I’m delighted to be a part of the Lit Connect Promo Tour for author Hailey Edwards’ second installment in her Araneae Nation series, A FEAST OF SOULS.
Born in the Deep South, Hailey is a lifelong resident of Alabama. Her husband works for the local sheriff’s department and her daughter is counting down the days until she’s old enough to audition for American Idol. Her doxie, Black Ilex, helps Hailey write by snoozing in his recliner in her office.
Hailey’s desire to explore without leaving the comforts of home fueled her love of reading and writing. Whenever the itch for adventure strikes, Hailey can be found with her nose glued to her Kindle’s screen or squinting at her monitor as she writes her next happily-ever-after.
Here’s a brief blurb of A FEAST OF SOULS, a fantasy romance with a heat level of mainstream:
The only way to save her is to bind their souls as one.
Araneae Nation, Book 2
Born with the ability to communicate with the dead, few things take Mana by surprise. But when a canis lopes into her life, announcing himself as the long-dead father of a childhood friend, she’s shocked. To make matters worse, he has a dire message that she alone can deliver.
Now Mana must face Vaughn, the male who inspired one too many girlish fantasies, and impart the spirit’s message—without acknowledging her source—so the soul can be laid to rest.
With rumors of a burgeoning clan war setting his nerves on edge, the last thing Vaughn needs is for an innocent to get caught in the crosshairs. But th
e woman he remembers as an awkward girl refuses to leave his side until he’s heard her out. That’s not the only change in her that calls to him. Her kindness soothes his battle-scarred soul—and he craves her in ways a warrior shouldn’t.
When they are both captured, they learn of an even greater threat. The plague devastating the southlands has come to his clan home. And his best—and only—chance to keep his people alive is the female who walks among the dead.
Product Warnings: This book contains one fierce hero with a nose for danger, one stubborn heroine who smells like trouble, and one wolfish spirit who makes most relationships with the in-laws seem downright tame. Fur, fangs and some biting should be expected. But never fear, the hero has a sword, and he knows how to use it.
A FEAST OF SOULS is available from Samhain Publishing, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.
To entice your reading buds, here’s an excerpt from A FEAST OF SOULS:
“Admit it.” The familiar sounds of a fire starting drifted to me. “You find me charming.”
“I find you…” I struggled for words less insulting than the truth, “…kinder than I recalled.”
“Hmm.” Had he moved closer? “And how did you recall me?”
“You were Rhys’s older, more intimidating brother.” And you terrified me.
With a hearty sigh that weighed on my conscience, he cupped my elbows and got me on my feet. Wood scraped as he kicked the stool closer to where warmth ebbed from the crackling fire.
“Sit. I’ll melt some snow and find a rag.” Hinges groaned. Frigid air nipped at my cheeks. A door shut. Fabric tore. More metal grated. I removed my gloves and touched my eyes before he lowered my hands. We sat like that for a bit, until, “Let’s get those eyes of your open, shall we?”
I let him tilt my head back. Water dripped to my right. Then a hot cloth was draped over the upper portion of my face. I sighed with bliss as Vaughn dipped and dabbed at me. “Thank you.”
His hands stilled, and his reply took so long I gave up on it coming. “You’re welcome.”
I leaned into his touch and relished playing the role of patient for once.
Several hot cloths later, light seeped beneath a crack in my lids. For some reason I held my tongue and used the opportunity to steal a glimpse of Vaughn. His face filled my vision. His eyes were warm and held sparks from the fire. His brow crinkled, and his large, warrior’s hands were so adept as they wrung water from the cloth—which I now saw was a scrap from his shirt—and cleared the melting ice from my face. Seeing him like this snapped some tight thing in my chest.
Water splashed as he tossed the rag. Big hands cupped my cheeks. “Try to open your eyes.”
Blinking came easy. Though my lids were raw, pain was a distant hurdle while Vaughn kept his hands on me. His expression was too gentle, too soft. Surely it was a trick borne of firelight.
When he leaned down, his lips a whisper from mine, I held my breath.
Giveaway Details
Hailey is gifting one lucky commenter from each tour stop, a digital copy of a title from her backlist. (A FEAST OF SOULS isn’t included in the options.) The contest is open internationally and will run the duration of the tour (ending 12:01am EST Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012). The winner(s) will be randomly selected and notified via email. To enter, sign up with the Rafflecopter below.
Additional Tour Stops
For additional chances to win, be sure to check out the other stops in Hailey’s tour. The more stops you comment on, the greater your chances of winning.
For more information on Hailey and her writing, visit her website and find her on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
Thanks everyone for stopping by today. Do you enjoy escaping to other locations and worlds through reading?
Author Frankie Rose is promoting her YA paranormal, ETERNAL HOPE, in a unique way with grace and flourish. She’s hosting a Scavenger Hunt through Dec. 7 for Book Two of her The Hope Series
with lots of interesting prizes to be given away.
Here’s a brief synopsis of ETERNAL HOPE:
He loves me, he loves me not, he loves me
When your friends go missing and you don’t know if they’re dead or alive; when you tie your soul to the one you love; when you kill to protect and your family suffers, there’s only one thing you can do:
Move to Montana.
Farley Hope is special. She was prophesied to kill the forebears of her bloodline- a race of cold-blooded Reavers, men who steal the souls of the living to gain power. The Quorum had counted on Farley ending her own life in the process, but when Kayden came to her aid and helped save both her and Daniel, he undid their plans. Now the Quorum are displeased, not only with Kayden, but with Farley and Daniel too. Though her father is now dead, Farley’s troubles with the Reavers are far from over. An ancient Immortal, trapped for a thousand years, wants Farley for himself, and he will stop at nothing to claim her.
With secrets that lead to anger and pain, that turn friendship to dust, the group must overcome the problems within their own circle before they have a hope of fighting off the powers that threaten their lives.
I’ve never hosted a scavenger hunt before so this has been a fun learning experience for me. For those who have never participated in a scavenger hunt before, please allow me to go over the basics with you.
Frankie has written a special excerpt that has had some of the words removed. Each blogger that is participating in the scavenger hunt has been given a different key word, one of the removed words from the excerpt. They then include the key word (highlighted in green) somewhere in the scavenger hunt blog post. Readers go from blog host to blog host each day in search of the green words. There are three hosts per day participating. To help with the search, each blog host also includes the link to the blog with the next clue (key word).
Once the readers have collected all key words, then it is up to them to try and place those words in the correct spot in the excerpt. The first person to successfully complete the excerpt wins the grand prize, the second person to complete it wins the second prize, and so forth.
The starting blog, Juniper Grove Book Solutions, has a complete listing of all blog hosts participating in the hunt. So if you’re just getting started, you’ll have no problems catching up quickly. There is also a detailed list of the prizes up for grabs.
Now here’s the excerpt you must complete to be eligible to win. It was written specifically for the scavenger hunt and cannot be found anywhere except on the participating blogs.
Farley felt her face redden, which was _________ inappropriate. Daniel and Kayden were _______ she was watching, and for once their sparring lacked the flashy showmanship they usually employed to _______ her. For the two of them, nothing _______ beyond the dimly lit parameters of the hangar. Beyond the lunge, beyond the parry, beyond the block.
This was how it would really go down, if they ever meant to do serious harm to one _______. Movements fluid and graceful, there was _________ primal about their circling. Quick _______ of calculating eyes, green and blue, preempting the other’s next move. Kayden’s hair was darkened with sweat, but both their chests rose and fell with __________ regularity. In and out. Slow and steady. The stern, focused expressions on their faces said ____ were in total control.
Farley let the darkness wash over her and kept her presence hidden. The confrontation was too ___________ to interrupt. Bare chests, muscled and tanned; silver flashes of metal as their blades sang through the air. Even Cliff would have been impressed. Farley bit her ______ lip as Kayden darted _______ in a sure leap, thrusting out with deadly precision towards Daniel’s throat.
The ______ would have been a killing blow. Would have been, if it had even ______. Daniel sprang back and duck-rolled over the dusty floor, crouching into a defensive pose. With his knife ________, his eyes lifted to fix on Kayden, but they _____ quite made it.
________, his eyes lifted to fix on Kayden, but they _____ quite made it.
Farley’s heart leapt to her throat. Those eyes, piercing and sharp, fixed on her _______. She swallowed and braced against the wall behind her, trying to camouflage with the _______. Kayden shifted forward, ready to take _________ of Daniel’s distracted position, but the dark-haired boy simply lifted his hand. A wordless gesture: ____. Kayden stopped.
Robotically, Daniel rose, his _____ suddenly vanished, and dropped the knife into the dirt. Kayden’s apparent confusion only lasted a second; the moment he ________ it - that she was there - was _______. One second he was ________ Daniel’s creased brow, the next he had spun around impossibly quickly and was staring, too. Blue and Green. Farley felt her throat closing up. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.
Daniel brushed a hand back through his slightly curling hair, his face trained into a nothing __________. There was ______ he could do to hide the war in his eyes, ______. “So you’re back.”
Silence flooded the hangar. Farley took a moment to _______, pretending not to ______ Kayden’s fist clenching repeatedly ______ the handle of his knife.
“Yes,” she whispered, her voice _______. “I guess I am.”
The other blog hosts participating in today’s hunt are:
Brittany @ The Cover by Brittany
Kristin @ Better Read Than Dead
Now here’s a bit of background on Frankie in her own words:
“As a child, I was always accused of being bookish because I wore glasses- big, horrible, ugly ones with too-thick lenses. Those kids, the super smart ones who always know which tender insecurities to poke at in order to provoke life-long complexes, used to accuse me of reading too many books and that my eyes were going to rot out of my head (their words, not mine!).
The truth of the matter was a little more embarrassing: I used to sit too close to the T.V. That was the reason why I had to wear glasses, but kids don’t really care about small, insignificant details like the truth, and so I was labeled a nerd. The label kinda stuck, and after some sage advice from my awesome nana (nana, you rock!) I decided that if I was going to be abused for my supposed literary obsession, I might as well develop one.
I guess that’s how I got into books and reading at an early age. Since then, I’ve been ripping through books like they’re going out of fashion, which, thankfully, they’re not. Good thing, too, because I’m a writer now, and books are my business!
Thank you to everyone who has supported and encouraged me on my journey- look for your names in the acknowledgements! And a big thank you to you, the reader. I hope you’ve fallen in love with Farley and Daniel just like I have, and that you’ll join them in the next book, ETERNAL HOPE!”
For more on Frankie and her writing, visit her website and her Amazon Author Page; find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads; and see her on YouTube.
Thanks everyone for stopping by today. If you decide to give the scavenger hunt a try, here’s wishing you great success.
