Giveaway, review, and a stop on the blog tour for "Deadly Kisses" by Kerri Cuevas

First thing's first - the Deadly Kisses' official summary:

Aiden Grant is seventeen, has a killer kiss, and a boss who used to be President, back in the old days. You see, Aiden is a grim reaper and his kiss welcomes the newly dead. But Aiden’s pleasant grim reaper lifestyle is in jeopardy. And it’s not only because Honest Abe keeps throwing out history lessons with reaping assignments, just to confuse him. It’s because Aiden’s next assignment is to reap the soul of Bee, the only girl he has ever loved.

When Aiden’s kiss of death fails, intertwining their souls, Bee is still very much alive and they are both in trouble. The ancients want Bee, who has special powers of her own, and they’ll do anything to get her.
 

Some rules are meant to be broken—even if that means Aiden must bargain with his own soul to save Bee. Who knew the afterlife could get so complicated?

My thoughts, beginning with a summary of my own: Aiden Grant is your typical teenage guy: loves music, not a big fan of taking orders, and has a crush he has no plans of discussing. There’s just one problem: Aiden’s dead. Not glittery, vampire undead, but dead-dead, a decaying reaper of souls, black cloak, scythe, and gondola to boot. The life he left and the eternity he’s fated with collide as his boss, none other than past-president Abraham Lincoln, tests Aiden by ordering him to take the soul of Bee, his aforementioned secret crush. But things don’t go as planned. Not only can she see him, but she also fights back, leaving their souls, and their lives, in a twist. They only have seven days to figure out how – and who – will survive.

My favorite aspect was main character Aiden Grant: he has depth without being morose, and even though he’s no longer living, he pays tribute to his memories in a way that feels natural and not overdone. Deadly Kisses has the feel of a Cassandra Clare read, but set to an upbeat tempo – with a guitar solo somewhere in the mix. Cuevas weaves a tale as grounded as it is fantastic, with an ending that entices the reader to stand side by side with Aiden and his allies – both living and dead alike.

GIVEAWAY! There's also a giveaway for a copy of Deadly Kisses and some killer swag! Enter using Rafflecopter here:

a Rafflecopter giveaway About the author: Kerri Cuevas was born and raised in Rhode Island. She moved to New Hampshire with her husband, three kids, cats and a rabbit named Hercules in 2005. When she's not writing, she's chasing chickens on her small farm or searching for the ultimate mac-a-cheese recipe.

Kerri went to college for Early Childhood Education but now writes books for young adults full-time. Her storytelling stems from watching too many horror flicks as a teen, but she no longer needs to sleep with the lights on.

 

Learn more about author Kerri Cuevas and buy her book using these links:

 

Website: http://www.kerricuevasbooks.com/index.html

 

Blog: http://www.kerricuevas.blogspot.com/

 

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17156824-deadly-kisses

 

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Deadly-Kisses-Kerri-Cuevas/dp/1937178323

 

Publisher: http://www.widopublishing.com  

 

Cover Reveal and Author Interview: Deadly Kisses by Kerri Cuevas

I am *super* excited to be a part of the cover reveal blog tour for my fellow WiDo author, Kerri Cuevas. Kerri and I have recently started beta-reading for each other's sequels. Having scored a sneak-peek of the sequel, I am dying to read the first installment, "Deadly Kisses," which will be released March 5th, 2013 (squee!!)

The situation: Aiden Grant is seventeen, has a killer kiss and a boss who used to be President, back in the old days. You see, Aiden is a grim reaper and his kiss welcomes the newly dead. But Aiden’s pleasant grim reaper lifestyle is in jeopardy. And it’s not only because Honest Abe keeps throwing out history lessons with reaping assignments, just to confuse him. It’s because Aiden’s next assignment is to reap the soul of Bee, the only girl he has ever loved. When Aiden’s kiss of death fails, intertwining their souls, Bee is still very much alive and they are both in trouble. The ancients want Bee, who has special powers of her own, and they’ll do anything to get her. Some rules are meant to be broken, even if that means Aiden must bargain with his own soul to save Bee. Who knew the afterlife could get so complicated?

And, of course, the cover! I am in love with the color choice for the background. This book will definitely jump off the shelf. I also really like the font they used for the title and the color/font they used for the author name. All around a very well-done cover. I can't decide if it makes me feel warm and welcomed, or too close to a flame...

Kerri was kind enough to drop by for a few questions about "Deadly Kisses." Thank you so much for coming, Kerri!

Where did you come up with the idea for "Deadly Kisses?" I love reading and writing paranormal romances, and I wanted to write something different than vampires, werewolves, or fairies. The idea to write about a Grim Reaper came along while preparing for Halloween, which is a major holiday in my house. I ended up writing, Deadly Kisses, the next month as my NaNoWriMo project.

Tell us a little about your main character. What/who inspired your main character? Nothing in particular inspired my main character. They just have a way of inventing themselves, and bugging me until I tell their story. Shortly after I knew I wanted to write about a Grim Reaper, a boy named Aiden popped into my head. He had curly blonde hair, played the guitar, and hated history class. He’s a tortured soul.

What do you think makes this story stand out? I really wanted to go to extremes with my characters and the difficult decisions they had to make, and what bigger decision to make to be a Grim Reaper and take the life of someone you love.

 

Put it to music: think of one of your favorite scenes in the book and tell us what song would play in that moment. Oooo, I love this question, Jadie! My main character, Aiden, plays a guitar, so yeah, just love music! Aiden has Sunday, Bloody Sunday as his phone ringtone. The song was originally done by U2, but Paramore did a retake on it. I also use music to set a theme. The book was inspired by the song If I die Young by The Band Perry. Ok, but your question was a scene. So in the first chapter Aiden sends a soul that he reaps to Heaven, and I imagine as that soul is leaving him, Boulevard of Broken Dreams is playing by Green Day.

 

A picture is worth a thousand words: any little secrets you want to reveal about your cover? It was really fun, picking the excerpts that the cover artist could use to feel the tone of the book. I hope everyone likes the cover as much as I do. It was really hard determining if a male or female should be on the cover because the story is told in Aiden’s point of view. In the end I thought a girl should be on the cover because although the story is told by Aiden, it is about Beatrice.

 

How will you celebrate the release of "Deadly Kisses?" Jump up and down, screaming with party hats on…oh um, yeah I’m hoping to have a launch party at my favorite bookstore. I guess I should start planning that, and everyone is invited!

 

Thanks so much for having me here today, Jadie.

 

 

Links:

 

Secure your copy early with the pre-release special: www.widopublishing.com/deadly-kisses-by-kerri-cuevas/

Find it on Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/book/show/17156824-deadly-kisses-by-kerri-cuevas

 

Learn more about Kerri Cuevas: www.kerricuevas.blogspot.com

 

 

Review: "The Dragon's Call" by K.W. McKabe

I have to admit, I was hesitant to read and review this book - only because I've never read a dragon-based fantasy book before and worried it might fly to the peaks of high fantasy, losing me somewhere among the clouds. However, the fire-breathing (not-so-mythical) creatures were introduced and crafted in such a way that grounded the story in a great way.

Overview: (supplied by author on Amazon.com) In a thoughtless final act of destruction, humans wake the one creature of legend they have no protection against. Years after the complete subjugation of the human race, Derek, heir of the Dragon Queen, and Cecily, create a tentative friendship. But something or someone is stalking the human enclave. Cecily and Derek must find out who and why before she's next.

I was most impressed with how the author seamlessly integrated a fantastical overtaking by dragonkind into a very plausible outcome. She uses two POVs, and it's interesting because one is a man who survived through the war and the other is a girl who's never known anything else. So it's fun to see how differently they react to the same situation. And she does a great job of giving each POV a very clear voice. My favorite character is Derek, the love interest and heir to the dragon throne. I am also particularly fond of Cecily's father. His decisions and reactions feel very authentic, and even when they make me mad, it's so well done that it makes me feel like a teenage girl holed up in my room in my parents' house again. My one gripe is that the tempo of the writing changed a bit towards the end of the book. But I'm definitely interested in seeing what happens next! I give it four stars :)

Cover Reveal: "The Second Sign" by Elizabeth Arroyo

This is my first cover reveal as a blogger - and I'm so excited about it. Any cover design with wings definitely gets bumped up my must-read list :)

The Second Sign by Elizabeth Arroyo

Publisher: Sapphire Star Publishing

Genre: Young Adult Dark Fantasy/ Paranormal Romance

Release Date: February 07, 2013

Synopsis (provided by author): Bred to believe in the war between angels and demons, Gabby has come to the conclusion that love is responsible for war, jealousy, and all the other deadly sins she can think of. So when she’s exiled to the middle of nowhere for getting kicked out of her fifth school for fighting, she doesn't expect to meet Jake. Much less fall in love. But Jake is quickly drawn to the eerie beauty of her violet eyes while Gabby is unsettled by their undeniable connection.

When a demon guardian comes to collect her soul, she refuses to give it up. She’s not a demon. She can’t be. Her father and twin brother are angels. The demon gives Gabby twenty-four hours to decide her allegiance, and then starts killing her short list of friends, leaving a message behind: She is the Second Sign.

As Gabby and Jake begin to unravel the mystery behind the Second Sign, she learns Jake may be the key to saving her soul. But it means a sacrifice has to be made that will change their lives forever.

 

And, drum roll please....

 

 

 

 

 

Congratulations, Elizabeth! A stirring cover and an intriguing premise. Count me in!



Curses! - the use of "bad" words in YA novels

Now that our daughter is 18 months old, we've got to watch what we say down to the letter, because she makes a go of repeating anything and everything she can. One of my more frequented F words has been replaced with "foxtrot," and we say a lot of "seriously?" around here. Of course, I don't necessarily consider expletives the worst words there ever were. In our house, words like "fat," "stupid," and "retarded" evoke a much more fiery reaction than words I can't write here for fear my grandmother might read them.

But what about our young adult readers? To be fair, if an author aims to create a world that their teen fans can relate to, dialog is king. Gossip, chatter, lies, secrets, confessions - these kinds of things are what drive a teen novel. And expletives are now so commonplace it's cooler to abbreviate them that to use the whole word. Still, it bears mentioning that potty mouthed young protagonists may put off older readers in our potential crossover markets. And there are some that think bad language takes the integrity of the writing down a notch - and yet there are others that would argue if it's true to cause, a character cussing a blue streak would infact validate the integrity of said book.

Is there a right or a wrong answer here? Honestly, I'm not sure. But I do think it's most important to stay true to your characters. I'm drafting the sequel in the Tanzy Hightower fantasy series, and there's a point at which one of my characters realized another has set her up for an epic fail, and everything in me wants her to scream: "b#tch!" (sorry, Nana.) But I haven't used language in either book thus far, and to drop a word bomb might detract from the scene as a whole - not because it's a bad word, but because it's out of character for the novel itself. But in a YA fiction book I'm working on, one character is particularly crass, and no words are off limits for her. So my opinion is this: to thine own self be true, and no matter what words you decide to use, make them count.

Review - "Fallen" by Lauren Kate

To start, there are a lot of elements I really liked about this book. For starters, the writing was very well done: descriptive and artful. It was also a very different concept for a YA fantasy book from what I've read, from start to finish. Luce, our protagonist, is sent to reform school after her bystander-involvement in the fiery death of a would-have-been boyfriend. It's there that she meets a few new friends, a couple of mean girls, and, of course, a couple of boys that make her heart flutter (in very different ways.) Without giving too much away, I also really admired the concept of the fantasy element in this story. It was a big undertaking, and for me it made the story.

Unfortunately, although it's hinted, this element doesn't really come to light until the last 40-50 pages. It piques my interest about the sequel, but I never attached to the protagonist. I liked all of the other characters better than her. Luce's reaction to things great and small usually went against my own instinctive reactions. Because it's written in third person, the author can get away with using more omniscient descriptions in Luce's reactions, but it became distracting and almost aggrevating for me. At one point, something really horrible has just happened and Luce is in pieces, and then she's thinking about scrubbing her fingernails.

Daniel - love interest #1 - has some epic mood swings, and gave me emotional whiplash. His reasonings are well explained towards the end, but if I was Luce I would've told him where to go and how to get there after the first interaction. I like a little volatility, but it was a little too much of a roller coaster for me, especially because so much is a mystery or just hinted out throughout most of the book. Maybe it would've read better for me if it was done in 1st person, because although it's in 3rd, it's a very limited POV.

All in all, I would still give it 3 1/2 stars because it is well written and the fantasy element Lauren Kate tackles is EPIC, to say the least. I also really like a lot of her secondary characters. I just didn't hit it off with Luce. I know I'm in the minority here, obviously, because it's a New York Times Bestseller and has several successful sequels behind it. I can see why the teen market would eat it up, it just a little confusing for me.