A Different Blue Tour: Teaser & Giveaway

A Different Blue
Author: Amy Harmon
Genre: YA/New Adult Contemporary Romance
Release Date: March 29, 2013
 
Description:

Blue Echohawk doesn't know who she is. She doesn't know her real name or when she was born. Abandoned at two and raised by a drifter, she didn't attend school until she was ten years old. At nineteen, when most kids her age are attending college or moving on with life, she is just a senior in high school. With no mother, no father, no faith, and no future, Blue Echohawk is a difficult student, to say the least. Tough, hard and overtly sexy, she is the complete opposite of the young British teacher who decides he is up for the challenge, and takes the troublemaker under his wing.

This is the story of a nobody who becomes somebody. It is the story of an unlikely friendship, where hope fosters healing and redemption becomes love. But falling in love can be hard when you don't know who you are. Falling in love with someone who knows exactly who they are and exactly why they can't love you back might be impossible.  

“Miss Echohawk – hold up a minute.”
    I groaned, falling back away from the door where I was steps away from making my exit.  I got a few smirks from some of the other kids as they vacated the room.  They all knew I was in trouble.
    “I thought we discussed the Miss Echohawk thing,” I growled at him when the room had emptied around us.
    Wilson started gathering up the papers littering the desks, pushing and straightening as he went.  He didn't say anything to me but there was a deep furrow between his brows.  He looked kind of......pissed – the American definition.
    “Am I missing something?”  His voice was subdued, and when he finally looked up at me his eyes were troubled.
    I tossed my hair and shifted my weight, popping one hip out the way we girls do when we're aggravated.  “What do you mean?”
    “Why are you so angry?”
    His question surprised me, and I laughed a little.  “This isn't angry,” I smirked.  “This is just me.  Get used to it.”
    “I would really rather not,” he replied mildly, but he didn't smile.  And I felt a stab of something close to remorse.

Amy Harmon knew at an early age that writing was something she wanted to do, so she divided her time between writing songs and stories as she grew. Having grown up in the middle of wheat fields without a television, with only her books and her siblings to entertain her, she developed a strong sense of what made a good story. Amy Harmon has been a motivational speaker, a grade school teacher, a junior high teacher, a home school mom, and a member of the Grammy Award winning Saints Unified Voices Choir, directed by Gladys Knight. She released a Christian Blues CD in 2007 called "What I Know" - also available on Amazon and wherever digital music is sold.  She lives in the middle of nowhere with her husband and four kids, and doesn't plan to ever move somewhere, because nowhere is sublime.  She has written Running Barefoot, and the Young Adult books Slow Dance in Purgatory and the sequel, Prom Night in Purgatory.  A Different Blue is her fourth novel. 

Author Links:
https://www.facebook.com/authoramyharmon
http://www.authoramyharmon.com/
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5829056.Amy_Harmon

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Giveaway: (2) signed copies of A Different Blue plus a blue bracelet with charms from the book and some signed swag

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Incendiary Blog Tour: Excerpt

Incendiary (The Premonition Series #4)
Author: Amy A. Bartol
Genre: YA Fantasy/Paranormal
Release Date: November 28, 2012

Description:

Cold, fine drops of rain fall softly on my cheeks as I emerge from the darkness of the ship's interior to the gray, overcast sky of the main deck. Pulling my dark pea coat tighter to my body, the wind lifts red tendrils of my hair. I walk slowly to the railing overlooking the water.

I catch my first sight of the Irish coastline; its craggy landscape makes me shiver in dread. I find it difficult to imagine now how the Gancanagh had made this their home for so long without anyone realizing it. The cold, moss-covered edifices practically scream their presence. As I study the shadows between the falling-down stone, I imagine creeping shapes of undead Faeries grasping the rock, waiting for our ship to draw nearer to their position.

Tipping my face up, I let the rain wash over me. It bathes away the frigid sweat of fear that has broken on my brow. "You don't know how fiercely beautiful you are, do you?" A quiet voice behind me asks, causing me to stiffen and fix my eyes on the rocks along the shoreline.  

 

Chapter 1
The Moon
Evie

Opening my eyes in the darkness of the bedroom, the sheer canopy surrounding the bed sparkles with frost. I sit up against the pillows, allowing the silken sheet to slip from me. Reed, sleeping soundly next to me, looks so peaceful...angelic. His dark brown hair is falling over his brow in messy wisps. Reaching out, I smooth his hair lightly away from his face, feeling his warm skin beneath my fingertips. His charcoal-colored angel wing slips forward a little, brushing against my thigh. It, too, is warm against my frigid skin.

Something's wrong, I shiver, exhaling a breath and seeing it curl into a white current in front of me, as wintery air will do. It's too cold... Goose bumps rise on my arms as dread runs like icy water through me. Zephyr's island is located in the South Pacific; it never gets this cold here.

I toss my long, auburn hair over my shoulder and wrap the white sheet securely around my body. I put my bare feet on the teak floorboards, feeling them crackle with cold beneath me. Frosty condensation covers everything in the room, causing surfaces to sparkle eerily in the hazy moonlight from the half-shuttered windows.

Walking slowly to the bedroom door, I turn and go to the front door of our small, beach bungalow. As I open it, black clouds roll and boil toward the cove of Zephyr's island paradise. My hand clutches the doorframe, watching the ominous storm blowing in. The wind whistles against the feathers of my crimson wings, causing them to ruffle. The palm trees that line the beach are swaying in the breeze as the whitecap water churns against the white sand.

I hear cracking sounds, like someone is walking on ice too thin to sustain weight. A dark figure strides beneath the storm clouds toward me out on the open water. A thin layer of ice forms beneath his feet with each step he takes. Coming closer, the wind carries his sweet, sticky scent to me, covering me like it's marking me as his. A terrible kind of love swells in my heart - painful and raw - enslaving and cruel.

I live in Michigan with my husband and our two sons. My family is very supportive of my writing. When I’m writing, they often bring me the take-out menu so that I can call and order them dinner. They listen patiently when I talk about my characters like they’re real. They rarely roll their eyes when I tell them I’ll only be a second while I finish writing a chapter…and then they take off their coats. They ask me how the story is going when I surface after living for hours in a world of my own making. They have learned to accept my “writing uniform” consisting of a slightly unflattering pink fleece jacket, t-shirt, and black yoga pants. And they smile at my nerdy bookishness whenever I try to explain urban fantasy to them. In short, they get me, so they are perfect and I am blessed. Please visit me at my website: www.amyabartol.weebly.com

Author Links:
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Amy_A_Bartol 
Website: http://www.amyabartol.weebly.com/ 
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/authoramyabartol
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5286855.Amy_A_Bartol 

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Demons of the Rich and Famous Blog Tour: Excerpt & Giveaway

Demons of the Rich and Famous (Caden Butcher #1)
Author: Tawny Stokes
Genre: YA Fantasy/Paranormal
Release Date: September 28, 2011

Description:

During a year-long coma—literally spent in hell—seventeen-year-old Caden Butcher developed a special power. He can speak to demons in their own language. Awakening with this new ability, Caden takes over the family exorcism business and becomes known as the young whiz-kid exorcist to the stars, obtaining most of his work from Hollywood. But what others don't know is the exorcisms are all staged with the help of his best buddy, Dantalion, a demon he met in while he was in hell.

When an exorcism goes wrong, Caden discovers the demon inside a teen girl is not your normal malicious entity, but an adversary from down under who is hell-bent on Caden’s destruction because of what Caden did to him while in hell.

Now with the help of Dantalion and Caden’s girlfriend Aspen, a skilled necromancer, Caden must track down the rogue demon before he can expose Caden as a fraud and end his reign as the one and only Demon Whisperer.  

Chapter 1

    The skin on Alan Bigby’s pock-marked face rippled as if something was alive underneath it.  Something big and bad and nasty wanted out to rip something apart.  Unnatural black veins popped out on his forehead and temples as he bucked and writhed against the iron shackles chaining him to the chair.  The fat rolls of his enormous ass hung over the sides and jiggled with each spasm.  If it had been under different circumstance I would’ve laughed at that.
    “I’m going to rip out your innards, Butcher, and eat them raw,” he spat at me.
Then he really did spit.  Viscous green phlegm spewed from between his thin cracked lips and landed on the toe of my black Doc Marten.  Disgusted, I shook it off, and then dug into the beat-up, brown leather bag I had slung over my shoulder and across my chest for the holy water.  It was time to get busy.  No more messing around.  I had to exorcise this guy and be done with it.  The money from this one would pay the rent for the condo my dad and I had.  Groceries too for a few months.
“Not today, you’re not,” I said as I unscrewed the silver cap on the bottle of holy water.
I glanced over at Eleanor Bigby standing in the corner wide-eyed, wringing her hands as she watched in horror as her husband twisted and pulled at the restraints I had put on him.  He was bound to a metal chair in the middle of a pentagram that I’d inscribed in blessed chalk on the blond hardwood floor of their big expensive house overlooking the Hollywood Hills.  I could see the white sign out the front bay windows.
She probably had no idea that when she called the Butchers to exorcize the demon possessing her husband that it would look like this.  She probably thought watching her fat husband crab-walk across the ceiling of their bedroom was disturbing enough.
“Dude, is he going to hurt himself?”
I glanced over my shoulder at the guy holding the camera trained on Alan Bigby.  He had shaggy blond hair and a freshly clipped soul patch that I nearly envied.  Except I didn’t like him much.  He was a dick with too much time and money on his hands.
“For the last time, dude, shut up.  I’m the only one supposed to be talking,” I answered, forgetting that the exorcism was being televised.
Trey Summers was an up-and-coming film maker, touted to be the next Tarantino, but I thought he was a hack.  He’d directed one lousy music video for some useless pop star and voila, he was an insta-star.  I thought he was a talentless hack with delusions of grandeur and of getting a lot of ass.  Although he did appear to be getting quite a bit by the looks of the two chicks he’d come to the house with.
The red-head smiled at me around the little white straw she had in her mouth.  She was enjoying the drink just a bit too much.
I didn’t smile back.  It kind of made my stomach churn that she’d come to an exorcism for a good time.  The fact that the house was full of people, watching, waiting, while drinking and enjoying finger food passed out by waiters in tuxes, made me down right nauseous.  Why in hell did I hang out with these people?  Why did I ever agree to this being put on TV?  Ten thousand, that was why.
Seven in my pocket, well me and my dad’s pockets, and three to the International Order of Exorcists.  Because they were going to be some pissed that I agreed to the recording.  It was against the order’s mandates to involve the media in what we did.  The world knew we, meaning exorcists, existed but we preferred to keep our business on the down low.  But since I’d been crowned the exorcist to the stars, I figured it was good publicity for everyone involved.  I was hoping the three grand would appease the more militant members of the I.O. into letting me off with a warning.
I returned my attention to Alan, who was still struggling against his restraints and mumbling under his breath.  He was speaking Latin.  I recognized the dialect but not the particular words.  As far as I knew, it was probably a bunch of gibberish.  A bunch of scary sounding Latin words strung together nonsensically to sound menacing and ominous.  It was par for the course.  Every exorcism was the same.  Demons were so predictable.
I took off my black wool cap, shoved it into my bag, and then ran a hand through my short mess of brown hair.  I was starting to sweat a little.  It wasn’t the exorcism that had me sweating, it was the scrutiny from the masses of people watching.  I had to be careful with this one.  More cautious than I usually was in situations like these.
I took a step toward the pentagram, making the sign of the cross with the bottle of holy water.  It splattered everywhere.  Drops landed on Alan Bigby.  Smoke curled up from blackened spots on the back of his hands and two pinpoints on his cheek.  I winced as the demon inside writhed from the pain.  Holy water was like acid to them.
“Dues, et Pater Domini nostril jesu Christi…”
I started the exorcism, incanting the Rituale Romanum, in the original Latin.  I’d done the ritual so many times before it was like reciting Jingle Bells at Christmas time.  Cake, man.  Cake.  Although this time, like all the other times, I changed a few words.  The last thing I wanted to do was send the demon back to hell.  It just had to look like I did.
If I did accidentally send him back, Dan would be so pissed at me.  And I really didn’t want him mad.  He was a bastard when he was angry.  I knew that well.  I still had the scar on my chin from his last temper tantrum.
As I continued to say the verse, I recapped the holy water and slid it back into my bag.  I figured I’d inflicted enough pain for the crowd’s enjoyment.  I didn’t want to damage Alan Bigby anymore than he already had been.  His wrists looked pretty raw from rubbing against the iron handcuffs.  But he’d heal.  Besides, Alan Bigby was a dick.  He screwed around on his wife and he bilked two of his business partners for millions.  I’d done my research on the guy.  My marks always had certain traits—they were rich, influential and total assholes.  People who had it coming to them in all kinds of ways.
Karma was definitely a bitch.
Exorcisms were never all that easy on the possessed.  Some demons really messed around with their hosts.  Inflicting all kinds of horrors on their bodies and minds.  I’d seen one demon tear the fingernails off an eight year old girl just for fun.  That image still made my gut roil.  Luckily, Dan was cool.  He’d never do that.  Deep down he was a decent shit for a demon.  Besides, that was part of our deal.  No permanent physical or emotional damage.
For show, I thrust my hand out toward Alan and said the words even louder, letting the pitch of my voice rise higher and higher over the din of the murmuring crowd.  They were leaning in, eager for more.  I glanced around me and took in all the awestruck faces.  They were mesmerized, enchanted by the scene.  By my power.
Man, did I have an enormous ego.  My dad was right.  It was going to get me into trouble one of these days.  Hopefully not today.
As I neared the end of the ritual, Alan twitched and convulsed, his eyes rolling back in his sockets.  That got a gasp or two from the crowd.  The demon was really putting on a show now.  Undulating like rippling water beneath Alan’s pale skin.  At one point, it looked like it he was going to punch a hole through Alan’s midsection.  Mrs. Bigby cried out, putting a shaky hand to her mouth.  I hated doing this to her.  She was a decent lady--she just managed to marry a dickwad--but hell, a guy had to make a living.
“Qui cum Patre et eodem spiritu sancto vivit et eregnat Deus...”
I could feel Trey pressing in behind me with his camera, like a media happy vulture.  I wanted to whip around and knock the guy once or twice in the face.  He had no manners.  And he had no understanding about personal space.  Because he was definitely invading mine.
 But I didn’t need to do anything, because the demon inside Alan took that moment to focus on Trey.
“Trey Summers, you lecherous son-of-a-bitch.”
It was funny hearing those words with Alan’s voice.  Especially since the two men were business partners.  Alan was funding Trey’s first movie.  Which after tonight, I imagined was going to be in the dumper.  I mean, who would want their exorcism broadcasted to millions on YouTube.  Alan really wasn’t looking his best right now.  No one looked good with a demon inside them.
I glanced behind me and saw Trey’s face pale.  I had to bite down on my tongue to stifle the laugh that wanted to burst out.  Not that I enjoyed wallowing in other people’s misery, it’s just that his misery was fair game.
“Have I ever told you how much of a loser I think you are, Trey?  You suck.”
Trey looked around, his cheeks reddening.  “That’s just the demon talking, right?”  He looked at me, pleading in his gaze.  “Right?”
I let him suffer for a few more moments while I finished the incantation.  “Amen.”  I signed the cross in the air.
Alan’s body made one more desperate back breaking spasm, and then slumped down into the chair, his head hanging slack, his mouth open, drool dribbling down his double chins.
“Yeah, Trey, it was the demon talking.”  I could hear his sigh of relief.  I crossed the lines of the pentagram to unlock Alan’s wrists.  “But guess where he gets his material from?”  I tapped my finger against Alan’s forehead.
That roused Alan from his stupor and he blinked up at me, spittle coating his chin.  Wide-eyed, he looked around, taking in the spectacle that was his exorcism.  He would’ve had no idea what was going on.  The last thing he likely remembered was whatever he’d been doing twenty four hours ago before he’d become possessed.  Everything else would be a blank.  Although some demons allowed their hosts to be aware of what was going on.  It was the biggest mindfuck of all to watch yourself do horrible unimaginable things and be unable to stop.
I knew Dan kept his hosts dumb.  It was also part of our bargain.
I unlocked the cuffs and helped Alan to his feet.  He stared at me, his dark bushy eyebrows knit together in confusion.  “Who the hell are you?”
“Caden Butcher, sir.”
“The exorcist?”
I nodded.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
“Saving your soul, sir.”
Mrs. Bigby took that moment to rush to her husband’s aid.  She wrapped her arms around him and kissed his doughy cheek.  “Oh Alan, I was so scared.”
He didn’t immediately respond to his wife, but continued to gape around the room as more people started to crush in on him, wanting to welcome him back, or take pictures.  I saw flashes out of the corner of my eye.
“Who are these people?” Alan sputtered.  “Someone tell me what the hell is happening here?”
I put my hand on his shoulder, preparing him for my big speech I’d practiced like a hundred times before in front of a mirror.  Doing exorcisms in Hollywood was very much like acting.  “Alan Bigby, you were possessed by a level one demon and I performed an exorcism on you to banish the demon back to hell.”
He looked to his wife for confirmation.  She nodded vigorously as she continued to cling to him and kiss his cheeks.  “I was so scared, Alan.  You were actually crawling up the walls in the bedroom.”
He looked back at me.  “You’re serious?”
“Completely.”
Shaking his head, his gaze settled on Trey who was still holding the camera on his shoulder.  His face darkened.  “Are you taping this?”
Trey licked his lips nervously.  “Ah, yeah, I am, Alan, but it’ll be really-”
Alan shrugged off his wife’s hands and rushed toward Trey.  “Turn that thing off you asshole!”
Smiling, I got the hell out of the way.  Good thing I got my fee upfront.  There was no way in hell Alan Bigby, up-and-coming producer, was going to pay me for making him look like an ass on TV.

Tawny Stokes has always been a writer. From an early age, she’d spin tales of serial killers in love, vampires taking over the world, and sometimes about fluffy bunnies turned bunnicidal maniacs. An honour student in high school, with a penchant for math and English, you’d never know it by the foot high blue Mohawk and Doc Martens, which often got her into trouble. No longer a Mohawk wearer, Tawny still enjoys old school punk rock, trance, zombie movies, teen horror films, and fluffy bunnies. She lives in Canada with her fantastical daughter, two cats, and spends most of her time creating new stories for teens.

You can visit her at http://www.tawnystokes.com or follow her on twitter @TawnyStokes.

Tawny also writes adult fiction under the name Vivi Anna. 

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When We Collide Blog Tour: Review

 

When We Collide

Author: A.L. Jackson

Genre: YA/New Adult Contemporary Romance

Release Date: November 2, 2012

Description:

From the bestselling author of Pulled and Take This Regret comes a gripping new tale of loss and love.

William has spent six years running from his past and the last eight months trying to rid his mind of the dreams that increasingly haunt his nights. Trapped in a world of false ambitions and feigned affections, William knows he’s reached a breaking point and something’s going to give.

Maggie had lived her entire life without hope until one man showed her what it meant to be loved. He’d been her light in a lifetime of darkness. Six years ago, that darkness stole him away. Without him, she’s surrendered herself to an existence she doesn’t know how to escape.

When the family William left behind is struck by tragedy, he is called back to the one place he’s sworn to never return to again.

In a moment that will change his life forever, William comes face to face with the girl who, with one look, captured his heart. He is unable to ignore the buried desires and the hope for the future they’d once believed they’d have.

Now William is ready to fight to take back what had been stolen from him six years before.
But he never imagined what that fight might cost him.

A.L. Jackson gives you an intimate look into the lives of a family bound by an unseen connection in this new contemporary romance.   

 

When We Collide is an emotional novel that deals with love, loss, family, and hope. It's wonderfully written with a great pace. The author's attention to detail and descriptions of the setting and characters made this book really rich and beautiful. It was easy to imagine myself alongside the characters in the novel and the setting was so completely described that I could almost feel the sun on my skin and the smell of the leaves. The characters are well rounded and very realistic. They aren't stereotypical and have flaws, which made them easy to identify with and understand. The relationship and struggles between William and Maggie were heart-wrenching and made me want to help fix all their problems. The story itself is layered and deals with serious issues like family, betrayal, love, loss, and hope. Although there is definite suffering and pain throughout the story, it only made it that much more realistic and heartwarming to read. It shows us that life doesn't always go the way we want or the way we plan, but sometimes things work out the way they were meant to anyways. Overall, this is a wonderful contemporary romance that has a deeper story line than most - it's one that will resonate with the reader long after they have finished reading it.

A.L. Jackson first found a love for writing during her days as a young mother and college student.  She filled the journals she carried with short stories and poems used as an emotional outlet for the difficulties and joys she found in day-to-day life.

Years later, she shared a short story she’d been working on with her two closest friends and, with their encouragement, this story became her first full length novel. A.L. now spends her days writing in Southern Arizona where she lives with her husband and three beautiful children. Her favorite pastime is spending time with the ones she loves.

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Aurora Sky Blog Tour: Excerpt & Giveaway

Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter
Author: Nikki Jefford
Genre: YA/New Adult Paranormal 
Release Date: December 9, 2012

Description:

If there is one thing eighteen-year-old Aurora Sky wants, it’s to get off the iceberg she calls home. Being kissed before she graduates wouldn’t hurt either.

Then a near-fatal car wreck changes everything. Government agents step in and save Aurora’s life in exchange for her services as a vampire hunter. In Alaska. Basically she’s a glorified chew toy. All thanks to her rare blood type, which sends a vampire into temporary paralysis right before she has to finish the job… by hand.

Now Aurora’s only friends are groupies of the undead and the only boy she can think about may very well be a vampire. And if he’s a vampire, will she be forced to kill him?

For ages 16+  


Watch the Book Trailer:

Dante chuckled. “Relax, Sky. We’re superhuman, remember? Danger is what we do best.”
I folded my arms over my chest. “Whatever.”
I glanced back. Tommy must have been used to Dante’s driving because the dog moved with the car.
Dante spared me from yelling at him again by slowing down.
“So what do you want to know about our fanged foes and how we’ve been recruited to rid this world of evil? Fire away.”
“All right, are there really vampires?”
“I was told you were initiated.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
“It should. The beast bit you, didn’t it?”
“Yeah, but any crazy person can bite someone.”
A smile worked its way up Dante’s cheeks. “Did this one drink blood straight from your vein?”
“Yeah…”
“Welcome to the world of the demonic, Sky.”
I stared out the window at the shadowed storefronts as we passed through downtown. There was a certain thrill to leaving town even if we were headed deeper into the darkness.
I shifted in my seat. “Did you believe the agents when they told you there were vampires?”
Dante shrugged. “I don’t know. I mean, anything’s possible. What I didn’t believe is that they’d doped me up on some kind of noxious blood that’d knock a creature out.”
“And then they initiated you.”
Dante was quiet a moment then laughed. “Oh, yeah. Who forgets their first bite? It’s more memorable than the first time you have sex.”
“That’s gross.”
“You’ll understand once you have a chance to compare.”
Well, I could compare. Not that it was any of Dante’s business. Sex and bloodsucking were seriously overrated in my opinion.
  

Nikki Jefford is a third generation Alaskan who loves fictional bad boys and heroines who kick butt. She writes edgy teen fiction, including the Spellbound Trilogy and Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter.

Nikki married Sébastien, the love of her life, while working as a teaching assistant in France during the 1999/2000 school year. They now reside in the not-so-tropical San Juan Islands, 70 miles northeast of Forks, Washington.

Nikki’s Blog | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter 

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Destined Blog Tour: Character Guest Post & Giveaway

 

Destined (Desolation Series #3)

Author: Ali Cross

Genre: Paranormal

Release Date: December 12, 2012

Description:

Choosing is a bad idea, because Desi always makes the wrong one, and sometimes there are no do-overs. Certainly not this time, when all has been lost and Desi can’t even save herself, let alone her friends. For Desi, the hardest thing is letting someone help her, to accept their sacrifice on her behalf. But that’s exactly what she’ll have to do in order to save the worlds from Helena’s destruction.

The goddess of Helheimer, long imprisoned by Desi’s father, Loki, is free at last, and she’s bent on reclaiming what once was hers. The nine worlds will be drawn into war, over Hell, over Earth, with innocent humans meaningless collateral. While Michael and the Gardians of Asgard, along with the golden-armored Valkyrie lead the battle for freedom, it’s Desi who holds the destiny of all the worlds in her hands.

Can she set aside her doubts, once and for all, and claim the gifts that are hers to bear? Can she accept the sacrifice that is made for her and Become all that she was created to be?

Her final choice will define not only her future, but the fate of humankind, forever more.   

From Desi's POV

My father kept me pretty well plied with items of pop culture. He thought I should know what the world was like, what Midgard was like. I think he had this vision of who I would be--Paris Hilton or Miley Cyrus, I don't know. Someone not like me. That I knew for sure.

Father wanted a girl who knew her own power. A daughter who could weave a spell around men, promise power and popularity to other girls.

Instead he got me--a girl who wore black, who liked to clomp along stone hallways in her heavy boots, a girl who did everything possible to stay out of the spotlight.

Anyway, he thought it was especially funny to provide me with movies about heaven and hell, angels and demons. I don't know what he thought to accomplish--the hell in movies was nothing like the real thing, the demons nothing like Father. But the angels . . . maybe that's what he was after. Maybe he wanted to draw out the good in me (did he know it existed? I always assumed he didn't but now . . . now I wonder) so he could trounce on it and stomp it out for good.

He doesn't know how well his plan worked.

Because when I first met Michael the goodness in him was like a shining star. It spoke to me, to the spark in my heart that I'd kept hidden for so long. That spark was almost the death of me--but ultimately my salvation.

So yeah. The demons you see on TV aren't at all like the real thing, but the angels? Well, if you picture angels as holding pieces of sunlight in their hearts, having only the best of intentions toward the children of Earth, then I'd say you pretty much had it right. Because the Gardians of Asgard, are true angels and as much, or more, than you ever dreamed.

Father didn't succeed in making me in his own image, but in a way he played the most important role in determining who I would be. Who I Became had everything to do with him.

 

Ali Cross is the sensei of the writer's dojo where she holds a black belt in awesome. She lives in Utah with her kickin' husband, two sparring sons, one ninja cat, two sumo dogs and four zen turtles. Ali is the author of the Desolation series, a young adult paranormal romance about the kick-butt devil’s daughter and her search for a destiny of her own choosing.


Website: http://www.alicross.com/
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Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5188441.Ali_Cross
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The Ultimate Desolation Fan Prize Pack!

Personalized, Signed copies of BECOME, DESOLATE & DESTINED

Silver Desi Necklace, original design & hand-created by Gail Zuniga

Desolation Tote Bag

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3 Desolation Bookmarks

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The Ultimate Digital Reader Prize Pack!

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The Desolation Trilogy

Twenty-five additional books by awesome indie authors

Twelve Signed Books! 

And Each Blog on the Tour will Give Away a Desolation (e) Trilogy!

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Dark Return Blog Tour: Character Bios & Giveaway

 

Dark Return (Seeker #2)

Author: Taryn Browning

Genre: YA Fantasy/Paranormal

Release Date: November 2012 

Description:

Janie Grey is dedicated to hunting the undead, an inherited duty passed down from her Cherokee ancestors and generations of powerful Seekers before her. Then, there's Kai. He's like no one she's ever met - cocky, fast, skillful, infuriating and gorgeous. Not only has he become a valuable asset in her fight against the growing population of the vampire/demon hybrid known as Daychildren...

She's unwittingly fallen for him.

Just when Janie thinks she's learned everything there is to know about Kai's mysterious past, there's a newcomer to Baltimore. Someone who will do anything to make sure Janie loses Kai forever.

Darkness returns in Fall, 2012...   

Character Bios 

Janie Grey
Experienced Seeker in Baltimore, who quickly learns that the training lessons she’s always followed don’t always apply. Especially when she meets Kai.





















Kai Sterdam
“Daychild” or not! (I don’t want to spoil the story by revealing too much). Kai is an experienced fighter who has golden-blonde hair with white highlights, bright green eyes, and scars on his forearms and chest - all markings from his tortured past. Kai is sarcastic and cocky, but loyal to those he cares for.

















Matt Baker
Star high school wrestler who inadvertently finds himself caught in the middle of a war between the undead. 













Leah
A newcomer, and dark presence from Kai's past. One of the first Daychildren created by
the vampire king.



















Abram Mitchell
Abram is a former Seeker and Janie’s mentor. Read about Abram’s life as a Seeker in the prequel short story, Dark Beauty. 

















 
Isabelle Grey
Former Seeker and Janie’s mom. Read about Isabelle’s time as a Seeker in the prequel short story, Dark Beauty.

Tanya
Vampire leader who becomes an asset in Janie's fight against Daychildren. 





















 
Albania
Witch and friend of Kai’s. She is also instrumental in the fight against Daychildren. 

Ava
Janie’s best friend and one of the only people who know she’s a Seeker.

Taryn Browning writes novels for young adults. She's also an avid reader and dreamer with a crazy imagination. Her debut urban fantasy is Dark Seeker. The sequel, Dark Return, will be available Nov, 2012. You can also check out the prequel novella, Dark Beauty. Her newest paranormal romance, Whispering Hills, and urban fantasy, Emanare, were also released this year.

Taryn graduated with a BS in Education from Towson University and went on to earn a MS in Reading from Hood College. When she's not writing, she enjoys reading, spending time with friends and family, music, movies, and the beach. Some of her favorite TV shows growing up included Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charmed and Angel. For as long as she can remember she's loved all things fantastical, paranormal and magical.

Visit her at www.tarynbrowning.com. Follow her on her blog www.yafictionauthor.blogspot.com, on Twitter (@TarynBrowning), and Facebook (Dark Seeker & Taryn Browning).

Giveaway: (1) ebook copy of Dark Return - Open Internationally!

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Tour-Wide Giveaway:

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