How does Everleigh unconventional leadership style change things in Bellona?Įvie was 17th in line for the throne, so no one ever expected her to be queen. One of the things I enjoyed most was she made her inner circle full of people who traditionally wouldn’t have been a part of a royal court, let alone advising a queen. I thought the Roman mythology tied in well with my overall gladiator theme/world.Įverleigh is something of a reluctant queen, but she knows she needs to lead. For example, Bellona, my gladiator kingdom, is named after a Roman war goddess. When I was first coming up with the series, I knew that I wanted to write about gladiators, so I decided to use Roman and other mythologies for some of the place and character names. Magic, political intrigue, a steady stream of assassination attempts, oh and a will they-won’t they romance… PROTECT THE PRINCE has it all! In fantasy series, I’m always impressed by the amount of worldbuilding that goes into, well, everything! Was there anything in particular that inspired the “realm” in Crown of Shards? PROTECT THE PRINCE picks up a few months after the events of KILL THE QUEEN, book #1 in my Crown of Shards epic fantasy series.Įverleigh “Evie” Blair might be the new gladiator queen of Bellona, but her problems are far from over, something she realizes when someone tries to assassinate her in her own throne room. Welcome back to Fresh Fiction! Can you catch us all up to speed with the Crown of Shards series and a little bit about PROTECT THE PRINCE?

Protect the prince jennifer estep