Into the Dark Series Character Profile: Tobin Oshiro-Winters

Releasing in paperback 4/14/15

Name: Tobin Oshiro-Winters (a.k.a. Toby--but only his mother calls him that, and he hates it).

Hair color: Black

Eyes: Brown

Height: 5'6"

Build: Slim but toned and muscular from years of dance training.

Favorite food: The Oshiro family's infamous spider roll . . . or Swedish Fish.

Favorite drink: Mountain Dew Code Red

Special Skills: Singing, dance, sailing, amateur conspiracy theorist, occasional hacker and code breaker.

Releasing in hardcover 4/28/15

Weaknesses: Under the thumb of a controlling mother, overly obsessed with exposing conspiracies surrounding strange disappearances of teenaged girls from his town,  jumps to quick conclusions.

Life goal:  Become the next Bruno Mars--and find his missing sister, Abbie.

Character inspirations: Xander Harris from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Christian Reed from Dance Academy, and Sammy Lieberman from Dance Academy. 

Into the Dark Series Character Profile: Daphne Raines

Releasing in paperback 4/14/2015

Name: Daphne Raines (a.k.a. The Cypher)

Hair color: Golden blonde

Eye color: blue

Height: Just little over 6 feet

Build: Tall and curvy--often described as looking like an amazon.

Favorite food: BBQ bacon cheese burger with avocado and a single onion ring.

Releasing in hardcover 4/28/2015

Favorite drink: Rootbeer!

Special skills: singing, guitar, floral design, animal charming, can hear special tones and music put off by all living/organic things. Uses these tones and sounds to read people and situations. (May be able to do even more with this ability--like control the elements.)

Weaknesses: Abandonment issues from being raised without her father, has difficulty letting people in, overly focused on her goals, can't drive. 

Life goal: Become a world famous musician on her own merit--not because her father is a the Joe Vince "the God of Rock." 

Character inspirations: Taylor Swift meets Dean Winchester from Supernatural + Katara from Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Into the Dark Series Character Profile: Haden Lord

Releasing in paperback 4/14/2015!

Name: Haden Lord (a.k.a. Lord Haden, Prince of the Underrealm)

Hair color: Dark brown hair in daylight. Appears midnight black in the dark.

Eyes: Jade green with amber fire rings around his pupils. Sometimes, especially when vexed or otherwise emotional, it looks like he has actual flames dancing in his eyes.

Height: about 6'4"

Build: Big and muscular like a Spartan warrior.

Favorite food: Braised hydra in plum sauce and steamed griffin's milk  . . . or pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.

Favorite drink: Pomegranate nectar--definitely not soda like Daphne, it burns!

Special skills: tracking, hunting, sword fighting, hand-to-hand combat, languages, stealth--to the

Releasing in hardcover 4/28/2015

point of being almost invisible in the dark, playing the guitar and singing (he just doesn't know it yet!)

Weaknesses: Impulsive, sometimes selfish, occasionally compassionate of the less fortunate, sentimental about his deceased mother, too human.

Life Goal: To have his honor restored and to reclaim his standing as heir to the throne of the Underrealm. (Or so he thinks.)

Character inspirations: Prince Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender, Sam Winchester from Supernatural, Castiel from Supernatural, Thor and a little bit of Loki. 

Intorducing THE ETERNITY KEY: Book #2 of the Into The Dark series. Plus a super HOT suprise and a giveaway!

After slaving away over a mildly warm computer for several months, the fruits of my labors are finally starting to take form. Book #2 of the Into The Dark series is written, edited, and finally has a cover, title, and an official synopsis! Check them out below . . . and then keep scrolling for a super HOT surprise. (Trust me, you will want to see this!)

Synopsis (Warning: mild spoilers if you haven't read THE SHADOW PRINCE):

Fan-favorite author Bree Despain continues her modern-day romance trilogy inspired by the Greek myth of Persephone and Hades with this second book in her Into the Dark series.

Haden Lord, the disgraced Prince of the Underrealm, has chosen love over honor and will do everything in his power to protect Daphne Raines, the human girl he was supposed to bring to the Underrealm. Haden's choice is put to the test as the Skylords and a figure from his past arrive in Olympus Hills with a plan that could destroy all of the realms.

Embracing her destiny as the Cypher, Daphne begins to understand the immense power of her musical ability to control the elements, but she must come to terms with her feelings for Haden and what she must sacrifice in order to protect him and her friends.

Believing the Key of Hades is the only thing that can stop the Underrealm Court from releasing the monstrous Keres on the mortal world, Haden, Daphne, and their friends set out to find the Key before Persephone's Gate opens again on the spring equinox.

THE ETERNITY KEY will be hitting shelves some time in Spring 2015, but if you're looking for a review copy, I hear that it is already available on Netgalley.


Okay, so you may have noticed that the cover for THE ETERNITY KEY is significantly different from the hardcover of THE SHADOW PRINCE (Book #1 of the Into The Dark series). Well, surprise, that's because TSP has gotten a HOT (or is that HOTT!? Or maybe even HAWT??) new cover design for the paperback!***

Not only does TSP have a schmexy new cover, it also has a new official synopsis.
Check it out below:

 From Bree Despain, the fan-favorite author of The Dark Divine trilogy, comes her highly anticipated second young adult series: a contemporary adventure inspired by the Greek myth of Persephone and Hades.

Haden Lord, the disgraced prince of the Underrealm, has been sent to the mortal world for six months in order to convince Daphne Raines to return with him to the land of the dead.

The best way to do this, Haden is told, is to get Daphne to fall in love with him. But getting a teenage girl to fall in love with you isn't easy, especially when Haden's life and more depends on the success of his quest. Little does he know that the tenuous peace between the Greek god of the Underrealm and the Greek god of the Sky is breaking and war is imminent.

If Haden succeeds, his honor and standing will be restored in the royal court, and Daphne will be sacrificed to save us all.

The complication he didn't see coming: he's the one who falls in love.

Now Haden must choose to either fulfill his sacred duty or to follow his heart and find a way to rewrite his and Daphne's destinies.

Btw, the paperback edition of THE SHADOW PRINCE will be available in April 2015--and you can already pre-order it HERE.

GIVEAWAY:

To celebrate the new covers, I am going to give away the very first signed ARC of THE ETERNITY KEY to one lucky winner. (Please note: I don't have ARCs yet, but when they arrive, the very first one out of the box and signed will go to the winner.) All you have to do to enter is share one or both of the new Into The Dark covers with you friends. Use the Rafflecopter below to enter. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

***COVER FAQs

Q: Why did the cover for THE SHADOW PRINCE change?
A: Because if certain powers that be want a different cover for your book, and you have a smart publisher, you get a new cover.

Q: Is this the third cover design for TSP?
A: Yes, yes it is. I guess some books are trickier to cover than others. Maybe that's because TSP is so many things rolled into one story: fantasy, contemporary, adventure, mystery, romance, etc.

Q: Does this mean my hardcovers for the series won't match now?
A: Unfortunately, yes. I know, I know, that always bugs me too. But you gotta admit that new cover for TSP is pretty HOT.

Q: These covers are kinda romancey, will boys like this series too?
A: Yes, I think so! The story itself has a ton of appeal for both female and male readers. Heck, the main character is a dude! This series has everything from explosions and monsters and gods and a love story and music and quirky characters and a tiny adorable cat who will probably kill you if you make her angry. There's something for everyone! (If I do say so myself. Heheh.)

Q: Did you design the covers?
A: No! People far more artistically talented than I designed the covers for my publisher. I just write the books.

Q: Did you get to pick the cover models?
A: I didn't pick the model for Daphne on the TEK cover, but I did get some say in the model for Haden on TSP. He was one of a few that I picked out as possible hunks to get the privilegeq of being my Underrealm prince.

Launch Party Pics and Contest Winners!

Saturday was the official launch party for THE SHADOW PRINCE! It was such a wonderful day. It all started with lunch with author friends Jenn Johanson, Natalie Whipple, Sara Raasch (and husband), Courtney Alameda, and Michelle Argyle at one of my favorite restaurants. Then we went over to The King's English Bookshop where I gave a book talk (that was hopefully not a ramble-fest) and signed books for all of the lovely, wonderful people who came out to celebrate with me. After that, I headed out to dinner and dessert with my awesome family. And then I went home and crashed so hard I couldn't even make it up to my bed!

Below are some of my favorite pictures from the event--all courtesy of my BFF and great photographer, Michelle Sallay. 

 Gotta love a full house!

 Gotta love it even more when people start reading before the signing even starts

 Me--talking with my hands as usual

 Readers, waiting in line to get their books signed!

 My boys--fighting the boredom of yet another one of mom's signings! :)

 Look at that pretty book!

 My awesome sister, photo-bombing . . . something.

 Little Stella--one of my youngest fans who was excited to win a raffle prize

 Lookin' writerly

 

 Me and the most supportive BFF ever

Now for the contest winners!

The winner of the release day contest for a $25 iTunes giftcard is: Rachelle (oreo_93)

And the grand prize winner (of an iPad Mini and a character named after you in the sequel to THE SHADOW PRINCE) is: Terresa Gordan

Winners: Please email me at readbree(at)gmail(dot)com to claim your prize! Prizes must be claimed within 30 days or else they will be forfeit.

THE SHADOW PRINCE Release Day!!! (and iTunes giftcard giveaway)

You guys, it's here! It's finally here! The book I started seven years ago, rewrote the beginning of twenty-eight times, and love like nobody's business is finally out in the world! It's THE SHADOW PRINCE release day!!!

Which means that you can get your hands on the book . . .

and find out what's inside the pages!

Don't forget, if you buy THE SHADOW PRINCE by March 15th and send your receipt to readbree(at)gmail(dot)com, I will send you a special swag pack in return, AND you'll get ten entries in my iPad Mini + a character named after you in my next book giveaway! But remember, you don't *have* to purchase the book to enter--there are many ways to earn entries! CLICK HERE for full contest details.

But that's not the only giveaway going on this week! To celebrate the release of THE SHADOW PRINCE--a book that celebrates my love for music, mythology, and really hot princes--I'm giving away a $25 iTunes giftcard!

All you have to do to enter is change your Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram profile pic to the SHADOW PRINCE cover until March 18, 2014 to help spread good will for the book! (A pic is provided for you at the bottom of the post.) Use the Rafflecopter below for all your options for entering.

And don't forget . . .

a Rafflecopter giveaway