Where the Magic Happens: A Guest Post by Kerri Maniscalco
The sequel to Throne of the Fallen focuses on the Prince of Gluttony — and he can hardly temper his indulgences. Bestselling author Kerri Maniscalco has penned an exclusive essay for us on why Throne of Secrets is one of her favorite books she’s ever written, down below.
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Throne of Secrets (B&N Exclusive Edition)
Throne of Secrets (B&N Exclusive Edition)
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It’s no surprise that the Prince of Gluttony can’t temper his indulgences — until it comes to resisting the person he should hate the most…
It’s no surprise that the Prince of Gluttony can’t temper his indulgences — until it comes to resisting the person he should hate the most…
I’m not supposed to have favorites. Books, like children, are equally special and adored for their individuality. But… Throne of Secrets is one of my favorite novels I’ve written. Ironically, it was also the hardest to land—maybe that’s why I love it so much. Like dragon slaying heroes, I had to battle my way to victory. Fantasy, adventure, romance, mystery—I wanted to strike a balance between them all and not have one aspect outweigh the other.
It took many drafts, lots of working around the clock, bargains with whichever poor deity watches over writers on deadline, colorful curses that made my cats twitch their tails in annoyance, and fist shaking at imaginary villains thwarting me at every turn, but the story that’s hitting shelves is all that I hoped it would be and more.
As a reader, I am the BIGGEST fan of tension, so you’ll catch me devouring any romantasy that has enemies to lovers, hate to love, or rivals to lovers.
In fact, you might have already noticed a trend in all my work—whether it’s academic rivals to lovers like Audrey Rose and Thomas in Stalking Jack the Ripper, or enemies to lovers like Emilia and Wrath in Kingdom of the Wicked, it’s something I find utterly irresistible in fiction. I think it’s that secret sauce that makes some novels completely unputdownable.
It was also the basis I used for crafting the relationship between Gabriel Axton, AKA the Prince of Gluttony and Adriana Saint Lucent, the reporter hell bent on taking him down.
Rivals to lovers allows for really fun scenes to play out on the page, chock full of banter and tension as the characters come together and clash. In order to really make those interactions shine, I need to understand what each character desperately wants, then give them opposing goals.
That’s when and where the magic happens. Two characters—who, okay, miiiiight totally be attracted to the other and hate it/never admit it/would rather die a thousand, burning deaths than give into it—circling each other, searching for weakness is the mint to my writerly julep.
It’s what you’ll find in Throne of Secrets in spades and, for me, that’s what makes our characters submitting to love so satisfying in the end. The characters not only have to slay literal dragons (ice dragons with pretty feathered wings and iridescent scales, obviously), they have to slay their internal dragons before they can ride off into the sunset together.
Love is the most dangerous adventure of all, and I hope you are delighted with this twisted fairy tale.