JR Ward Announcement

 

#1 New York Times Bestselling Author J.R. Ward to Launch

Contemporary Series The Bourbon Kings in 2015

New American Library Will Release First Book, The Bourbon Kings,

in Hardcover on July 28, 2015

Television Rights Optioned by Top

International Producer and Distributor Endemol Studios

New York, NY; October 30, 2014 – New American Library, a division of Penguin Random House, announced today that it will publish in hardcover the first book in a new contemporary series from #1 New York Times bestselling author J.R. Ward on July 28, 2015.

Launching with a novel of the same name, The Bourbon Kings series will introduce readers to the Bradfords, a wealthy, aristocratic family in Kentucky who made their money from bourbon.

The books have already been optioned for television by Endemol Studios, the entertainment and production company behind the international hit TV series Big Brother, Deal or No Deal, Wipeout, Hell On Wheels, The Fall and Peaky Blinders, among others.

Set in the heart of bourbon and horse country, The Bourbon Kings marks a departure for Ward who hasn’t written extensively about Kentucky, though she lives in The Bluegrass State and has deep ties to the surrounding community.

Ward said:  “The Bourbon Kings are just like my Black Dagger Brotherhood vampires, flawed heroes for strong women who live and love in a vivid, ever-changing world of passion and excitement.  Readers can expect the same big emotions, epic storylines, and soul-deep love stories in these books—as well as those signature, OMG, I have to know what happens NEXT! kind of endings.”

With more than 15 million of her novels in print worldwide, Ward is an international bestselling author best known for her phenomenally popular paranormal Black Dagger Brotherhood series about a group of warrior vampires.  Dark Lover, the first book in the series, was published in 2005, and reader reaction was immediate.  Just eighteen months later, the fourth book in the series, Lover Revealed, hit the New York Times bestseller list.  Since then, Ward’s novels have held the #1 spot on the New York Times hardcover, mass market, eBook, and combined print/eBook fiction bestseller lists and have debuted in the Top Five on the USA Today bestseller list.  Ward and her books have been featured in USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, The Boston Globe and The New York Times.

“The Bourbon Kings has all the hallmarks of Ward’s hugely successful Black Dagger Brotherhood books—fascinating characters, compelling interwoven plotlines, passionate love stories—while also feeling completely fresh.  I’m thrilled to be starting a new series with the extremely talented J.R. Ward and am confident that readers will also find this one irresistibly addictive,” said NAL’s Senior Vice President and Publisher Kara Welsh.

The Bourbon Kings series will follow the Bradfords, those who work for them on their estate, Easterly, and several other wealthy Southern families involved in Kentucky’s bourbon industry.

About the Author

J.R. Ward is a #1 New York Times bestselling author with more than 15 million novels in print published in 25 different countries around the world.  Ward is a graduate of Smith College who currently lives in Kentucky.  Before turning to writing full time, she worked as a lawyer in Boston and also spent many years working as Chief of Staff for one of the premier academic medical centers in the nation.  Visit her popular website and fan community at www.jrward.com and facebook.com/JRWardBooks.