In “The Eve’s End”, sequel to “The Gift”, the main character Fae Peeters gets to share the pages with two new POV characters. Both of these new characters get to tell the story of the Gift more thoroughly than Fae ever could on her own, and I’m excited to formally introduce you to Katie Windsor and Henri Meyer!

First up is Katie. From Redding, England, Katie is in her middle-twenties and works as a contract photographer. Hired to shoot for a new coffee table book featuring work by top, modern architectures, including Fae Peeters, Katie had been finishing up her work in Reims, France, when she struck up a conversation with an older gentleman at the bus stop. They found a mutual admiration for the designs of Peeters and he suggested Katie make a sidetrip to a certain little Belgium village to discover some off the record projects Peeters has there. With the chance for a handsome bonus on the line, Katie postpones her Christmas break and makes the short drive into Belgium to see what she can find. . . Much more than she expected. Who was it that sent her to the village? Good forces or bad? Why?

When Katie does arrive, she starts on an awkward foot when she accidentally crosses paths with Fae Peeters. . . sort of. Upon arriving and checking into the hotel, Katie finds the award-winning architect herself in the same hotel. It catches Katie off guard, so rather than going back down the stairs to introduce herself and see what she can find out about this mystery project, she does the logical thing- runs away in a panic! Can you relate? Katie is a painfully relatable character for us common people and I can’t wait for you to read the rest of her and Fae’s continuing story!

Next up is Henri Meyer. Henri gets to tell the story of the Gift from the view of one of the few who were not born in the village so is not involved in the Gift like everyone else. In his late twenties, Henri kind of hates his village. He hates how the Gift isolates them from the rest of the world, how it makes everyone afraid. He had moved away as soon as he could and didn’t look back. But, then he lost his job to a cold market and ran out of options. He was forced back to his parents where he kept looking for a new job. . . and found love with a local girl named Josie. Two and a half years later, he’s still in the village- for her- but he’s getting antsy to put the village behind him again, and has picked up rock climbing to help him get rid of some of that pent up energy. Josie, however, is scared for what might happen if she left the village with Henri. Can Henri and Josie stay together with the village between them? What does a scruffy man neither of them know want with Henri? And how does Fae’s arrival change the stakes?

When we first meet Henri, he’s hanging off the side of a climbing wall, muscles exhausted, no climbing harness, and debating whether or not he has strength enough to finish both the climb and to come back down. I wanted to give his opening chapter a struggle right from the start and I knew exactly the struggle I wanted him to have: doubt and fear. Spoiler alert, Henri falls off the wall. What does wall climbing have to do with the Gift, Henri’s role as a character, or why you should care? It has everything to do with all the above. Henri, you see, gets caught up in the Gift, and with Nefas, in a way that only Fae will be able to understand. Henri’s struggle is played out as a climb, one where falling has more consequences than just a couple bruises. Does Henri make it through Christmas Eve? In “The Eve’s End” not everyone does. . .

“The Eve’s End” releases November 17th.

Photo credit to Joseph Pearson and Andre Unger