Guest Post with Karina Cooper: ONE FOR THE WICKED Releases April 30th @avonromance #avonaddict

Guest Post with Karina Cooper

Author of the Dark Mission Series

 

 

 

A Tasty Read: Wrapping It Up To Go

 

The end is always hard. One for the Wicked is the fifth and final book in the Dark Mission series—eighth, if you count the three novellas, which you totally should!—and it brings together all the loose threads and unanswered questions left dangling over New Seattle.

 

While this book is very much a personal story for Shawn and Kayleigh, it’s also the last chance we get to see how our previous characters are doing. While the story is as much about revenge and conspiracy and terrible things, it’s also about hope—that fragile light that beckons in the dark.

But even lights in the dark can lead a man astray. We’ll see that, too; how far will people go to save themselves? To save a city?

 

I really enjoyed writing the ending for the Dark Mission series. On the one hand, it’s definitely sad—I mean, I’m saying goodbye to this world, to these characters I’ve come to know and love (and occasionally want to slap), is bittersweet. I started this series with Silas and Jessie, and they’ve been in every book since in some capacity or another. We’ve seen conspiracies unfold, some get solved only to find out how deep the rabbit holes go.

What I loved best, though, was the chance to check in with familiar faces again. Remember Silas and Jessie in Blood of the Wicked? Silas was suddenly a fish out of water and Jessie couldn’t stop an ingrained habit of lying to protect herself—and others. Or how about Phin and Naomi in Lure of the Wicked? We knew at the end of it that they were going to have a rough go—Phin was stuck topside while Naomi was declared a fugitive, and marked by a bounty large enough to make even a good man look sideways at her.

 

And then there’s Jonas and Danny. In Wicked Lies, my charity novella out just recently, I’ll be the first to admit that there wasn’t your usual happily ever after resolution. Jonas is too cautious, and Danny far too idealistic and stubborn to let Jonas get way with it. Did you notice? Dying to know what happens with them? One for the Wicked has your resolution.

In fact, it’s got resolution for all of the characters—good and bad, sad and happy, loved and lost. Of everything else? That’s what I loved best about writing this book. The resolution. Revisiting familiar places, and seeing how our couples are getting on—and where they aren’t.

 

The fact that it’s done, that now I’ve got my plate clear for new projects? That’s another sweet aspect of the “bittersweet” call.

 

Am I done? With murder and mayhem? Absolutely not!

 

Up next, I’m stepping out of New Seattle with a fond farewell and returning to Victorian London. With a double-header coming up, we’ll get to look forward to more Cherry St. Croix—beginning with a novella detailing her very first collection.

 

The Mysterious Case of Mr. Strangeway will be the first St. Croix Chronicles release by Carina Press. I’m so excited to be sharing this story with everyone... and not just because it also reveals the nature of her first real introduction to Micajah Hawke.

 

Next, the third in the St. Croix Chronicles will be Corroded—the ongoing story of our intrepid heroine as she seeks revenge for a terrible crime committed below London’s sooty-stained drift.

 

I hope you’ll all come play in this alternate steampunk London. I promise to have lots in store for you!

ONE FOR THE WICKED

A Dark Mission Novel #5

Karina Cooper

Releasing April 30th, 2013

 

Amazon/ B&N/ BAM/ Indie Bound

 

 

In this thrilling finale to Karina Cooper’s Dark Mission series, New Seattle’s witches will rise again…or fall forever.

 

Dr. Kayleigh Lauderdale possesses the only cure for what’s killing New Seattle’s witches. Desperate to acquire it, the resistance sends their best agent, but Shawn Lowe has his own agenda and it doesn’t include saving anyone—least of all, the daughter of his sworn enemy. He has to ignore the blistering attraction he feels the instant they meet, can’t give in until he gets what he wants. He just never counted on wanting her…

Kayleigh can’t believe how out of control Shawn makes her feel. He lies to her with one breath and excites her beyond reason the next. A reckless encounter could steal her heart, but the devastating plans of an old enemy may prove too much for either Kayleigh or Shawn to handle. When the world turns upside down, it will take everything they have to hold on… to life, to hope, to each other.

 

 

 

 

Avon (@avonbooks) will be having a twitter chat on Monday, 4/29, from 3-4PM EST, with Karina Cooper (@KarinaCooper), and we’d love for you to participate!

It will be using hashtag #WickedOne, and we’ll be chatting about all kinds of things—namely, witches!

 

We’d love it if you shared your favorite witches (from books, movies, TV and beyond), but we’re also keen to hear about your favorite epic endings, favorite moments in the Dark Mission series—and don’t forget, Karina will be answering questions, so please do join us!

Here’s the cherry on top of our paranormal Sundae (err…Monday): anyone who tweets using #WickedOne will be entered to win the Complete Dark Mission series!