Read All About It: News, Deals and Cover Reveals from Lauren Kate, Becca Fitzpatrick, Kiera Cass, Brodi Ashton & more!

Here's a round up of the latest book news, deals and some cover reveals that I've discovered over the past few weeks!  It's also basically a digest of all the exciting news stories that come my way and which I've mostly already posted on my twitter and Facebook feeds, so if you want up-to-the-minute book news and you don't want to have to wait around for me to type this up, you can follow me on those sites!

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First up: Is this the prettiest  cover of them all?  Kiera Cass unveiled the cover for The Elite (The Selection #2) this week, and it is beautiful!

The Elite releases April 2013 from HarperTeen.  The synopsis is available on Goodreads for anyone who wants to read it.  I'm not posting here in case of spoilers for anyone who hasn't already read the first book!

Now down to the series business of book deals because book deal wise, this week was all kinds of exciting!

Lauren Kate Announces Teardrop:

Beverly Horowitz and Wendy Loggia at Delacorte have acquired a new series by Lauren Kate, author of the bestselling Fallen series for teens. The new series, called Teardrop, tells the saga of Eureka Boudreaux, a 17-year old Louisiana girl whose tears have the power to raise the lost continent of Atlantis. Delacorte will publish three Teardrop novels and three e-original short stories, all edited by Wendy Loggia; the first novel will appear in fall 2013. Michael Stearns and Ted Malawar of Inkhouse did the deal for North American rights. 

Becca Fitzpatrick Announces Black Ice:

Black Ice is a riveting stand-alone psychological thriller that takes place against the treacherous backdrop of the mountains of Wyoming. Seventeen-year-old Britt Pfeiffer has been training to backpack the crest of the Teton Mountains, but she isn’t prepared when her ex-boyfriend, who still haunts her every thought, wants to join her. Before Britt can explore her feelings for Calvin, an unexpected blizzard forces her to seek shelter in a remote cabin, accepting the hospitality of its two occupants—who then take her hostage. In exchange for her life, Britt agrees to guide the men off the mountain. As they set off into the storm, Britt knows she must stay alive long enough for Calvin to find her. But the task isn’t as straightforward as it seems. Finding one chilling piece of evidence after another, Britt uncovers the truth about a series of murders that have taken place in the region . . .  and in uncovering this she may become the killer’s next target.

Black Ice will be published in Autumn 2014 by Simon & Schuster in the US, UK and Australia.

Becca Fitzpatrick adds: "Black Ice is about a girl who backpacks the Teton Range over spring break of her senior year of high school, but things go terribly wrong. Like Hush, Hush, the inspiration behind Black Ice comes from my own experiences during my teen years. It's very satisfying to finally be working on a project that has been floating around my head for so long. And of course I'm thrilled to be working with Simon & Schuster again!"

Hot Key acquires The Elites by debut author Natasha Footman:

Hot Key Books publisher Emily Thomas has bought two books by 22-year-old debut author Natasha Footman, including YA fantasy novel, The Elites.

Thomas acquired UK and Commonwealth rights through Nicola Barr at Greene & Heaton, and described The Elites as: "an electrifying read, with strong elements of 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and The Hunger Games, but still unique-original and beautifully told".

She added: “We are so thrilled to have this book and the talented Natasha Footman on the Hot Key list.”

Here's more about Natasha and The Elites: 

‘There is a rumour that the Elites don’t bleed.’


Hundreds of years into the future, wars, riots, resource crises and sea-level rise have destroyed the civilisations of the Mainland, Red Nations and Afrika. One city – built by the Global Council to create a society of peace, unity and sustainability that they had hoped would serve as a model to the rest of the world – has survived. That city is Neo-Babel. Its population have lived within its walls ever since the disintegration of the rest of the world’s civilisations. No one enters the city, and no one leaves. Or so it seems.

Fifteen-year-old Silver has been brought up as an Elite, the Council’s programme for citizens with high-performing DNA. As a devoted Elite, she has never even thought about leaving the city – then she fails to prevent the assassination of Neo Babel’s president. And when her parents are kidnapped, she and her best friend Butterfly realise the only way forward is to get out and find them. What they find on leaving the city changes them forever, makes them grow up, and forces them to fight back against the city they have worked for and lived in all their lives.

Natasha was born in St Albans, Hertfordshire in 1990. She grew up living between the UK and Malaysia. Since graduating from the University of Cambridge with a Geography degree in 2011, she has been working as a fashion blogger (girlinthelens.com) and freelance writer. THE ELITES is her first novel and she has plans for a sequel.

Follow Natasha on Twitter: @girlinthelens

Penguin Acquires New Adult Title Reason to Breathe from Rebecca Donovan:

Penguin has acquired UK and Commonwealth rights in The Breathing series by Rebecca Donovan. Rights were acquired by Lindsey Heaven, Senior Fiction Editor, from Alex Slater on behalf of Erica Spellman Silverman at Trident Media Group.

Author, Rebecca Donovan, self-published the first two books REASON TO BREATHE and its sequel BARELY BREATHING, which have since become Amazon bestsellers with ebook sales across the titles currently exceeding 100,000 copies. At one time in the States copies were selling 1000 copies/ day.

Penguin will publish Reason to Breathe and Barely Breathing in ebook on 8th November 2012 with print editions to follow in 2013. The final part of the trilogy OUT OF BREATH will launch mid-2013.

Rebecca is part of a growing number of newly-successful self-published authors who write about and for what has been coined a 'new adult' audience – namely young people, late teens to early twenties, who are transitioning into the modern adult world. This type of fiction is a natural progression from the successful young adult/ teen market.

'We are completely thrilled to welcome Rebecca to Penguin. Her writing speaks to young and new adult readers in such a personal and honest way. The series is an incredible combination of an innocent love, a brutal betrayal and unwavering hope that we already know readers have identified with in their thousands. We are very excited about bringing this to a even wider UK audience and making the Breathing series a bestseller here too' – Lindsey Heaven

'All I've ever wanted was to share Emma's story. Penguin UK/Razorbill is helping me spread The Breathing Series to a larger audience. For that, I am so grateful. This is an exciting time, and I'm expecting great things!' – Rebecca Donovan

Here's More about Reason to Breathe: 

"No one tried to get involved with me, and I kept to myself. This was the place where everything was supposed to be safe and easy. How could Evan Mathews unravel my constant universe in just one day?"

He knows there’s something more to the girl sitting in the back of the class the moment he sees her. She’s beautiful, intelligent, and athletic – but she slips quietly through the crowded halls, trying not to exist. Determined to get to know the elusive girl, Evan soon discovers…

Emma Thomas is hiding a terrible secret.

Reason to Breathe is an electrifying page turner from start to finish, a unique tale of life-changing love, unspeakable cruelty, and one girl’s fragile grasp of hope.

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See, I told you there was lots of exciting book news this week! And I also have more cover candy to share! 

First up is Neverfall by Brodi Ashton -- Neverfall is an Everneath Novella from Cole's point of view.  Neverfall will release in eBook form in December 2012. I haven't heard any news of a UK/Ireland release for this one yet, but I'm hoping we'll get it over here too as I was really intrigued by the character of Cole in Everneath and I'd love to get to know more about him, wouldn't you?

This week also saw the announcement of a cover change for The Dead and Buried by Kim Harrington.   I was a huge fan of the original cover for The Dead and Buried, and I have to say that I still prefer that one.  I'm not sure why the publishers decided to change the cover. At a total guess I would say that maybe the original cover looked a little too MG/less YA than they might have liked, but it was still a favourite of mine. What do you think of the new cover?  Do you love it, or do you wish they'd stuck with the original cover? << Click through the link to see the original cover!

That's it for the round-up! Let me know your thoughts!

Additional info was sourced from: The Bookseller, Publishers Weekly, BookTrade.Info and Goodreads.