Vowed (51 page)

‘A wonderful story and a great debut’

A Fantastical Librarian

‘A great addition to the ranks of modern faerie tales’

Fantasy Faction

‘If you love feisty kick-ass heroines, action-packed plots and beautifully detailed fantasy worlds, teaming with magic and horror, then this is the book for you!’

One More Page

‘There’s so much packed into one book . . . The last 100 pages or so had me on the edge of my seat because I was so engrossed in the story . . . read it!’

Queen of Contemporary

‘I really, really loved this book. I can hold my hand up and say that I loved it more than Cassandra Clare’s
City of Bones
. . . a fast-paced, explosive book
that captures your imagination and leaves you wanting more’

Serendipity Reviews

‘An accomplished, well-crafted debut . . . Put quite simply
Banished
is pure unadulterated entertainment’

Eloquent Page

While writing her debut novel,
Banished
, Liz de Jager fostered her love of YA and genre fiction by developing the popular
My Favourite Books
review blog. This
ran for seven years and enabled her to gain a unique insight into the publishing industry. She grew up in South Africa and now lives and works in the UK with her husband Mark.
Vowed
is her
second novel.

You can find out more about Liz here:

www.lizdejager.co.uk

Or follow her on Twitter:

@LizUK

Also by Liz de Jager

Banished

This book would not have been possible without the superior tea-making abilities of my husband Mark, and his endless patience as I whined piteously about plot and character arc
and fighting styles. A girl could not have a better partner.

My two steadfast beta readers and friends – Sarah Bryars and Jenni Nock – are invaluable assets. They kick my butt and I love them for it. Thanks for supporting Kit, Dante and Aiden
throughout
Vowed.
I also really appreciate their helping me make sense of so many things; they kept me on the level when I spent too much time navel-gazing and flailing.

The past few months have been a steep learning curve and my editor Bella Pagan has been by my side through it all, helping and guiding me. She hasn’t just helped with writing
Vowed
but has also had some great thoughts about what else we can do within the Blackhart world. She’s amazing and I’m so grateful to her, Julie Crisp and Team Tor for their
support.

My agent, Juliet Mushens, is an extraordinary young woman. Her dedication and belief in my work has been unquestioning and unwavering from day one. Having her fight on my side has been a
revelation and an honour. I am truly proud to be part of Team Mushens.

I’ve been very lucky to have received a great deal of support from my friends at SCBWI BI. I’ve also had wonderful encouragement from a swathe of bloggers, the UKYA community and
fellow writers across all age groups and genres. It is an overwhelming experience being published for the first time, but it really does help that others are there to guide you with advice from
their own first-hand experiences. I will forever be grateful to Kim Curran, Lou Morgan, Non Pratt, Tanya Byrne and Zoe Marriott for keeping me sane and making me laugh.

These acknowledgements could go on for pages and pages, but I think I’ll stop here for now. More than anything, to any aspiring writers reading this (I love acknowledgements, used to read
them all the time and still do): just don’t give up. Your journey is yours alone and never ever measure yourself against another person’s success because that way lies insanity. Do
things at your own pace and realize it’s not a race! And remember to have fun because this is what it’s all about.

First published 2014 by Tor

This electronic edition published 2014 by Tor
an imprint of Pan Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
Pan Macmillan, 20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR
Basingstoke and Oxford
Associated companies throughout the world
www.panmacmillan.com

ISBN 978-1-4472-4768-5

Copyright © Liz de Jager 2014

The right of Liz de Jager to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

The Macmillan Group has no responsibility for the information provided by any author websites whose address you obtain from this book (‘author websites’). The
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liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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