Guest Post/Giveaway: Jonathan D Allen, author of Room 3

Room 3

Jonathan D Allen

Bartender and songwriter Kelli Foster had always kept her eyes trained on the dream of stardom as a means to escape her small-town life. That focus blinded her to threat right in front of her: a bar patron who lulls her into a false sense of security and abducts her for a shadowy organization, taking her to a cabin in the middle of nowhere.

Desperate to escape and return to the world she thought she knew, Kelli bides her time, complying with her captors as they force her into a dream world where she must unravel the meaning of a song to free a hostage trapped inside a tree. Failure to free the hostage means only one thing: death, for her and the hostage.

Joined by an important test subject whose sanity unravels almost from the start, Kelli attempts to free them both. When the escape fails, Kelli’s life becomes even more difficult, and she learns that her assumptions about her life – and the world itself – could all be false. As events spiral out of control, Kelli finds herself caught in a battle between godlike beings that hold her fate, and that of the entire Organization, in their hands.

 Lately I've been in a captivity phase, it seems I'm gravitating toward books where someone is trapped for one reason or another.  So when this book popped up for tour, I thought it fit right in.  Sounds like a crazy book, right?  Today I have the author here for a guest post, and a giveaway at the bottom of the post.  Thanks for stopping by!

***Guest Post***

by character Kelli Foster

Let’s get a complicated truth out of the way right up front: I’ve known what a “blog” is for a little less than a week. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think it’s a complicated, but do you think I would have expected to write a “blog” entry, let alone for something involving my esteemed self? I sure don’t think so.

Who am I, you ask? Good question. The name’s Kelli Foster, and as to why you should care – well, I think I have a pretty unique tale. You’ve probably heard some rumors about the thing that happened in London back in October. You know, the whole “terrorist attack”?

Let’s just say I have some inside info and a unique perspective on the whole event, given that I was at damn near center of the whole thing.

People have told me that something about the event seemed off, from the get-go. How does a small band of home-grown terrorists manage to set up enough explosives to blow up damn near a whole neighborhood? London is not exactly an unmonitored city; the last estimate I saw put 1.87 million security cameras in the city, and that’s probably a low-ball estimate. A backpack bomb would be one thing, but this kind of planning and coordination rarely go unnoticed, at least that’s what your average pub-goer would tell you.

So the question remains: how do they manage something like that without the ever-nosey eye of the government raining on their parade?

Easy answer: they don’t. Not without help from some pretty important people and organizations. Not to mention just a pinch of supernatural abilities.

That’s where my story comes in – more accurately, the book that we’ve put together from my own journal entries leading up to “England’s 9/11”. So much of this story has gone untold until now: secret facilities experimenting on innocent women; an unholy alliance between government and a cabal of supernatural beings; and, at the center of it all, a very confused woman trying to figure out where she belongs in the world.

I know it sounds crazy. Sometimes I wonder if I’m going to wake up in a world that makes sense, in a world where I came out of a completely ordinary middle-class upbringing and have lived the life that’s expected of a woman like me, but every day I open my eyes and I’m still here, where I have never belonged.

This is the story that “they” don’t want you to know. The story that could change the way you look at the world. All I ask is that you read my story and consider it, for your own safety and the safety of the world in which your children will grow up.

They’ve already ruined my life. You could well be next.

EXCERPT

This is the first time we see one of Kelli’s visions, following a an injection of the mysterious hallucinogen.

Something rustled in the corn. I whirled, but I knew who it would be before she even appeared. She always found me.

 “Mimi?”

A little girl appeared from between the rows, pushing the bottoms of the stalks apart. She had blue eyes, dark brown hair, and a smile that could just melt your heart – the kind of smile that never, ever survives into adulthood.

She cocked her head. “How’d you know my name?”

She always asked me that.

“We’ve met, but I’ve told you that before, too.”

She put her hands on her little hips. “How come I don’t remember you?”

“I think it’s this place. It always makes you forget.”

“I don’t like that.”

I looked around. “I don’t like it much, either. But don’t worry about it. I’m here.”

Wheels turned in her head. “But why are you here?”

No clue how to answer that one. “You’re looking for something, right?”

She nodded.

I leaned down, putting my hands on my knees. “What are you looking for, sweetheart?” I already knew the answer, but this had gone down a certain path forever, and the show had to go on.

She rubbed her eyes. “Cici’s gone. I can’t find her.”

Cici. The girl forever searched for Cici. I had no idea if she even existed. “Now where did you last see your sister?” I said.

Her eyes widened, like I’d shown her the secret of the universe. “We did meet, didn’t we, that’s how you know about Cici?”

I nodded. “Where did you see her last?” Knew the answer to this one, too.

She pointed over my shoulder. “There.”

I knew what I’d see when I turned. I’d seen it so many times that I’d even started to see it in my dreams. It didn’t matter, though. Every single time I turned to gaze on it, it knocked me on my proverbial butt: an enormous, gnarled tree, soaring up into the sky. This wasn’t just any tree, though. Somebody had carved a wooden organ out of the trunk, with two levels of wooden keys and wooden pipes rising out of the higher reaches.

The largest keyhole you’ve ever seen had been connected to that organ, its details carved right into the trunk, between the keys and the pipes.

“She’s locked in there, isn’t she?”

Amazon – Smashwords – Barnes & Noble – Kobo – iBooks

Jonathan D Allen

Born and raised in the rural Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, Jonathan wrote his first fantasy/sci-fi novel at the age of 13. After studying writing and communication at James Madison University, Jonathan turned his passion for writing into a full-time technical writing career in the DC Metro area, working for companies like Sprint/Nextel, Time Warner Cable, and Sirius XM Radio, where he had an opportunity to combine his love of music with his love of writing. He may have drifted away from fiction at times, but it was always his first love – and he always returned to it. Now living in Bethesda with his wife, two cats, and two quirky guinea pigs for which his publishing company is named, he crafts the kinds of stories that he had always hoped to read but just couldn’t quite find.

Website – Blog – Twitter – Facebook – Pinterest – Tumblr

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Guest Post/Giveaway: Jonathan D Allen, author of Room 3

Room 3

Jonathan D Allen

Bartender and songwriter Kelli Foster had always kept her eyes trained on the dream of stardom as a means to escape her small-town life. That focus blinded her to threat right in front of her: a bar patron who lulls her into a false sense of security and abducts her for a shadowy organization, taking her to a cabin in the middle of nowhere.

Desperate to escape and return to the world she thought she knew, Kelli bides her time, complying with her captors as they force her into a dream world where she must unravel the meaning of a song to free a hostage trapped inside a tree. Failure to free the hostage means only one thing: death, for her and the hostage.

Joined by an important test subject whose sanity unravels almost from the start, Kelli attempts to free them both. When the escape fails, Kelli’s life becomes even more difficult, and she learns that her assumptions about her life – and the world itself – could all be false. As events spiral out of control, Kelli finds herself caught in a battle between godlike beings that hold her fate, and that of the entire Organization, in their hands.

 Lately I've been in a captivity phase, it seems I'm gravitating toward books where someone is trapped for one reason or another.  So when this book popped up for tour, I thought it fit right in.  Sounds like a crazy book, right?  Today I have the author here for a guest post, and a giveaway at the bottom of the post.  Thanks for stopping by!

Excerpt/Giveaway: The Grave Winner by Lindsey R Loucks

The Grave Winner

Lindsey R Loucks

Leigh Baxton is terrified her mom will come back from the dead -- just like the prom queen did.

While the town goes beehive over the news, Leigh bikes to the local cemetery and buries some of her mom’s things in her grave to keep her there. When the hot and mysterious caretaker warns her not to give gifts to the dead, Leigh cranks up her punk music and keeps digging.

She should have listened.

Two dead sorceresses evicted the prom queen from her grave to bury someone who offered certain gifts. Bury them alive, that is, then resurrect them to create a trio of undead powerful enough to free the darkest sorceress ever from her prison inside the earth.

With help from the caretaker and the dead prom queen, Leigh must find out what’s so special about the gifts she gave, and why the sorceresses are stalking her and her little sister. If she doesn’t, she’ll either lose another loved one or have to give the ultimate gift to the dead – herself.

Oooh, sounds good, right?  Well don't leave yet! I have an excerpt and a giveaway for TWO copies of The Grave Winner!  So make sure you enter for that.  Giveaway is International, and I will pick a winner next Sunday! 

EXCERPT

1

                 Dad, Darby, and I stood rooted in place at Mom’s burial. The weight in my chest threatened to suffocate me if I looked at the lid of her gleaming casket any longer. Instead, I focused on the black birds cutting across the sky in a sharp V formation. They pressed on until the tops of the trees took them from me.

                The preacher had stopped talking a long time ago. People still crowded around us, heads bent, smothering their sniffles with tissues. Someone patted my back. I wished they’d stop. No attempt to comfort would help.

                The white-haired old man hovering back by the fence hacked loudly then puffed on a cigarette with a dirt-spattered hand. When we arrived at Heartland Cemetery, I’d seen him preparing another grave for a casket. He bounced on the balls of his feet, probably anxious to get the body in the ground.

                Mom’s body. Once the ground swallowed her, her death would be final, and that guy wanted to speed things up. He probably wanted to get to his coffee break or something. Heat flashed through my gut. I took a step towards him.

                Dad grabbed the collar of my dress and yanked me back. I opened my mouth to say something, but the words died in my throat when I saw the tears slipping down his cheeks.

                Darby had her head buried in his side. She looped her small fingers around my plaid belt, the one Mom got me for my fifteenth birthday. I grasped Darby’s warm hand and closed my eyes against the pricks of hurt inside them.

                The people closing us in shifted and began to wander away. The old man inched closer to Mom’s casket. Dad tightened his hold on my collar. I gripped Darby’s fingers and glared at the man.

                The few people who were left gave us consoling looks and said empty words before they drifted off. One was the woman who’d seen my funeral attire earlier and clucked her tongue in disapproval. Mom had loved my black eyeliner and these combat boots, though. She’d said I reminded her of herself when she was young.

                “It’s time,” Dad said.

                A choked cry forced its way out of my mouth. No, it wasn’t. If we left, the old man would lower Mom into the ground. It would be final, and I couldn’t stand it.

                “Why?” I asked, my voice cracking.

                Dad just shook his head, hugged us both to him, and turned to leave Mom with the old man.

                I wriggled free and ran.

                “Leigh?” Dad called.

                I didn’t know where I was going or what I was doing. But I needed to be away—away from that stupid man who wanted to put the final punctuation mark on Mom’s life. Away from the unfairness of her death.

                My breath came in quick, sharp gasps as I wound around crumbling headstones. The sun threw bright rays on the maze of white, rocky paths and made my eyes tear up. I pumped my legs harder until I became nothing but movement. The untied laces of my left boot whipped my bare legs. Grass and mud around the graves muffled my steps until my boot flew off my foot and landed with a thwack in the middle of a cluster of trees.

                I leaned over to catch my breath, unsure if I wanted to laugh or cry. Several yards behind me, Dad and Darby stood and waited. I waved them on to the gates and went to retrieve my boot.  There seemed to be no one around except the trees and me. The leaves murmured to each other while the wind swayed the branches. Heartland Cemetery had more trees than the rest of Krapper, Kansas, and they all whispered and danced for the amusement of the dead.

                A sudden breeze brushed over my arms and sent a faint smell of rotten hamburger past my nose. My stomach rolled. What was that? That didn’t smell like the usual slaughtered cow stink that came from the other side of town. I shoved my foot into my boot and hobbled away.

                The breeze and stink faded to nothing as quickly as they had come. I bent to tie my boot, but a crackling behind me made me pause. A cloud cast long, dark shadows over the headstones and chilled my skin. The hairs along my arms prickled.

                The crackling came closer. I turned my head slightly. In the corner of my eye, inky black darkness crawled up the bark of a nearby tree.

                I gasped and shot to my feet. The black ink crept to the tips of the branches and ripped away its leaves, leaving it empty and naked. More darkness pooled at the bottom of the trunk and inched along the grass towards me. Every green blade curled in on itself with that awful crackling sound, dying. The darkness reached straight for me.

                A shudder raced across my shoulders. I stumbled backwards. My gaze caught on blackened footprints that led to the tree. Someone was doing this? But how? This wasn’t possible.

                I glanced back at Dad and Darby, but they’d gone on without me. This couldn’t be real. None of it. I shook my head hard, trying to wake myself. Nothing changed.

                Something dark fluttered from behind the dead tree. Whoever was doing this stood behind the trunk.

                I dug my nails into my palms, pressed my lips together, and took a step back. A branch snapped under my boot, louder than the crackling. I froze. My heart jumped.      

                Scraps of muddy fabric flapped around the trunk, followed by a girl.

                My flesh crept up and down my bones. Sweat trickled down the back of my dress. That rotten meat stink kicked my stomach, forcing me to clap a hand over my nose and mouth.

                The torn fabric that hung from the girl’s scrawny frame looked like a prom dress. Mud and grime covered her entire body. Her mouth sagged open in a silent scream.

                I couldn’t move. The darkness pooled underneath the dangling hem of the girl’s dress and spread dangerously close to the toes of my boots, but I couldn’t move.

                The girl raised her tucked chin and looked at me. The whites of her eyes blazed behind the mud caking her face. Her open mouth held the same black gloom that dripped at her feet. A grimy tiara perched on the side of her head.

                My muscles stiffened. I gasped as recognition hit me.

                I knew the girl. Or knew of her. Her social circle was my social nightmare. Her name was Sarah, a popular cheerleader who committed suicide a week ago.

                But how could she be here when she should be in the ground? I had to be hallucinating. My grief, the stress from the day, it was all making me see things.

                Jumbled whispers swirled through the air. Was Sarah trying to tell me something? Because I didn’t want to hear it. My feet finally got the message to move just before the killing darkness touched my boots. I ran.

                “Mom,” I called without thinking. Mom.

                The old man cranked a lever that lowered her into the ground. A dull pain stitched my side. A sob welled in my throat. I couldn’t watch.

                “Dad!” I raced for the cemetery gates. He and Darby stood just outside. When I neared them, I breathed, “Something’s wrong.” Because what else could I say in front of Darby? If she’d seen what I saw, it would be too much to handle in one day. I stood so I blocked her view of anything behind me and resisted the urge to flip the glasses off her face.

                Jo, my best friend, put her hand on my shoulder. I hadn’t even noticed she was there. “What is it, Leigh?”

                I took giant gulps of air and risked a glance behind me. The trees looked normal. Black death hadn’t dripped everywhere. Everyone was in their graves.

                That fact made me wince. “Nothing.”

Lindsey R. Loucks works as a school librarian in rural Kansas. When she’s not discussing books with anyone who will listen, she’s dreaming up her own stories. Eventually her brain gives out, and she’ll play hide and seek with her cat, put herself in a chocolate induced coma, or watch scary movies alone in the dark to reenergize. She’s been with her significant other for almost two decades.

Website/Blog – Twitter – Facebook

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

Excerpt/Giveaway: The Grave Winner by Lindsey R Loucks

The Grave Winner

Lindsey R Loucks

Leigh Baxton is terrified her mom will come back from the dead -- just like the prom queen did.

While the town goes beehive over the news, Leigh bikes to the local cemetery and buries some of her mom’s things in her grave to keep her there. When the hot and mysterious caretaker warns her not to give gifts to the dead, Leigh cranks up her punk music and keeps digging.

She should have listened.

Two dead sorceresses evicted the prom queen from her grave to bury someone who offered certain gifts. Bury them alive, that is, then resurrect them to create a trio of undead powerful enough to free the darkest sorceress ever from her prison inside the earth.

With help from the caretaker and the dead prom queen, Leigh must find out what’s so special about the gifts she gave, and why the sorceresses are stalking her and her little sister. If she doesn’t, she’ll either lose another loved one or have to give the ultimate gift to the dead – herself.

Oooh, sounds good, right?  Well don't leave yet! I have an excerpt and a giveaway for TWO copies of The Grave Winner!  So make sure you enter for that.  Giveaway is International, and I will pick a winner next Sunday! 

EXCERPT

1

                 Dad, Darby, and I stood rooted in place at Mom’s burial. The weight in my chest threatened to suffocate me if I looked at the lid of her gleaming casket any longer. Instead, I focused on the black birds cutting across the sky in a sharp V formation. They pressed on until the tops of the trees took them from me.

                The preacher had stopped talking a long time ago. People still crowded around us, heads bent, smothering their sniffles with tissues. Someone patted my back. I wished they’d stop. No attempt to comfort would help.

                The white-haired old man hovering back by the fence hacked loudly then puffed on a cigarette with a dirt-spattered hand. When we arrived at Heartland Cemetery, I’d seen him preparing another grave for a casket. He bounced on the balls of his feet, probably anxious to get the body in the ground.

                Mom’s body. Once the ground swallowed her, her death would be final, and that guy wanted to speed things up. He probably wanted to get to his coffee break or something. Heat flashed through my gut. I took a step towards him.

                Dad grabbed the collar of my dress and yanked me back. I opened my mouth to say something, but the words died in my throat when I saw the tears slipping down his cheeks.

                Darby had her head buried in his side. She looped her small fingers around my plaid belt, the one Mom got me for my fifteenth birthday. I grasped Darby’s warm hand and closed my eyes against the pricks of hurt inside them.

                The people closing us in shifted and began to wander away. The old man inched closer to Mom’s casket. Dad tightened his hold on my collar. I gripped Darby’s fingers and glared at the man.

                The few people who were left gave us consoling looks and said empty words before they drifted off. One was the woman who’d seen my funeral attire earlier and clucked her tongue in disapproval. Mom had loved my black eyeliner and these combat boots, though. She’d said I reminded her of herself when she was young.

                “It’s time,” Dad said.

                A choked cry forced its way out of my mouth. No, it wasn’t. If we left, the old man would lower Mom into the ground. It would be final, and I couldn’t stand it.

                “Why?” I asked, my voice cracking.

                Dad just shook his head, hugged us both to him, and turned to leave Mom with the old man.

                I wriggled free and ran.

                “Leigh?” Dad called.

                I didn’t know where I was going or what I was doing. But I needed to be away—away from that stupid man who wanted to put the final punctuation mark on Mom’s life. Away from the unfairness of her death.

                My breath came in quick, sharp gasps as I wound around crumbling headstones. The sun threw bright rays on the maze of white, rocky paths and made my eyes tear up. I pumped my legs harder until I became nothing but movement. The untied laces of my left boot whipped my bare legs. Grass and mud around the graves muffled my steps until my boot flew off my foot and landed with a thwack in the middle of a cluster of trees.

                I leaned over to catch my breath, unsure if I wanted to laugh or cry. Several yards behind me, Dad and Darby stood and waited. I waved them on to the gates and went to retrieve my boot.  There seemed to be no one around except the trees and me. The leaves murmured to each other while the wind swayed the branches. Heartland Cemetery had more trees than the rest of Krapper, Kansas, and they all whispered and danced for the amusement of the dead.

                A sudden breeze brushed over my arms and sent a faint smell of rotten hamburger past my nose. My stomach rolled. What was that? That didn’t smell like the usual slaughtered cow stink that came from the other side of town. I shoved my foot into my boot and hobbled away.

                The breeze and stink faded to nothing as quickly as they had come. I bent to tie my boot, but a crackling behind me made me pause. A cloud cast long, dark shadows over the headstones and chilled my skin. The hairs along my arms prickled.

                The crackling came closer. I turned my head slightly. In the corner of my eye, inky black darkness crawled up the bark of a nearby tree.

                I gasped and shot to my feet. The black ink crept to the tips of the branches and ripped away its leaves, leaving it empty and naked. More darkness pooled at the bottom of the trunk and inched along the grass towards me. Every green blade curled in on itself with that awful crackling sound, dying. The darkness reached straight for me.

                A shudder raced across my shoulders. I stumbled backwards. My gaze caught on blackened footprints that led to the tree. Someone was doing this? But how? This wasn’t possible.

                I glanced back at Dad and Darby, but they’d gone on without me. This couldn’t be real. None of it. I shook my head hard, trying to wake myself. Nothing changed.

                Something dark fluttered from behind the dead tree. Whoever was doing this stood behind the trunk.

                I dug my nails into my palms, pressed my lips together, and took a step back. A branch snapped under my boot, louder than the crackling. I froze. My heart jumped.      

                Scraps of muddy fabric flapped around the trunk, followed by a girl.

                My flesh crept up and down my bones. Sweat trickled down the back of my dress. That rotten meat stink kicked my stomach, forcing me to clap a hand over my nose and mouth.

                The torn fabric that hung from the girl’s scrawny frame looked like a prom dress. Mud and grime covered her entire body. Her mouth sagged open in a silent scream.

                I couldn’t move. The darkness pooled underneath the dangling hem of the girl’s dress and spread dangerously close to the toes of my boots, but I couldn’t move.

                The girl raised her tucked chin and looked at me. The whites of her eyes blazed behind the mud caking her face. Her open mouth held the same black gloom that dripped at her feet. A grimy tiara perched on the side of her head.

                My muscles stiffened. I gasped as recognition hit me.

                I knew the girl. Or knew of her. Her social circle was my social nightmare. Her name was Sarah, a popular cheerleader who committed suicide a week ago.

                But how could she be here when she should be in the ground? I had to be hallucinating. My grief, the stress from the day, it was all making me see things.

                Jumbled whispers swirled through the air. Was Sarah trying to tell me something? Because I didn’t want to hear it. My feet finally got the message to move just before the killing darkness touched my boots. I ran.

                “Mom,” I called without thinking. Mom.

                The old man cranked a lever that lowered her into the ground. A dull pain stitched my side. A sob welled in my throat. I couldn’t watch.

                “Dad!” I raced for the cemetery gates. He and Darby stood just outside. When I neared them, I breathed, “Something’s wrong.” Because what else could I say in front of Darby? If she’d seen what I saw, it would be too much to handle in one day. I stood so I blocked her view of anything behind me and resisted the urge to flip the glasses off her face.

                Jo, my best friend, put her hand on my shoulder. I hadn’t even noticed she was there. “What is it, Leigh?”

                I took giant gulps of air and risked a glance behind me. The trees looked normal. Black death hadn’t dripped everywhere. Everyone was in their graves.

                That fact made me wince. “Nothing.”

Lindsey R. Loucks works as a school librarian in rural Kansas. When she’s not discussing books with anyone who will listen, she’s dreaming up her own stories. Eventually her brain gives out, and she’ll play hide and seek with her cat, put herself in a chocolate induced coma, or watch scary movies alone in the dark to reenergize. She’s been with her significant other for almost two decades.

Website/Blog – Twitter – Facebook

Click Banner to View Additional Giveaway on Tour Page

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review/Giveaway: Broken Flight by Elle J Rossi

Title: Broken Flight
Series: Angels of Punishment
Author: Elle J Rossi
Published: February 2013 Black Poppy Books
Format: ebook provided for review
Tour: Yes, Dark World Book Tours.

Anna James never planned on dying at age nineteen or ending up somewhere other than heaven. Five years later, her heart is still on Earth with her soulmate Grey, while the rest of her struggles to survive in Beyond. Not quite heaven and a lot like hell, Beyond is a proving ground where only the strongest souls are allowed to move on. With no way out, Anna keeps her head down and plays by the rules... Until she learns Grey is about to die.

Grey Wilson would give anything to go back and stop the accident that ripped Anna from his arms. But when Anna appears on Earth again, he quickly realizes things can never be as they were. Death and Beyond have changed her; brought out the dark side and dimmed her inner light. Before they can even revel in this semblance of a miracle, Grey and Anna find themselves in the middle of an angelic civil war where sabotage and danger lurk around every corner.

Anna's dark side is exactly what Azrael - the leader of the Angels of Punishment - craves. When Azrael lays out his demands, Anna will have to make the biggest decision of her life.

Broken Flight is the story of Anna and Grey. Anna died five years ago and she's been in Beyond ever since, which is sort of like a level of Heaven.  But it's more like Hell for Anna.  She wasn't reunited with any friends or family when she died; but rather, she gets to be a courier for Azrael.  Azrael happens to be this angel with blood red wings,  and he is pretty badass. She also gets to spend time watching over Grey, back on Earth.  At least until the day that he nearly kills himself.


Grey is an adrenalin junkie, putting himself in constant danger, because when he does, he sees Anna.  But on this day, he's actually going to die.  So Anna steps in and saves him.  Now she's got to be punished.  This is where you get to meet the AOP - Angels Of Punishment.

See, Anna and Grey were pretty good characters.  They rode in the middle of the road for me. I didn't like them nor hate them.  When they are reunited, I felt it was a little too quick of an acceptance on Grey's part.  I mean, Anna's been dead for five years - and now she's in your arms.  I expect a crazy reaction to that.  I also just don't really feel the soul-mate type of love between them.  They just didn't strike me as one of those couples who I just was going to love because they were so helplessly in love.  My heart didn't really bleed for them.

But the Angels of Punishment, ohhhh, there was a group.  Lead by Azrael, then you have Zeke, Sarafina, Mickale, and a couple others. They were exciting and dark.  They captivated me.  They weren't your typical angels where you could just picture them getting good Samaritan awards or saving kittens from trees.  Nope, they were a bit different.  Thigh high boots, clanging armor, flying steeds, naked rippling muscles... these angels commanded attention - and that's before you get to their egos and mysteriousness.  They were large and full of personality.  Yep, I definitely liked the angels.

As for the rest of the story, it was pretty good overall.  I'm not usually a big fan of angels / fallen angel stories, so admittedly they are often a very hard sell for me.  This story wasn't a bad story, it just didn't grab me as much as I had hoped.  Elle Rossi is a terrific writer though, and that is clearly evident in this story.  I like the concept, because who doesn't love soul mates and true love?  I love that Anna was punished oh-so-badly for breaking the rules.  And I really adored the AOP,  because everything wasn't about being good, rainbows, and roses.  That part I really liked.  I think if you enjoy angel novels, you will really dig this one.  It's different enough to catch your attention, and filled with enough action and mystery to keep you reading.

Elle J Rossi

Elle J Rossi grew up in rural Indiana surrounded by great people, a huge family and more animals than she could count. But the sites and sounds of the world beckoned, so she left her small town to escape into a creative world full of music. As a full time singer she was able to lose herself in a thousand different songs in a hundred different places. After meeting the love of her life and settling down, she yearned to find a new and fulfilling creative outlet. Overly fond of the happily ever after, she wondered what it would be like to have her own characters lead her down dark and twisted paths. The very first word on the very first page sealed her fate. She’d found a new love. She’d found her escape. Now along with weaving haunting tales about the journey to love, she’s creating cover art for authors around the world and loving every second of it. For fun, she cranks country music to take her back to her roots, and sings karaoke anytime she gets a chance. Her husband, two children, and a cat that rules the roost keep her company along the way and guarantee she doesn’t get lost in the enchanted forest. She wouldn’t have it any other way.

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Review/Giveaway: Broken Flight by Elle J Rossi

Title: Broken Flight
Series: Angels of Punishment
Author: Elle J Rossi
Published: February 2013 Black Poppy Books
Format: ebook provided for review
Tour: Yes, Dark World Book Tours.

Anna James never planned on dying at age nineteen or ending up somewhere other than heaven. Five years later, her heart is still on Earth with her soulmate Grey, while the rest of her struggles to survive in Beyond. Not quite heaven and a lot like hell, Beyond is a proving ground where only the strongest souls are allowed to move on. With no way out, Anna keeps her head down and plays by the rules... Until she learns Grey is about to die.

Grey Wilson would give anything to go back and stop the accident that ripped Anna from his arms. But when Anna appears on Earth again, he quickly realizes things can never be as they were. Death and Beyond have changed her; brought out the dark side and dimmed her inner light. Before they can even revel in this semblance of a miracle, Grey and Anna find themselves in the middle of an angelic civil war where sabotage and danger lurk around every corner.

Anna's dark side is exactly what Azrael - the leader of the Angels of Punishment - craves. When Azrael lays out his demands, Anna will have to make the biggest decision of her life.

Broken Flight is the story of Anna and Grey. Anna died five years ago and she's been in Beyond ever since, which is sort of like a level of Heaven.  But it's more like Hell for Anna.  She wasn't reunited with any friends or family when she died; but rather, she gets to be a courier for Azrael.  Azrael happens to be this angel with blood red wings,  and he is pretty badass. She also gets to spend time watching over Grey, back on Earth.  At least until the day that he nearly kills himself.

Guest Post: Noree Cosper, author of A Prescription for Delirium

A Prescription for Delirium

Noree Cosper

Ninety years ago, Gabriella di Luca promised to protect the family of her dying lover. She failed to keep that promise. She was too far away to stop the devil that murdered the eldest Van Helsing son. Years later, Gabby learns the devil has resurfaced. She arrives in Hampton, TX, determined to stop the devil before it can lay a bloody hand on the remaining three brothers.

However, madness is spreading through Hampton. She suspects the devil is using this madness to test a drug which has a side effect of demonic possession. Gabby rushes to end the source of the madness only to fall victim to it. For a woman cursed with eternal life, dying is no threat. However, Gabby must stop the devil's plot or risk losing her most precious possession: her mind.

Amazon – Barnes & Noble – Smashwords

******Guest Post****** 

A Prescription for Delirium focuses on Gabby, a demon hunter, and her fight against evil in the world along with the descendants of Van Helsing. I’m not a hunter, however, and have a healthy fear of evil. Here are five demons that I wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley.

Asmodeus: The demon of lust, jealousy, and revenge, his primary goals are to prevent sex between husband and wife and to force men to commit adultery. He is also one of the chief demons involved in possession. He is said to have three heads: an ogre, a ram, and a bull. His feet are that of a cock and he has wings and a serpent’s tail. When Solomon binds him and commands him to speak of himself Asmodeus says, “I am the renowned Asmodeus; I cause the wickedness of men to spread throughout the world. I am always hatching plots against newlyweds; I mar the beauty of virgins and cause their hearts to grow cold. . . .I spread madness about women through the stars and I have often committed a rash of murders.”

Belial: One of the most evil demons he appears deceptively beautiful speak softly. He is devoted in creating wickedness in humankind especially through lust, and sexual perversion. He was the second angel, created after Lucifer, and is said to have been evil from the start. Belial was the first to revolt against God and became the personification of lies and evil after he fell.

Lamastu: She was originally an Assyrian goddess who was evil for evil’s sake. She has the head of a lion, teeth of a donkey, and hairy body and bloodstained hands with long fingernails. She travels in about along the river in the underworld. She spreads disease in all humans but takes a particular interest in harming children.

Moloch: He is known as the Devourer of Children. To the Ammonites, he was a son god who they sacrificed to for protection. Soon he demanded children for his sacrifice and they were burned on large idols of him. The Greeks likened him to Chronos, who ate his own children to prevent them from ruling.

Murder: Ok, this is the only name he’s given. This is a headless demon that sees through his breasts and speaks in the voices he’s take from his victims. He was summoned by King Solomon and said that he has no head of his own. He takes the heads from his victims but they eventually are consumed from the fire that burns within him. Murder causes fever and inflames limbs, inflicts feet, and creates festering sores.

Don’t worry, you have Gabby to fight and kill these demons for you.

Website – Blog – Twitter – Facebook

 

Guest Post: Noree Cosper, author of A Prescription for Delirium

A Prescription for Delirium

Noree Cosper

Ninety years ago, Gabriella di Luca promised to protect the family of her dying lover. She failed to keep that promise. She was too far away to stop the devil that murdered the eldest Van Helsing son. Years later, Gabby learns the devil has resurfaced. She arrives in Hampton, TX, determined to stop the devil before it can lay a bloody hand on the remaining three brothers.

However, madness is spreading through Hampton. She suspects the devil is using this madness to test a drug which has a side effect of demonic possession. Gabby rushes to end the source of the madness only to fall victim to it. For a woman cursed with eternal life, dying is no threat. However, Gabby must stop the devil's plot or risk losing her most precious possession: her mind.

Amazon – Barnes & Noble – Smashwords

******Guest Post****** 

A Prescription for Delirium focuses on Gabby, a demon hunter, and her fight against evil in the world along with the descendants of Van Helsing. I’m not a hunter, however, and have a healthy fear of evil. Here are five demons that I wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley.

Asmodeus: The demon of lust, jealousy, and revenge, his primary goals are to prevent sex between husband and wife and to force men to commit adultery. He is also one of the chief demons involved in possession. He is said to have three heads: an ogre, a ram, and a bull. His feet are that of a cock and he has wings and a serpent’s tail. When Solomon binds him and commands him to speak of himself Asmodeus says, “I am the renowned Asmodeus; I cause the wickedness of men to spread throughout the world. I am always hatching plots against newlyweds; I mar the beauty of virgins and cause their hearts to grow cold. . . .I spread madness about women through the stars and I have often committed a rash of murders.”

Belial: One of the most evil demons he appears deceptively beautiful speak softly. He is devoted in creating wickedness in humankind especially through lust, and sexual perversion. He was the second angel, created after Lucifer, and is said to have been evil from the start. Belial was the first to revolt against God and became the personification of lies and evil after he fell.

Lamastu: She was originally an Assyrian goddess who was evil for evil’s sake. She has the head of a lion, teeth of a donkey, and hairy body and bloodstained hands with long fingernails. She travels in about along the river in the underworld. She spreads disease in all humans but takes a particular interest in harming children.

Moloch: He is known as the Devourer of Children. To the Ammonites, he was a son god who they sacrificed to for protection. Soon he demanded children for his sacrifice and they were burned on large idols of him. The Greeks likened him to Chronos, who ate his own children to prevent them from ruling.

Murder: Ok, this is the only name he’s given. This is a headless demon that sees through his breasts and speaks in the voices he’s take from his victims. He was summoned by King Solomon and said that he has no head of his own. He takes the heads from his victims but they eventually are consumed from the fire that burns within him. Murder causes fever and inflames limbs, inflicts feet, and creates festering sores.

Don’t worry, you have Gabby to fight and kill these demons for you.

Website – Blog – Twitter – Facebook