’s denounced his position as Commander and Prince in order to join the rebels. But now he must rely on his family name in order to go before the Emperor—his uncle—and beg for Rema’s life.

If Rema and Darmik have any hope of being together and saving their kingdom, they must survive the greatest threat of all—Emperion.

This is the heart-pounding conclusion to The True Reign Series.

Blurb and cover from Goodreads

3 out of 5 stars

“Disappointed” is too strong a word, so we’ll just say it wasn’t what I hoped. I enjoyed The Key, adored Яed, so I was hoping to be blown away by War, but I felt like the series kind of devolved. I am glad I read it for no other reason than I am happy to know how things turned out for my favorite characters. However, I think this may have missed a round of editing.

The plot:

I definitely think this book should have been about 100 pages longer. Things just felt too rushed, too quick, and it seemed like there were scenes missing. For one, defeating the three main villains felt far too easy. I’m not saying there should have been a grand scale battle that dragged on for chapters, but it was sort of like—smash, BOOM—ta-da! bad guys are dead.

I would have also liked to see a bit (a lot) more of the distrust and struggles in getting Darmik’s men, the rebels, and the Emperion soldiers to work together. It was only addressed in a few scenes and briefly and there was so much potential for conflict that was never utilized.

I admit I didn’t see the twist about Hamen’s illegitimate heir coming and that was handled well, but there were a lot of other twists that I didn’t think were properly foreshadowed/handled (i.e. Phallek’s dagger).

There were several deaths I know I was supposed to be sad about, but I really wasn’t because I never liked those characters in the first place. Yeah, I felt bad when my favorite characters were upset and maybe I should have been more empathetic, but I’m still mad at :SPOILER: Kar and Maya for trying to marry off Rema after Mako gave them express orders not to (really, if I were Mako, I would be irked to no end—what right did they have to do that?) and Savenek for being just a generally snotty little whelp. Sorry. :SPOILER OVER:

The ending felt anticlimatic. I felt like there was still a lot unresolved about Emperion and Greenwood and how that was all going to work out. To me, this whole book felt like the bones of a story without the fat and meat to make it come to life.

The characters:

I still love Darmik and Rema to bits. It’ take more than one book to change that. Though I wanted Darmik to be more human/flawed. He has moments where he gets angry over petty things, mainly Savenek’s attention to Rema, but I wish there had been more dimension to his faults in this one.

Where I took the largest issue character-wise with Nathanek/Captain. I have decided I like him, but he just seemed way too forthcoming and open for his profession. In the first 20% of the book, he basically tells Rema—an enemy prisoner—his entire backstory or a good chunk of it. And it wasn’t even really pertinent to the plot. I like my assassins terse and scary and I think it would have been possible to humanize him without the soul-baring.

Don’t let the scathing fool you, I still enjoyed parts of this book. There were a few places were I squeed and grinned and even laughed. It could be that I just hate endings. I might have read this when I was in the wrong mood. Nonetheless, I still recommend the first two books in this series without hesitation. If you like them, well, then you’ll have to read this one.

Find War on Goodreads

Find War on Amazon

Find War on BN.com

Review: The Key (True Reign, #1) by Jennifer Anne Davis @AuthorJennifer

Tags

clean teen publishing, epic fantasy, jennifer anne davis, the key, ya, young adult

Within these pages lie kingdoms with castles and princes who fall in love with fair maidens, but make no mistake−this is no fairytale.

His father’s kingdom is on the brink of upheaval and at the center of it all is an ordinary girl who could be the key to its undoing. When faced with the ultimate choice, will he choose the girl he’s falling in love with or the kingdom he has sworn to protect?

An ordinary girl with an extraordinary past. All she wants is to be free. What she doesn’t realize is that freedom comes with a price she can’t afford to pay. She’s forced to accept the proposal of a prince she despises, even though her heart belongs to someone else . . . his brother.

Seventeen-year-old Rema lives in a brutal kingdom where travel between regions is forbidden, people are starving, and looking at someone the wrong way can mean death. Nineteen-year-old Darmik is the king’s son and Commander of the King’s Army. He spends his days roving the island, doing his father’s bidding and trying to maintain control over the people.

When a chance encounter throws Rema and Darmik together, they share an instantaneous connection, but any sort of relationship between them is strictly forbidden. Darmik’s brother, the Crown Prince, notices Darmik’s interest in Rema and, in a calculated, political move, blackmails her. Faced with an impossible choice, Rema is forced to sacrifice her heart in order to save her family.

As Rema is taken to the palace with the Crown Prince, Darmik confronts the growing rumor that a legitimate blood heir to the throne exists and is trying to overthrow Darmik’s family. In Darmik’s quest to hunt down and kill the threat, he discovers that nothing is as it seems. Locked in the king’s castle, Rema finds herself a key player in a massive power struggle. When Darmik shows up, she’s not sure if she can trust him. The line between friends, enemies, and loyalty becomes blurred. As truths are unlocked, Rema understands that she just might be the key to finding the rightful heir and restoring peace to the kingdom… if she can manage to stay alive long enough.

Blurb and cover from Goodreads

5 out of 5 stars

It was love at first sight, the moment I saw that cover. (I am a sucker for swords and mysterious arches and all that, okay? Okay.) I’ve wanted to read this since it came out and when the chance came to grab it for free…well, how was I supposed to resist? It was simple. I couldn’t.

The plot:

This book is surprisingly short or at least it felt that way. Goodreads seems to be under the impression that it’s 342 printed pages, but I read it in a rather short amount of time. Maybe that was thanks to the succinct storytelling, not sure. There were parts of this that I actually thought should have been longer and/or had more description, just because I thought things went a little too fast. Yet the plot itself didn’t seem to suffer for it, so I suppose I can’t count off for that.

Readers should be forewarned that this book ends in a bloody cliffhanger that will make you scream at the book and demand where the next one is. If the second hadn’t already been released, I would be very deeply unamused.

The characters:

There are two perspectives in this book with the chapters alternating between Rema and Darmik.

Rema was a sweet girl with a strong sense of morality, a hidden strength, and a great love of horses. (The latter earned her instant likeability from yours truly.) She stood up to the royals and showed a lot of courage, but there were still parts where she fell to pieces—realistically so. Yet the scenes where she was breaking down were done well enough to never make her seem weak, just to make you hate the rotten guts of Darmik’s father and brother (and just a little bit of Darmik at some parts, too).

Darmik was the character I both wanted to hug and slap. At the core, he means well, he just goes about doing what’s best for the country the whole wrong way. Someone needs to get him to open his eyes to the truth, but he’s still one of those irresistible characters you can’t help root for even when he’s in the wrong. And regardless, I still love the poor slob to bits.

I don’t think was an overabundance of detailed development of the side characters besides the two protagonists and the two villains. They were fleshed out according to their importance, they just sort of paled to me in comparison to the leads. I am very fond of Neco and I heard he and Ellie are a couple in Red and think they could be so cute! Anyway…

As for the main villains—King Barjon and Prince Lennek—I may or may not have made plans to drop them off at a Mord Sith temple for the horrible fate they deserve. They really didn’t have any redeeming qualities, aside from perhaps Lennek’s photogenic nature, and were essentially a pair of spoiled, whiny little girls with autarchic power.

To sum up, I shall simply say this—I’m counting down to payday so I can download Red!

Find The Key on Goodreads

Find The Key on Amazon

Find The Key on BN.com