Spotlight & Giveaway: Servant of Earth by Sarah Hawley

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Sarah Hawley to HJ!

Hi Sarah and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Servant of Earth!

 
Thank you! I’m so excited to connect with your readers.
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

SERVANT OF EARTH is a dark Fae romantasy about a scrappy human women named Kenna who is forced into servitude in the cruel underground Fae kingdom of Mistei. She has to help her new mistress undertake six deadly trials, one for each branch of magic: Fire, Earth, Light, Void, Illusion, and Blood. If she succeeds, her mistress will gain immortality and become the heir to Earth House. If she fails, both she and her mistress will die.

Aided by a sentient, shapeshifting dagger, Kenna fights to stay alive. Along the way, she gets caught up in a secret rebellion against the inventively sadistic king… and a passionate affair with the rebellion’s leader, the smoldering Prince of Fire.
 

Please share your favorite line(s) or quote from this book:

I have a soft spot for this particular quote, which relates to one of the more complicated characters in the book:

“The danger in looking at the wrong people, Kenna, is that sometimes they want to look back.”

Uneasiness crawled over my skin. I was so aware of him—of his height and the taut strength of his body, of the infinite and unknowable depths of his eyes. Of the stillness and the threat of him, of the bodies in his past and the blood in his future.

Of the way he looked almost… sad.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• The original title of this book was FAESWORN.
• 2. The first Fae book I remember being enraptured by was THE MOORCHILD by Eloise Jarvis McGraw, which I read as a child.
• 3. The entire plot sprang from a single phrase that popped into my head one day. The phrase was “The Queen of the Nasties.” I remember turning that over and over in my head, wondering what the Nasties were and who their queen would be. I was already planning to write a Fae fantasy, so I used that as a jumping off point to build the world! She’s a minor character, but without her the kingdom of Mistei wouldn’t exist.
• 4. The original theme song for the book, which I listened to while outlining, is “In The Woods Somewhere” by Hozier. The theme song of one of my favorite characters in the book is “NFWMB” by Hozier. (You’ll have to read the book and then guess which character I’m talking about.) Can you tell I love Hozier?
• 5. Kenna has a collection of artifacts she fished up from the bog near her house. That’s a nod to my own background—I have an MA in archaeology.

What first attracts your Hero to the Heroine and vice versa?

“Hero” is a pretty strong term for any of the Fae in this book (morally gray is my favorite color), but Kenna is drawn to Drustan, the Prince of Fire, because he’s charming, intelligent, and treats her far better than most of the Fae treat humans (plus he’s devastatingly hot). Drustan is drawn to Kenna because she’s courageous and blunt. But this is a love story with some complications, because everyone in Mistei has an ulterior motive—Drustan included.

Did any scene have you blushing, crying or laughing while writing it? And Why?

The scene at Beltane is definitely blush-worthy! It’s a night dedicated to pure hedonism, and the Fae do not hold back. In this scene, Kenna is jumping over an enchanted fire that encourages the Fae to pursue their deepest desires:

Time stopped.
I hung, suspended in a shower of embers as still and bright as the stars above. One bent leg stretched out before me and one behind, and my skirt had ridden almost all the way up to my waist.
Heat consumed me.
What do you want? the fire asked.
My heart spoke for me without any input from my mind. To be loved. To be touched. To be free. I yearned for it with every piece of me, the desire as strong as any hunger or thirst I’d ever felt.
Then do it.
The embers resumed their dance through the air, and I landed gracefully on the other side, my bare feet skimming over the grass. Exhilaration raced through me, and I laughed wildly as the crowd cheered.
I saw him then.

You’ll have to read the book to find out what happens next 🙂

Readers should read this book….

If you like fantasy novels with complicated politics and some serious steam, or if you loved ACOTAR, FOURTH WING, THE CRUEL PRINCE, or the dangerous trial element of THE HUNGER GAMES. This is a fantasy with a strong romantic subplot that will extend over multiple books, so it’s also a great place to start for readers who enjoy romance novels but want to dip their toes into fantasy.

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have in the works?

I’m currently hard at work on the sequel to SERVANT OF EARTH, which will be coming out in October 2025!
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: 1 Giveaway copy of SERVANT OF EARTH by Sarah Hawley – U.S. only

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: I love reading and writing about the Fae because they provide a fascinating mix of beauty, cruelty, magic, and trickery. What is your favorite mythical creature to read about and why?

 
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Book Info:

In the underground Fae realm, only the strongest and most ruthless have power—but a young human woman forced into a life of servitude is about to change everything.

Kenna Heron is best known in her village for being a little wild—some say half feral—but she’ll need every ounce of that ferocity to survive captivity in the cruel Fae court.

Trapped as a servant in the faeries’ underground kingdom of Mistei, Kenna must help her new mistress undertake six deadly trials, one for each branch of magic: Fire, Earth, Light, Void, Illusion, and Blood. If she succeeds, her mistress will gain immortality and become the heir to Earth House. If she doesn’t, the punishment is death—for both mistress and servant.

With no ally but a sentient dagger of mysterious origins, Kenna must face monsters, magic, and grueling physical tests. But worse dangers wait underground, and soon Kenna gets caught up in a secret rebellion against the inventively sadistic faerie king. When her feelings for the rebellion’s leader turn passionate, Kenna must decide if she’s willing to risk her life for a better world and a chance at happiness.

Surviving the trials and overthrowing a tyrant king will take cunning, courage, and an iron will… but even that may not be enough.
 
 

Meet the Author:

Sarah Hawley is the author of A Witch’s Guide to Fake Dating a Demon, A Demon’s Guide to Wooing a Witch, and A Werewolf’s Guide to Seducing a Vampire. Sarah lives in the Pacific Northwest, where her hobbies include rambling through the woods and appreciating fictional villains. She has a master’s degree in archaeology and has excavated at an Inca site in Chile, a Bronze Age palace in Turkey, and a medieval abbey in England. When not dreaming up whimsical love stories, she can be found reading, dancing, or cuddling her two cats.