Welcome to the Frozen blog tour! We at Penguin are thrilled to
introduce the first book in the Heart of Dread series by Melissa de la Cruz and
Michael Johnston. Follow along on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for the next
three weeks as Mel and Mike share their thoughts on everything from the end of the world to romantic
partnerships they love (other than their own, of course!).

From New York Times bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz and Michael Johnston comes this remarkable first book in a spellbinding new series about the dawn of a new kind of magic.
Welcome to New Vegas, a city once covered in bling, now blanketed in ice. Like much of the destroyed planet, the place knows only one temperature—freezing. But some things never change. The diamond in the ice desert is still a 24-hour hedonistic playground and nothing keeps the crowds away from the casino floors, never mind the rumors about sinister sorcery in its shadows.At the heart of this city is Natasha Kestal, a young blackjack dealer looking for a way out. Like many, she's heard of a mythical land simply called “the Blue.” They say it’s a paradise, where the sun still shines and the waters are turquoise. More importantly, it’s a place where Nat won’t be persecuted, even if her darkest secret comes to light.But passage to the Blue is treacherous, if not impossible, and her only shot is to bet on a ragtag crew of mercenaries led by a cocky runner named Ryan Wesson there. Danger and deceit await on every corner, even as Nat and Wes find themselves inexorably drawn to each other. But can true love survive the lies? Fiery hearts collide in this fantastic tale of the evil men do and the awesome power within us all.

~Trailer~
~Playlist~
A FROZEN
Playlist
Michael Johnston
Angels by The
xx
The xx
provide a perfect soundtrack for the ruined Pacific Ocean featured in FROZEN.
Their music is at once haunting and ethereal, a perfect complement to our
world.
St. Petersburg by
Brazilian Girls
“St.
Petersburg” is the sort of song I imagine playing in the background somewhere
in New Vegas.
Blood Bank by Bon
Iver
“Blood Bank” tells a melancholy
love story. It describes two people meeting, talking, and falling in love. The
lyrics remind of Wes and Nat, our heroes, and how they met.
Fire
Eye’d Boy Broken
Social Scene
We have a fire eye’d girl, but I
think you get the connection.
Black
Wave by
Arcade Fire
“Black
Wave” carries a strong sense of impending doom. I picture the trash-filled
ocean, the dark waves when I listen to this song.
An End Has a Start by
Editors
The
line “even an end has a start” really sums up FROZEN. It’s a book
about a tragedy and a new beginning.
Cosmic Love by
Florence and the Machine
FROZEN
is an epic romance and I can think of no love song more epic than “Cosmic
Love.”
Born
to Die Lana del
Rey
Everyone’s born to die in FROZEN.
Life is short and our characters live it to the most. “Born to Die” captures
that spirit.
Mr.
November by the
National
I think “Mr. November” is a great
theme song for Wes. I love the tone, the attitude.
The District
Sleeps Alone Tonight by the
Postal Service
The voice reminds me of Nat, the
words “I was the one worth
leaving” sound like ones Nat
might utter.
Takk…(the
album) by Sigur Ros
I listened to a lot of Sigur Ros
while writing FROZEN. The album, like FROZEN, has a haunting, but hopeful tone.
It’s Time by
Imagine Dragons
“It’s
Time” captures the spirit of Nat and Wes’s adventure. It’s about casting off
the past and starting over. (Mel: I listened to this song again and again while
we were writing FROZEN. We would also play it in the car and our daughter would
sing along too. That's why it's an epigraph in the beginning of the book.)

About the Authors
Melissa
de la Cruz is the New York
Times and USA
Today bestselling
author of many critically acclaimed and award-winning novels for teens
including The Au Pairs series, the Blue Bloods series, the Ashleys series, and
the Angels on Sunset Boulevard series. She has worked as a fashion and beauty
editor and has written for many publications including The New
York Times, Marie
Claire, Harper's
Bazaar, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Allure, The San
Francisco Chronicle, McSweeney's, Teen
Vogue,CosmoGirl! and Seventeen.
She has also appeared as an expert on fashion, trends and fame for CNN, E! and
FoxNews. Michael
Johnston is
Melissa de la Cruz's husband and co-creator of the Blue Bloods and Witches of
East End series, and the co-author of the Wolf Pact series.
Melissa and Michael collaborate in every capacity in crafting their books, from plot
outlines to character sketches and dialogue, from first draft to final polish.
They have a daughter and live in Los Angeles and Palm Springs.

Follow along
the Frozen blog tour to
see all of Mel and Mike’s guest posts!
9/23 Lytherus
9/27 Fiktshun
What a fun guest post - I haven't read anything like it before :) Interesting to see the playlist and how it relates to Frozen. I haven't read it yet, but I'm very excited!
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