{Blog Tour} Soul Avenged by Keri Lake #giveaway #soulavenged

Today I welcome Keri Lake for a stop on her blog tour to celebrate the release of Soul Avenged, a Sons of Wrath novel.  Check below for details of Keri’s amazing giveaway.

Welcome, to the hot seat, Keri!  Where did your hero come from?  Someone you know?  Dreams of the *ahem* daytime persuasion?  What makes him tick?  Inquiring minds would like to know.

The hero in my book came to me after I’d fleshed out the female protagonist.  Ordinarily I like to write the mean, brooding bad boy types, which seems like, would be right up Ayden’s alley.  But the deeper you dive into her character, the more you realize the kind of hero that would challenge her the most and probably make her fall harder. 

I remember watching Blade: Trinity (warning explicit language and violence) and Ryan Reynolds’ character cracked me up.  I loved him in this movie and thought his smartass attitude would make the perfect compliment to such a serious character as Ayden.  So Kane is slightly modeled after Hannibal King’s character in the movie.

Ooh, I need to watch that again now that you’ve mentioned his character.  Love me some Blade.  Are you a thrill seeker?  What’s your adrenaline of choice?  Motorcycles?  Roller coasters?  Sky diving?  Bungee jumping?

This isn’t going to be on par with jumping out of an airplane or swimming with Great White sharks, but I’ve always had a thing for fast moving vehicles.  My dad and uncles fixed up old cars as a hobby so I grew up with an appreciation for them.  But there is something about motorcycles that just gets my adrenaline going.  The faster, the better.

Yup.  Ditto.  Bikes have always been my fav, too.  Are there any other fantastic novels waiting to burst free from your imagination in the future?  Can you tell us about them?

Yes!  Book 2 of Sons of Wrath, with a working title of Soul Resurrected, is written and ready for edits.  I’ve also plotted a couple of novellas that will explore some of the characters a bit more intimately, and then I’ll begin book 3 sometime this summer.  Very exciting stuff on the horizon!

I can’t wait to get my hands on number one, then I’ll be bugging you for the rest.  🙂  There are a lot of stereotypes cast in a romance novelist’s direction, like they must sleep in slinky lingerie when most I’ve met are dressed from head to toe in flannel jammies when they hit the sack.  Are you a warm and comfy girl?  Or an in-the-buff or silk and satin kind of girl?

Words cannot express how much I love this question… in fact, I wrote a blog post during this tour and referenced Mary Fisher from She Devil.  Haha! 

I’m definitely not writing romance in the buff, and silk or satin would make the laptop slide around too much.  Nope, I’m a pajama pants and t-shirt kinda girl.  

You gave me a total visual with the writing in the buff thing.  Can you say laptop burns!  *snort*  How much of you is in your hero/heroine?

Quite a bit of me is in my heroine, actually.  That’s not to say I’m out slaying wolves or anything, but I’m very quiet and have been called feisty at times, just like Ayden. 

What kind of high school personality were you?  Band dork?  Jock?  Loner?  Brainiac?

I was actually a combination of these.  I didn’t have tons of friends, but I was very close to the ones I had.  I was a member of National Honor Society and kept a pretty high grade point average, but I was also a cheerleader and played sports.  Kind of a mixed breed, I suppose.

Wow, way to go on the Honor Society!  🙂  If you could have an hour alone with any literary character, who would it be?  What would you say to him or her?  Or do with, if you’re more adventurous 😉

Oh my gosh.  Rydstrom Woede from Kresley Cole’s Kiss of a Demon King.  See, I know that there are a lot of drool-worthy heroes in books—I’ve seen JR Ward’s brothers listed a few times as book boyfriends and Larissa Ione’s demons always get a lot of love from the readers.  I don’t know what the hell it is about this character, but he gets my fan-girl flags a-waving.  Perhaps it’s his clearly alpha male dominant presence, mixed with calmness & logic, and a very reverent and protective approach to the female lead in the book … you know, what’s-her-name chick who—rolls eyes—ends up with him in the end.

But if I got to be the lead … well, let’s just say I’d keep him chained up a little longer than she did.  And I don’t think I’d be too worried about interrogations.

Okay, interest spiked.  I have not read that.  Will soon rectify.  *sneaks away to add to TBR*  Do you play music when you write?

Yes I do!  Music is a must!  My favorite type of music is Alternative/Rock.  I listen to a lot of Avenged Sevenfold, Paramore, Flyleaf, Deftones, NIN, Metric and The XX.

Now for the pretty and the deets!

Back of the book:

Passion is blind in vengeance and love  …

Ayden’s suburban home was invaded by a pack of Lycans.

The brutal attack is the only memory she carries of her former life.

Now, one motive burns in her soul:

KILL THEM ALL.

The Sons of Wrath—a brood of vengeance-dealing warrior demons—band with Ayden to hunt the Lycans on Detroit’s most deadly feeding grounds.

Kane Walker should’ve been her easiest kill.

Unfortunately, the newly bitten Lycan has something she wants—clues that may finally lay her past to rest.  To reach them, she must be willing to submit to the sensual pleasures awakened by his touch.

Time is running out.

In seven days, Kane will become what Ayden despises most.  She can halt his transformation but the antidote requires the ultimate sacrifice.  As the beast takes hold, Kane becomes more of a threat.

Ayden must choose between her lust for revenge, or surrender to her enemy and discover a horrible truth.

SOUL AVENGED (Sons of Wrath, #1)

By: Keri Lake

Release Date:  February 6, 2013

Genre:  Adult Paranormal Romance/Dark Urban Fantasy

ISBN:  978-0-9848517-3-7

Number of pages:  533

Pick up a copy:

Soul Avenged Page on Keri Lake’s website:  http://www.kerilake.com/book/soul-avenged-sons-of-wrath-1/

Barnes & Noble (Nook): http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/soul-avenged-keri-lake/1114284613?ean=2940015951851

Amazon (Paperback):  http://www.amazon.com/Soul-Avenged-Sons-Wrath-1/dp/0984851720/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1359970552&sr=8-1&keywords=soul+avenged

Amazon (Kindle):  http://www.amazon.com/Soul-Avenged-Sons-Wrath-ebook/dp/B00BAWLEG6/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1360010189&sr=8-7&keywords=soul+avenged

Amazon UK (Kindle): http://www.amazon.co.uk/Soul-Avenged-Sons-Wrath-ebook/dp/B00BAWLEG6/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1360015704&sr=8-3

Smashwords:  http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/281254

Connect with Keri Lake here:

Website

Twitter

Facebook

Goodreads

 Amazon Author Page

About Keri Lake:

Keri Lake is a married mother of two living in Michigan.  She writes paranormal romance, urban fantasy and loves a good, tragic love story.  Though novels tend to be her focus, she also writes short stories and flash fiction whenever distraction manages to suck her in to the Land of Shiny Things.

When she isn’t toiling away on plots and protagonists, she enjoys reading, music and travel.  If she could create mystical powers for herself, she’d have the ability to flash to anywhere in the world.  And if she could flash to anywhere in the world at this very moment, she’d be staring at the ocean from her adirondack chair on the shores of North Carolina.

GIVEAWAY

To enter, click HERE to be taken to the Rafflecopter site.

Grand Prize:  (Valued at approximately $280)

1-Kindle Fire HD (approximate value $199)

1-Signed Paperback Soul Avenged (Sons of Wrath, #1)

1-Sons of Wrath t-shirt

1-Sons of Wrath coffee mug

1-Soul Avenged Notebook

 1^st Runner-Up:  (Valued at approximately $75)

 1-$25 iTunes giftcard

1-Signed Paperback Soul Avenged (Sons of Wrath, #1)

1-Sons of Wrath t-shirt

1-Sons of Wrath coffee mug

1-Sons of Wrath notebook

2^nd Runner-Up: (Valued at approximately $35)

 1-Signed Paperback Soul Avenged (Sons of Wrath, #1)

1-Sons of Wrath t-shirt

Blog Tour Dates:

{Review} Devil’s Playground #TuesdayTurns

Have you ever read a series of books you were really torn about when it came to deciding how you felt about it?  The Morgan Kingsley series by Jenna Black was one of those for me.

Here’s the skinny on the last one I read courtesy of Goodreads:

Back of the book

Morgan Kingsley, a kick-ass exorcist, can deal with Lugh, the super sexy demon living inside her, but does he have to moan softly during her intimate moments with her mortal lover? Understandably, Brian is reluctant to share the pleasures of Morgan’s flesh with a gorgeous rogue from the Demon Realm.

But personal matters will have to wait when the opportunistic owner of the Seven Deadlies demon club in Philadelphia enlists Morgan’s help in heading off a crisis: It seems that demons have started showing up at the hot spot in alarming numbers and in the unwilling bodies of rough trade club-goers. Morgan is sure that Dougal, Lugh’s sworn enemy, is behind this, but why? To find out, Morgan must summon every ounce of power at her command – or risk becoming just another casualty in an all-out demon war.

Cover

I like most of this cover.  I like the fonts and colors.  I really like the black spidery-looking swirls behind the title giving it a dark feel.  What I’m not fond of is the woman.  She kind of reminds me of a frog – no offense to the model!  It’s the eye makeup, I think.  Weird.

Review

I really love the premise of this book.  Morgan is an exorcist who makes a living sending demons out of unwilling hosts and also boots demons who’ve committed crimes.  I like that there are actually willing hosts who want a demon to inhabit them, allowing them extra abilities they use for good.

It plays with the mind a bit, since demons historically are all evil and up to nothing good.  I love Lugh, the demon inside Morgan.  He’s complicated, trying to allow Morgan her dignity by not taking over her body, but is still willing to do whatever it takes to reach his goal, even hijack her body and block Morgan from even seeing what he was up to.

Whenever he took control I could always see both sides, why she was pissed and why he had to do it.  The sexual tension between the two is really great, too.  Brian is okay, but I always go for the bad boy, and in this one, that’s Lugh.  Okay, Adam’s pretty hot, too, but he’s batting for the other team and already has a hot play toy of his own.

In the beginning of the series I had a hard time reading because I really didn’t like Morgan but loved the rest of the cast.  She was incredibly whiny and made poor decisions that hurt a lot of people, especially Adam and his lover.  While I get that people make mistakes, she made nasty, petty ones that I had a hard time forgiving her for and wished someone would crack her one.

I have to say, though, by the time this book rolled around she’d grown enough that I didn’t roll my eyes whenever she opened her mouth.  I’ll definitely continue with the series as long as it remains well written and engaging, and would recommend it for anyone who likes the darker side of urban fantasy with lots of BDSM references, M/M relationships and enough hot demons roaming around the pages.

{Review} The Good, the Bad, and the Undead #TuesdayTurns

I haven’t turned as many pages this week as I normally do, what with being obsessed with a new WIP of my own, so this is going to be a partial review. I’ve been slowly trying to read Kim Harrison’s second in The Hallows series, trying being the key word there.

Here’s the particulars on this one courtesy of Goodreads.

Back of the Book:

It’s a tough life for witch Rachel Morgan, sexy, independent bounty hunter, prowling the darkest shadows of downtown Cincinnati for criminal creatures of the night.

She can handle the leather-clad vamps and even tangle with a cunning demon or two. But a serial killer who feeds on the experts in the most dangerous kind of black magic is definitely pressing the limits.

Confronting an ancient, implacable evil is more than just child’s play – and this time, Rachel will be lucky to escape with her very soul.

Cover:

I actually like the cover on this one.  A little intrigue.  Come nice color contrast.  Nice, bold fonts.  Some sexy to tie it all together.  The blurb on the back is well done, too, and would most definitely make me pick it up to flip through at the very least.

Review:

Although I liked the cover, once I opened it, the disappointment began.  There was actually stuff happening this time, a little action, a foot chase, all things that should row my boat, but by chapter two I was bored out of my mind.  Jenks didn’t even make enough of an appearance to add some punch, only doing the same old pixie tricks he pulled in the last book.

The new character, the FIB guy, what’s his name?  Oh yeah, he’s as unmemorable as the rest of the characters that I can’t, for the life of me, remember his name.  The interactions with the vampire chick were consistently awkward like the first book.  I’m about 1/3 through and there’s no sign of the only one who intrigues me: Trent. 

Honestly, I’m not sure if I’m going to finish this book.  The pace and characters are just not for me, I guess.

I’m not going to give it a rating.  I’ll consider it if I actually finish the book, but for now I’ll take my mother’s advice and keep my mouth shut star-wise unless I have something nice to say.

For now, my recommendation is to skip this one unless you like weird and awkward with not a very exciting storyline.