Today I am chatting with NY Times Bestselling author Lauren Blackwood. Lauren is the author of Within These Wicked Walls, a Reese's Book Club Fall 2021 YA pick, and her newest book, Wildblood.
Join us as we chat about what it was like for Lauren, hitting the bestseller list as a debut author, her writing process for Wildblood, the research she did, the magic system in the book, how Lauren weaved her Jamaican heritage into this book, and more!
This entire episode is spoiler free!
A little about Wildblood:
Eighteen-year-old Victoria is a Wildblood. Since she was kidnapped at the age of six and manipulated by the Exotic Lands Touring Company, she’s worked as a tour guide ever since with a team of fellow Wildbloods who take turns using their magic to protect travelers in a Jamaican jungle teeming with ghostly monsters.
When the boss denies Victoria an earned promotion to team leader in favor of Dean, her backstabbing ex, she’s determined to prove herself. Her magic may be the most powerful on the team, but she’s not the image the boss wants to send their new client, Thorn, a renowned goldminer determined to reach an untouched gold supply deep in the jungle.
Thorn is everything Victoria isn't - confident, impossibly kind, and so handsome he leaves her speechless. And when he entrusts the mission to her, kindness turns to mutual respect, turns to affection, turns to love. But the jungle is treacherous, and between hypnotic river spirits, soul-devouring women that shed their skin like snakes, and her ex out for revenge, Victoria has to decide - is promotion at a corrupt company really what she wants?
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Thank you to Lauren for coming on the podcast and chatting with me! And thank you to Layne Mandros at Books Forward for setting up the interview!
Have a question about today's book or author? Have a book you want me to review on the podcast? Just want to say hi? Send me an email at yabookchat@gmail.com
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