Blood and Ash fans have been waiting in anticipation for news on the next book in the series ever since The Primal of Blood and Bone dropped in September 2025, leaving Poppy and Casteel's story quite open. The sixth book made it obvious there was more to come, and readers have been tracking every public appearance from author Jennifer L. Armentrout ever since, hoping for any scrap of news about Book 7.
This week, at the inaugural Willa's Ever After romance book festival in Charles Town, West Virginia, we finally got some. Armentrout opened the event on September 25 and talked openly about where things stand with The Throne of Bone and Ash, the seventh and final installment in the series.
The mood in the room was warm, and right from the start fans made clear how they feel about the series wrapping up at all. When one audience member joked that they had been hoping she would never come back to finish it, Armentrout laughed and acknowledged the bittersweet feeling. "Somebody's like, 'Oh, I was hoping you would never come,'" she told the crowd.
Armentrout was upfront that Book 7 has been taking longer than her usual pace. The original spring 2026 target has passed without a release, and she walked the audience through exactly why that happened.
Why Book 7 has been taking so long
A big part of it, she said, was the bookstore. Miss Willa's Bookshop, which Armentrout opened in Charles Town in the summer of 2025, consumed far more of her mental energy than she had expected. Named after Willa Colyns, a character from the Blood and Ash series, the shop became a full creative project in its own right. Even when she was not physically doing the work, her head was in it constantly.
"Even though I'm not actively the one playing stuff, my head starts impacting basically everything," Armentrout explained. "I'm pretty sure that everything that used to be purchased in that store is something that I went and found."
Armentrout then got a laugh from the crowd with a more specific confession: "Believe it or not, this is more common than it should be, especially when you fall down some Wayfair rabbit holes. All the statues were bought from Wayfair. It's weird."
Beyond the bookstore, Armentrout also opened up about something more personal. She shared that she is deeply impacted by what is going on in the world, and that it can pull her out of the headspace she needs to write.
"I'm somebody who's also very affected by things that are going on in the world," she said. "Sometimes I find myself like, I need to go to a cabin."
Armentrout referenced the idea of completely detaching to write, half-joking about another author who apparently did exactly that at some point in history. She decided that person probably was not the best example anyway. "I think he lost his mind a little bit though, so maybe not," she said, laughing.
The Throne of Bone and Ash cover is already done!
The biggest update of the event came up next as Armentrout confirmed the book is actively being written, and then she let slip that she has already seen the cover!
"It's probably my favorite cover of the series," she told the audience. "It takes a lot for me not to share." She paused and half-joked: "And also, the publishers are here. I think they're standing, so I couldn't tell."
The Blood and Ash series first arrived in 2020 with From Blood and Ash, which introduced readers to Poppy, a young woman raised under strict religious rule who begins to question everything around her when she meets a guard named Hawke. The series took off and has not slowed down since, growing into one of the biggest romantasy properties going, alongside companion prequel series Flesh and Fire and a growing range of novellas and companion guides.
The Primal of Blood and Bone was one of the longest books in the series. It left the story in a place that makes the finale feel urgently necessary, which is probably why the wait feels as long as it does.
We still do not have an official release date for The Throne of Bone and Ash, but after this weekend, we know the cover is done at least. Hurray!
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