The Crimson Outlaw is out now!
Woohoo! It feels like a long time since I’ve had a new release, due to my unfortunate habit of bunching things up and leaving big gaps between the bunches. And typically I’m going on holiday tomorrow so I won’t be around to promote it for a week, but never mind, I can do that a bit when I get back.
This is my first book with a cover drawn by an artist. I asked for something with a fairy-tale theme because Romania was such a fairy-tale country (full of witches and wolves) during the time when this was set, and I think the artist has done beautifully. Despite that slightly fairy tale feel, this is a historical not a fantasy.
So with no more ado, I announce the arrival of
Love is the greatest outlaw of all.
Vali, heir to a powerful local boyar, flees his father’s cruelty to seek his fortune in the untamed Carpathian forests. There he expects to fight ferocious bandits and woo fair maidens to prove himself worthy of returning to depose his tyrannical father. But when he is ambushed by Mihai Roscat, the fearsome Crimson Outlaw, he discovers that he’s surprisingly happy to be captured and debauched instead.
Mihai, once an honoured knight, has long sought revenge against Vali’s father, Wadim, who killed his lord and forced him into a life of banditry. Expecting his hostage to be a resentful, spoiled brat, Mihai is unprepared for the boy to switch loyalties, saving the lives of villagers and of Mihai himself during one of Wadim’s raids. Mihai is equally unprepared for the attraction between them to deepen into love.
Vali soon learns that life outside the castle is not the fairy tale he thought, and happy endings must be earned. To free themselves and their people from Wadim’s oppression, Vali and Mihai must forge their love into the spear-point of a revolution and fight for a better world for all.
http://www.riptidepublishing.com/titles/crimson-outlaw
With a short excerpt here
Heartiest congratulations! This sounds wonderful. It also looks wonderful. The cover puts me in mind of the original cover for Ellen Kushner’s SWORDSPOINT, which I loved. I wish you every success with your new release, and a marvelous holiday too!
Lee B.
Congrats. Cover looks amazing btw.
Congratulations, Alex! It’s always a pleasure to have another book of yours to read. You are an author I trust to take me on a wonderful adventure.
Thanks Lee! Oh yes, I see what you mean, that’s another very pretty one 🙂 I think I’ve got this one off to a bad start by announcing it too early, but as there’s now nothing I can do about that, I’m going to shrug and live with it 😉
Thanks Lillian 🙂 Yes, I’m very happy with it. It’s so great to see what another artist makes of your stuff.
Thanks Carolyn! I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for the trust too. Given that my style, genre and themes tend to vary all over the place, I know I’m a difficult author to follow with any regularity. I really appreciate it 🙂
Well, Riptide lists it as out less than a month from now, and they offer pre-ordering options, which could be great for buzz, yeah? Worked for me, at any rate (I pre-ordered so I wouldn’t forget when the release date came around). 😉
L xo
I think you’re right, Lee. I’m going to preorder as well, otherwise I find I forget with everything else going on. Plus of course you get a bit of a discount when you preorder, so if I know it’s something I fully intend to buy whatever anyone else thinks, then why not. ;D
Thanks Lee! Yes, there’s much to be said for preordering. I think if you do you get a discount, and the author still gets more royalties because it’s not on Amazon or some other third party site. Mind you, I understand the desire to have the book you want *now* and not have to wait another month for it. I should have thought of that before I rushed to post this!
Thanks so much Lillian! And yes, if you were going to buy it anyway, buying it now and getting some money off makes sense. I hope you enjoy it! Thank you 🙂