“Tell me about this place. This… Arcania.”
What if your life as you knew it ceased to exist?That is the question Naeve Brannigan and her three sisters are faced with on the eve of their 25th birthday.
Continuing a tradition they’ve hidden from their mother for years, the four women arrive at a tarot shop to have their futures told.Only this time their futures aren’t predicted—they’re forever changed.
They’ve awoken in a strange time and place with no knowledge of how they got there. All they have to go by is the word of a man who claims to be family—a family they’ve never heard of. He tells them of a world they could never have imagined. One that has been cursed by an Empress fueled by old revenge—revenge their mother appears to be at the center of. As they fight to survive the people and dangers of an unknown land, they slowly begin to unravel its mysteries to find that they hold the key to saving this world…this Arcania.
The question that remains for each of them is: Who do you become when the you that you always were is no longer?
EF: Hi Lana! Thank you for having me. I always love visiting DGR whenever I can.
A quick introduction on myself…let me see. I’m a Gemini, which may or may not explain the multiple voices and personalities always coming out of my brain.
I love to write all kinds of romantic based fiction, whether it is M/F contemporary, M/M, erotic and erotica, and now I can say fantasy. I love it all!
DGR: Temperance marks the beginning of your new series, The Arcanian Chronicles. This is certainly a step away from anything that you’ve written in the past. What made you want to write in this genre?
EF: I wanted to write something different. I love to read all genres, but sometimes I find that when I’m reading the same thing over and over I tend to get bored. The same could be said with my writing. Sometimes you need a change, and for me I definitely felt the need to switch it up, to try something new.
DGR: I have to say, I absolutely LOVE the synopsis for this book. It sounds almost whimsically good. Was it as fun to write as I’m sure it’s going to be to read?
EF: Was the synopsis fun to write? Ha! Funny you should ask because I am pretty sure all authors would agree that the synopsis is NEVER fun to write. It’s the monumental task of trying to condense a three hundred-page story into three paragraphs. I’m thrilled you loved it, and that it took you on it’s own mini journey. That is what I was hoping for.
DGR: Can you tell us a little about the series and your plans for it? How many books do you plan to write for it?
EF: A little about this series…hmm, well I can’t say much without giving things away. But I will tell you there will be four books for sure, since there are obviously four sisters. There is the possibility of a fifth because there is one character in there that certainly needs a story of his own…so we will see how that unfolds. But for now I would say between four and five books.
DGR: One of my favorite parts of this book were the incredibly vivid visuals and world building. Was there anything in particular that you used for your visual inspiration for this?
EF: Thank you! That was the hardest part. I must have re-worked those first fifteen chapters, three or more times. Trying to capture the way I wanted the world to look. With the first book in a series such as this, you are certainly going to encounter a lot of character introduction and world building, you just hope against hope that you do it in a way that intrigues the reader and takes them to another place. Enough so that that they want to know more about it and can really envision the land you have created. It was a huge challenge and one I procrastinated over for months.
I built up a very full Pinterest board, and had a lot of images I drew inspiration from as I built my Arcania.
DGR: There are a lot of things happening in Temperance and quite a few unique characters that are introduced. Are all books in the series going to follow this kind of formula with multiple POVs and other interwoven storylines along with the romance?
EF: Yes, there is a lot going on, I know. But I kind of like my stories that way. I love knowing what every character is thinking and how they are feeling as the story progresses. So yes, I do see the entire series being told in a similar light.
While this is a fantasy romance series, and there is an aspect of romance that will be in each of the stories, it is also about the relationships between the families and the people within the world that I really want to build.
So hopefully that will come through for the reader, and will make them either root for good or evil, or to know more about the magical beings that will pop up. There is plenty more to discover as we go deeper into the world, that’s for sure.
DGR: In Temperance you introduce some very intriguing characters like Ry’Ker, Kai, Bastian, and the 4 Brannigan sisters. Will each of them be getting a romantic interest of their own?
EF: Yes, yes, yes and yes (ßwas that vague enough? Ha!) I can’t tell you anymore than that. They will each have a story, and some of them have already met who they will fall for, while others…have not.
DGR: I loved Naeve and Kai together. Are we going to get more of them in the next book?
EF: Yes! Certainly. Their story has just begun. I feel as though everyone’s story will be told through all of the books, even though it is obvious there is a main couple it’s focused on…does that make sense? I won’t just be leaving Kai and Naeve as they were when you finished the book. They still have a long way to go on their journey.
DGR: If you had to describe Temperance using only 3-5 words, what would they be?
EF: Different
Beautiful
Intriguing
DGR: So what’s up next? Can you give us a little sneak peak into what the next book will bring or how soon we can get our hands on it?
EF: The next book I’m working on is the second in the co-authored series I am writing with Brooke Blaine, and then Trust (the third installment in my Temptation Series). I have no set dates yet, but both will be in the first half of 2015.
The second book in The Arcanian Chronicles will likely release around the same time this one did next year, as they take longer to write and I wish to dedicate the time it requires and do a good job on it. But in between I’m sure there will be some other project from myself.
Thank you as always for having me here on your blog Lana. It’s always a pleasure to work with you.
Xx Ella
Who do you become when the you that you always were is no longer?
I added this book to my TBR before I even knew what it was about. Ella Frank has been an auto-buy author for me for years, so if I see a book by her it’s a no brainer add. Period. After finishing this all I know is that I just want to live in her brain for just a day. I’m so serious. I’m convinced that the woman is storing a whole workload of pervy worker elves up there. How on earth does she keep coming up with such brilliant plots and then putting them off so flawlessly? I ask you! It’s just not humanly possible. And yet, when it comes to Ella, she continues to blow me away with each new book.
“Come closer, and I will show you.”
From just the first chapter I knew I was in for one amazingly intriguing and unique read, and I was so right. The world of Arcania was vividly painted through words, magical, and filled with so many unique characters that it actually took me a little bit to truly get a grasp on it.
Many years ago, a being that is now know as a “sensualeer” brought was almost the cause of the destruction of the entire land. An empress, born to magical powers, she gave in to the cravings inside her when she came in contact with a man, and the darkness within her took over. Since then an order was born with a higher being to oversee it in order to prevent such a thing from happening again.
Years later, set in Arcania past, Maeve, the eldest of her 4 siblings, is getting ready for her 25th birthday on which she will be meeting the man that is fated for her. Unfortunately the man that is destined for her is also the one that her sister is in love with. A sister that also happens to be marked with the blood of the crazed empress that upon the news that she will never have the man she loves, surrenders to the darkness within her
…and so the story begins.
In present time and in the modern world, Naeve along with her 3 sisters, are getting ready for their 25th birthday. A birthday where a tarot reading transports them to a different world and introduces them to things that they have never imagined.
There is A LOT of plot development and world building that takes place in this book. So much so, that there are multiple POVs that are also introduced, aside from the one of Naeve. This is also the brilliance of Ella Frank; because where I would usually find something like this to be too convoluted it actually worked here. The more I read, the more questions I had, and the more things begin to tie together. And I was absolutely sucked in before I even knew it.
Kai was the mysterious brother of one of the Imperial Guards and the man sent to help find the 4 sisters when they get dropped in the world of Arcania. Knowing nothing about who they are or where they came from, he begrudgingly agrees to help find them in exchange for something that he wants to be named later. Kai was a character that grabbed my attention from the very beginning with his obviously dark secret, brooding personality, and tortured self. He was a bit of an enigma…much like his brother and head of the Imperial Guard’s Ry’Ker.
There was A LOT going on in this book. There were the connections between all the characters, the mystery behind what L’iAM, Naeve’s uncle and current ruler of Arcania is hiding, the secret of his son and his still unknown powers and so much more. Because of this, the romance that begins to develop between Naeve and Kai kind of took a secondary place. But don’t get me wrong, while it may not been predominant, it still played a role…
As much as I’d love to give you more than this, I’d only confuse you. This is one of those books you really need to experience to understand. Having read a number of books in the romantic fantasy genre, this was very different…but in a good way. I wouldn’t really qualify this as JUST a romance because it’s so much more than that. Though I did wish that it did have a bit more with the romance since it did take me quite a bit to finally wrap my head around everything.
This is not a complete standalone in a series. This is a continuing plot that will continue throughout the series. While there is a somewhat cliffhanger, it’s not as bad as it could have been. It leaves off in a satisfying enough place that it won’t leave me a rage mess until the next book comes out. But it gives you just enough of a tease to still crave the next release anyway,
I can’t wait to see what the genius mind of Ella Frank has in store for this series next. Definitely a series I will gladly be continuing with.
**Teasers taken from the fabulous Ella Frank
- Fallow Key
- Those Who Wander Key Necklace
- $30.00 Amazon GC
- $20.00 B&N GC
- Signed copy of Temperance & Bookmar/Postcard
looks good thanks for the chance