Adaptation News: Warner Bros. Television Options Legacy of Kings!

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BIG BANG THEORY’s Simon Helberg With Warner Bros. Television Options New York Times Bestselling Author Eleanor Herman’s Buzzed-About YA Fantasy, LEGACY OF KINGS

NEW YORK, August 21, 2015—Warner Bros. Television has acquired the option rights to Legacy of Kings (Harlequin TEEN; August 18, 2015; $19.99; Hardcover), first of the forthcoming Blood of Gods and Royals YA epic fantasy series from New York Times bestselling author Eleanor Herman. Simon Helberg(The Big Bang Theory) and Jocelyn Towne will produce via their Wildline Entertainment banner for Warner Bros. Television alongside Lauren Oliver and Lexa Hillyer of Paper Lantern Lit, who packaged the book.

“It’s thrilling to meet these characters just as they are discovering their true identities. We’re envisioning developing this as a historically rooted Game of Thrones, but for a younger crowd,” said Towne.  

“Legacy of Kings is possibly my favorite of all the books Paper Lantern Lit has helped produce,” added Oliver. “We are thrilled to work with Simon Helberg and his team to bring the story to the small screen.” Last spring, Legacy of Kings sold just before the Bologna Children’s Book Fair in a four-book, major preempt, followed by numerous foreign sales. Praised as “genuinely sexy” (Kirkus Reviews), and a book that “action and fantasy fans will gobble up” (School Library Journal), it arrives with advance praise from authors such as Cinda Williams Chima (The Heir Chronicles), Alex Flinn (A Kiss in Time, Beastly) and Arwen Elys Dayton (Seeker). Legacy of Kings has drawn comparisons to Game of Thrones for its use of multiple points of view and reimagining of historical events.

Legacy of Kings shares the untold story of a teenage Alexander the Great, before he was a conqueror, as he sets out on a quest to earn his father’s respect. Accompanied by a band of others driven by their own motivations, Alexander journeys to regain the Blood Magic—the only force capable of driving out an unspeakable evil that has taken root in the kingdom. “The first time I read the Legacy of Kings manuscript I knew our team had found an extraordinary work,” said Natashya Wilson, executive editor at Harlequin TEEN. “The seamless weaving of rich historical detail, true events, fiction and magic, combined with unique characters driven into repeated conflict creates a riveting tale that deserves to be shared with a wider audience. I could not be more pleased that WB agrees.”

“I’m excited about the opportunity to work with WB to bring Legacy of Kings to life,” said Eleanor Herman. “The world of the young Alexander the Great is enthralling, rich and magical—I can’t wait for viewers to experience it on their TV screens!”

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About Harlequin:

Harlequin (www.Harlequin.com) is one of the world’s leading publishers of books for women, with titles issued worldwide in 34 languages and sold in 102 international markets. The company publishes more than 110 titles monthly and more than 1,300 authors from around the world. Harlequin is a division of HarperCollins Publishers, itself a subsidiary of News Corp and one of the largest English-language publishers in the world. Harlequin has offices in 15 countries, including offices in Toronto, New York and London. For more information, please visit Harlequin.com and Facebook.com/HarlequinBooks. Follow Harlequin on Twitter: @HarlequinBooks.

About Warner Bros. Television:

WARNER BROS. TELEVISION (WBTV) has been one of the entertainment industry’s most respected providers of original prime-time programming since its founding in 1955. For the 2015-2016 television season, WBTV is producing more than 30 prime-time series, with shows on each of the five broadcast networks, in addition to cable’s HBO, TNT, Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim and Showtime. WBTV’s continuing broadcast network series include the hit comedies 2 Broke Girls, The Big Bang Theory, Mike & Molly, Mom and Two and a Half Men, as well as dramas The Mentalist and Person of Interest for CBS; comedies The Middle for ABC and Undateable for NBC; drama The Following for FOX; and six dramas for The CW: The 100, Arrow, Hart of Dixie, The Originals, Supernatural and The Vampire Diaries. New broadcast network series include the dramas Gotham for FOX, The Flash and iZombie for The CW, Stalker for CBS, The Mysteries of Laura and Constantine for NBC, and Forever for ABC, as well as comedy One Big Happy for NBC. For cable, WBTV produces The Leftovers and the upcoming Westworld for HBO, Major Crimes for TNT and Shameless for Showtime, and distributes the two-time Emmy® award–winning Childrens Hospital and Newsreaders to Adult Swim. Additionally, WBTV is producing the forthcoming event drama series 11/22/63 for Hulu.

About Paper Lantern Lit:

Paper Lantern Lit is a boutique literary development and production company run by award-winning poet and YA author Lexa Hillyer and New York Times bestselling author Lauren Oliver. Since its launch in 2010, Paper Lantern Lit has developed and sold more than forty properties to major commercial publishers such as Penguin, Random House and HarperCollins, as well as published a curated selection of teen, new-adult and genre titles through their e-first initiative, The Studio.

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Enter our giveaway of Legacy of Kings HERE.

Book Review: The Secrets Between You and Me by Shana Norris

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The Secrets Between You and Me
Stolen Kiss #2
Author: Shana Norris
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary romance
Release Date: February 10th 2015
Review Source: The Studio, a Paper Lantern Lit imprint | Netgalley

4 wheels on a rusty truck * 2 gray eyes * 1 secret that could ruin everything...

All Hannah wanted was a summer break from being “perfect Hannah Cohen” and a chance to forget about the devastating family secret that could ruin her seemingly perfect life. So when she takes off for her eccentric aunt’s house in the mountains of North Carolina and everyone makes one big (wrong) assumption about her past, Hannah figures that it’s easier to live a lie than have to face the truth.

She never expected to make any real friends, like the hilarious and spontaneous Kate and Ashton, who drag her to late night bonfires and ice cream marathons. And she especially never counted on meeting Jude Westmore, the brooding bad boy next door with gray eyes and permanent oil smudges on his fingers, or that he would ever take an interest in her.

Between moonlit movie nights in the bed of Jude’s truck and nearly romantic Ferris Wheel rides, Hannah’s old life seems father away then ever, but can she keep her secret, or is the truth worth the risk of losing everything, including Jude?

The Secrets Between You and Me is a companion novel to The Boyfriend Thief and the second book in Shana Norris’s Stolen Kissseries.

Rule #1: Never lose control. Maintain the image of perfection.
Rule #4: Never ask for help.

Hannah lives by the rules her parents drilled in to her head. Maintaining the perfect image and becoming some big-shot like her parents is everything they want for her, but is it what she wants?

Hannah’s word crumbles. And it all began when her father overdoes with prescription pills and nearly died. Now he's recovering in a rehabilitation center and her mother is an alcoholic in denial, abandoning her responsibilities to prance around in Paris for the summer while Hannah is visiting the aunt she hasn’t seen in 4 years.

It’s no secret that Hannah is a lost soul. She’s only seventeen but forced to make these huge life decisions which are heavily influenced by her parents. She’s completely lost to as of which direction she wants to take her life in. Visiting her aunt was the best decision she could have made. She meets some awesome friends, and Jude, and the confusion in her mind slowly begins to clear and the real Hannah unfolds in front of our eyes into this strong, independent character who’s making up her own rules.

Rule #1: Be Honest. Don’t complicate things.
Rule #2: Do what scares you the most. 
Rule #3: Always do the thing that could get you arrested
Rule #4: Don’t be afraid to face reality.

Replacing one set of rules for the other; Hannah stuck to them and evolved into a person every parent would be proud of. Sometimes I wasn’t sure if Hannah was trying all these new things because she wanted to, or if because she knew her mother wouldn’t approve, like an act of rebellion, but then I realised it was neither. Her mother’s influence was so heavy on her that in everything Hannah did her mother lingered in the back of her head.

Soon into the novel Hannah meets Jude, the guy described as a loner. They were perfect for each other, and I’m not just talking about romantically. Hannah didn’t deal with what her father done, and she certainly hadn’t dealt with her mother, and it’s all building up in her, waiting to bubble over. Jude isn’t much better. Last year his brother died, and he took a part of Jude with him. His mother is a no-good alcoholic who can’t maintain a job for very long and his life isn’t far from disaster, too. Hannah and Jude help each other a lot. They offer friendship in a way neither has had before, and in a way, they help fix each other some.

Jude and Hannah were lost people. The Secrets Between You and Me is them finding themselves and each other.

NOTE: This is a second installment in the Stolen Kisses series, however, you do not need to read book 1 in order to fully understand this book. I didn't know of book 1, The Boyfriend Thief, until I'd already read The Secrets Between You and Me and I understood it perfectly. 

Blog Tour: "Venomous" Excerpt - Fiona Paul - Venom

Welcome to our stop on the Venom blog tour for Fiona Paul debut YA novel. The tour is hosted by Paper Lantern Lit. The blog consist of each stop containing a piece of "Venomous". Venomous is a short story prequel before Venom takes place. 

Fiona Paul Links: Web • Goodreads • Facebook • Twitter 

BIO: Fiona Paul lives in the Midwest but travels a lot since she can’t breathe if she spends too much time away from the ocean. She graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a major in psychology and spent a year teaching English in Seoul, Korea while she was deciding what she wanted to be when she grew up. Answer: everything. In addition to being a teacher and a writer, she’s also worked as a sauté cook, sporting goods manager, veterinary assistant, and registered nurse. When she’s not working, you can usually find her kayaking, reading, or helping turtles cross the road. Her future goals include diving with great white sharks and writing more books, not necessarily in that order. Venom is her first novel.

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Venomous

A Secrets of the Eternal Rose short story

By Fiona Paul

The year is 1600 and the streets of Venice, Italy are ripe with intrigue and danger. In this introduction to the world of Venom, eighteen-year-old Mariabella has recently elevated herself from the rank of common prostitute to the status of courtesan, a respected high-class escort for those men in Venetian society who can afford them. Mariabella steps out to attend a party on the arm of her powerful new patron, certain that the night will be filled with glamour, secrets, and adventure.



If you missed the last part of the story, check it out on Oh! Paper Pages.

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His mouth is fire along the ridge of muscle in my neck. I feel his teeth explore the skin of my throat. “How long do you expect to stay with him?” he asks.

I answer without thinking, “As long as he’ll have me, I suppose.”

Batista’s body goes tense. He leans back. “I thought you said you were only with him in order to improve your situation.”

My mind is still hot and foggy. I’m not sure what I did wrong. “I am.”

Batista twists around into a sitting position. “Surely it won’t take so long to improve your situation.”

That depends on how much I want to improve it. I rise up onto my elbows. “All of a sudden you’re jealous?” I ask teasingly. “You knew what I was when you got involved with me.”

“You told me you were born into it,” he says, his voice hard as stone. “I assumed you would leave the trade behind once you could support yourself.”

“But if I leave the trade behind, then I’ll no longer be able to support myself,” I say calmly. Batista frowns. I reach out to stroke his face, but he jerks away, as if he can’t bear the thought of touching me.

“Were you thinking we might be together?” I ask softly. “Perhaps we might, someday,” I say haltingly. It is a lovely fantasy. But not now. Not for a long time. That’s not the way the world works.”

Batista’s mouth tightens. “So then you’re just like all the rest.” He looks different than I’ve ever seen him. Angrier. Colder.

Like a stranger.

“Am I?” I sit up, feeling irritated. The wind is biting through the layers of my dress again, and I’m sorry I came. I can’t even reach the ground without Batista’s help.

“You’re just like her.” He clutches at his stomach as if he might be sick.

Something in his voice makes fear snake up my spine. “Just like who?”

But he keeps talking without even acknowledging my inquiries. “All this time I thought perhaps I had been wrong for judging. But you are as filthy as she was.” He spits over the side of the crypt. “Another common whore.”

Without thinking, I lash out. My palm connects squarely with the side of his face. “You have no right,” I say. “Men are born into lives full of possibility. Women like me are born to be either nuns or whores. I made the choice that was best for me.”

Batista raises one hand to his cheek, exploring the place where I hit him with his fingertips. Then he turns to me, eyes practically black. “How dare you touch me?”

Without warning, he strikes me back. The impact snaps my entire torso sideways. He reaches out and grabs my hair, yanking my head back so that all I see is hazy sky, the faint sliver of moon behind the clouds. His grip is so strong that if I struggle against it he might wrench my head from my body.

“Apologize,” he hisses.

He loosens his grasp enough so that I can turn my head and see the madness reflected in his eyes.

“Mi dispiace,” I stammer, trying my best to sound contrite. I have seen angry men before, but never like this. My mind is racing. I’m not that high off the ground—maybe eight feet or so. I can jump down, run to the door of the old villa, and beg admittance. They might not let me in, but if I awaken the household, it will discourage Batista from pursuing me. All I need is a tiny head start. I let a tiny whimper escape my lips. “Please don’t be upset with me.”

He relaxes just slightly. Immediately, I lunge at him, slamming the side of my hand into the spongy area beneath his chin. My mother taught me that too. You don’t last long as a hired woman if you don’t know how to protect yourself.

Gagging, he stumbles backward and I leap from the roof of the crypt, landing hard on the wet grass below me. The impact moves through my whole body like a lightning strike, stealing my breath and rendering me paralyzed for a few precious seconds. I flee toward the graveyard gate.

But I make it only a handful of strides before he grabs me.

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For the final part of the story, visit Paper Lantern Lit on Monday, 10/29.

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Venom
Secrets of the Eternal Rose #1
Author: Fiona Paul
Reading Level: YA
Released: October 30th 2012
Publisher: Philomel
Available: Amazon • BN.com • IndieBound

Summary: (from goodreads) Cassandra Caravello is one of Renaissance Venice’s lucky elite: with elegant gowns, sparkling jewels, her own lady’s maid, and a wealthy fiancé, she has everything a girl could desire. Yet ever since her parents’ death, Cassandra has felt trapped, alone in a city of water, where the dark and labyrinthine canals whisper of escape.

When Cass stumbles upon a murdered woman—practically in her own backyard—she’s drawn into a dangerous world of courtesans, killers, and secret societies. Soon, she finds herself falling for Falco, a mysterious artist with a mischievous grin... and a spectacular skill for trouble. Can Cassandra find the murderer, before he finds her? And will she stay true to her fiancé, or succumb to her uncontrollable feelings for Falco?

Beauty, love, romance, and mystery weave together in a stunning novel that’s as seductive and surprising as the city of Venice itself.