Release Day Blitz: Lavender in Bloom by Lily Velez

  Lavender in Bloom by: Lily Velez 

Publication Date: July 25th, 2016 

Genre: Historical, Coming-of-Age Romance

       

It’s the year 1802 in Avignon, France

Noah Capet has spent most of his young life living simple and unvaried days in the hushed countryside of southern France. Quiet, reserved, and diffident, his preference for existing is to do so in solitude, keeping to himself both in town and on his family’s farm—a predilection that’s altogether disrupted when a newcomer to town by the name of Jeremie Perreault begins an unremitting quest to befriend him. Jeremie is everything Noah is not. Charismatic and gregarious, he leaves a trail of charmed admirers in his wake wherever he goes. Expressive and idealistic, he talks without end about his deep love for old books and his spirited dream to one day travel the world on a literary pilgrimage. Over the course of a single summer, the two form an unlikely friendship, but just as quickly as it develops, it soon entirely dissolves as they’re forced to face the truth of what has unexpectedly emerged between them. Lavender in Bloom is a tender and tragic coming-of-age story about first love and self-discovery, and a poignant reminder that time is fleeting and always takes with it the choices we’re too afraid to make.

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EXCERPT

Noah was a funeral pyre. He was burning. The flames rose to staggering heights and blazed in white, hot tongues. Jeremie had once told him a story of the burial rites of the Norse. They’d burn their dead, believing the high smoke carried their loved ones’ souls to Valhalla. 

Noah was beyond Valhalla. Beyond the creamy spaciousness above the clouds, beyond the limits of the very earth. He floated among the stars, joined them in holy communion, knew each one by name. Then they were within him, scores of them, bright and hot, turning his ribs into a furnace as they shifted and created constellations in his soul. And all the while, the summer sang in his lungs. 

There was no space between him and Jeremie. Where one ended, the other began, and still Jeremie pulled him closer like the moon pulls the tide, gripping him tightly in the same way he’d gripped Noah’s heart, had gripped his entire being. 

 Author Bio: Lily Velez has been writing stories since she was six years old. Not much has changed since then. She still prefers the written word and her overactive imagination over the ‘real world’ (though to be fair, her stories no longer feature talking dinosaurs). A graduate of Rollins College and a Florida native, when she's not reading or writing, she spends most of her days wrangling up her pit bulls Noah and Luna, planning exciting travel adventures, and nursing her addiction to cheese. All this when she isn’t participating in the extreme sport known as napping. You can learn more about Lily and her books at www.lilyvelezbooks.com.

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Guest Post:

The Lavender in Bloom Playlist

I absolutely love music and its power to stir the heart and so deeply move us. Creating a playlist for my books is one of my go-to strategies in my writer’s toolbox because listening to that playlist is the easiest way for me to get into the mood of a scene or the headspace of a particular character. Below, check out the tracks that made it onto the playlist for Lavender in Bloom, along with commentary on why each song’s so perfect for the story.

You can listen to the entire playlist for Lavender in Bloom Here:

Frail Love by Cloves -- This song was an absolute Godsend and I’m so glad I found it, as it ended up becoming the ‘theme song’ for Lavender in Bloom. Every last lyric was just perfect for Noah and Jeremie’s story. Especially these particular lines: I can’t live it like I’m living, I can’t live a lie, I’m giving up more than I should, forgive me for my frail love.

All I Want by Kodaline -- For the longest time, this track was the theme song for Lavender in Bloom. I honestly couldn’t listen to it without getting teary-eyed, as it so perfectly captures the tragedy of Noah and Jeremie’s story. Favorite lines: When you said your last goodbye, I died a little bit inside and If you loved me, then why’d you leave me?

The Beautiful Ones by The Battle of Land and Sea -- I love this song because, for one, it’s a break from the sad songs, but also because I feel it sets the mood for Noah’s life in the countryside. It has a very rural feel to it that makes me think of a simple and tranquil living.

Say Something by A Great Big World ft. Christina Aguilera -- Another perfect song for Noah and Jeremie’s story. In fact, there’s a point in Lavender in Bloom where Jeremie outright tells Noah to just say the word, and he’ll be his. There’s also a point where they’re sort of at odds, waiting for the other to make the first move (or speak the first word, as it were), and this song really captures that. Favorite lines: Anywhere I would’ve followed you and I will swallow my pride: you’re the one that I love and I’m saying goodbye.

The Power of Love by Gabrielle Aplin -- I included this song because it really captured the mood for a fable that’s featured in Lavender in Bloom. In fact, it’s a fable that describes how lavender first came into bloom in France. It’s based on an ‘alternate universe’ story featuring Noah and Jeremie, and it would be the perfect song for a montage of their love. Favorite line: The power of love, a force from above, cleaning my soul.

Make it Holy by The Staves -- This is such a pretty song, and it’s perfect from Jeremie’s perspective. Favorite lines: I could make you want me, make you need me, make you mine. I could make it holy, make it special, make it right.

Forgetting by David Gray -- Another sad song. From the very first chords, this song just sets the mood for a scene of heartbreak. It kind of has a nostalgic feel to it. Despite the title of the song, it’s the type of song that makes you remember times long past.

Ashes by Madi Diaz -- This is another song I see as being from Jeremie’s perspective, especially toward the end of the book, when he asks Noah to make a certain decision. Favorite lines: Don’t you let me down and No, I won’t stand to keep watching you stay.

I Will Love You by Gin Wigmore -- One of the few happy love song on the Lavender in Bloom playlist, and the only one with a more upbeat melody. As such, it’s very much treasured. This is a cute one, too. I love every single lyric, but my favorite lines are: If you die before I do, I know that heartache will kill me, too, so if I ever lived again, it would be to find you. It’s especially perfect because I can definitely see Noah and Jeremie as living many lives and finding each other in each one.

Tell Me How to Feel by Maggie Eckford -- This song captures one of the main character’s thoughts in the wake of the book’s concluding actions, in which they just feel so blindsided, lost, and heartbroken.

Benediction by Luke Sital-Singh -- This song has a sad vibe from the start, and it’s also one I picked because it instantly makes me think of the lavender fable and Noah and Jeremie’s ‘alternate universe’ story. Favorite lines: There’s a knock in the silence, I see death at the door, But I know we’ll be alright, ‘Cause your hands are still warm and I’m sorry we don’t have forever, but come die with me.

Hengilas by Jonsi -- This song’s in another language (Icelandic!), but it has such an atmospheric quality to it that just draws you in. Favorite lines: We look into foreign eyes, yet we have always known each other. Perfect, because Jeremie has a line in Lavender in Bloom about Noah’s eyes feeling like home even from the moment he first looked into them.

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DARKNESS CALLING (Primani #5) by Laurie Olerich - Blog Tour & Giveaway!

DARKNESS CALLING (Primani #5)

by Laurie Olerich

Dark Urban Fantasy Romance

Published on March 5th, 2015

Book Description:

ad infinitum: endlessly, forever, without limit

Finally freed from a century in purgatory, former-wild child Aisling just wants to raise her son and live as a normal human again. Her taste of freedom is cut short the moment her past comes to claim her. There’s one reason she was exiled, and his name is Cain. With him, there was only darkness, and the angels help her, she liked it that way. Now he’s back, and his commands are simple. Stay away from Sean or else. But when he threatens to take her son, she turns to the one man who can save them both. Sean.

Sean is sick and tired of his baby mama’s hateful attitude. Her mood swings give him whiplash, and he’s seriously thinking of strangling her. But when a brutal old enemy shows up to destroy everyone Sean loves, he discovers Aisling is hiding more than her feelings for him.

Joining forces to protect their son, Sean and Aisling set out on a journey that leads them from the city streets of Manhattan to the elegant hotels of Vienna to the final terrifying showdown in the bowels of Rome.

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Excerpt:

Scooping her up, Sean urged, “Come on, baby. We need to move.” 

With that warning, he tucked her close and flashed them backwards. The turret tumbled into a pile of dusty debris. The hotel’s alarm system went ballistic.

“Holy fuck! Look what we did!” She couldn’t help stating the obvious. She was too surprised to believe it. 

They’d broken the building. Not a bed. No. They broke the damn building. Shit. Someone was going to be pissed. With her arms around Sean’s neck, she dropped a kiss on his cheek. God, he was sexy as friggin’ hell. Scruffy shadow on his jaw, eyes blue as the ocean again, and his muscles rippling from carrying her butt around... Yeah. HOT! Not to mention the extra helping of testosterone that not only made him Stamina Man but made him hard again already.

Reaching down to fondle the velvety heat, she felt the sticky reminder of what they’d just done. “Seriously, did our orgasm just break this building?”

Grinning like a naughty little boy, he wagged his head in disbelief. “I always wondered what would happen if we fucked in combat mode. This is the first time for me. Intense.” Dipping his head, he caught one of her nipples in his mouth and mumbled around it, “Let’s do it again. I’m still burning up.”

She wrapped her fist around his cock and nearly swooned at the instant hardness. God, she’d missed fucking.

Chuckling in her ear, he murmured, “Don’t worry. There’s no daily limit.”

“Don’t you want a shower? I feel like I smell.”

Still carrying her, he moved further away from the debris. “You do. You smell like a woman who’s just been thoroughly fucked by a man who’d give his left nut to do it again.”

Hefting her higher, he caught her mouth in a long, slow kiss that stole her breath away. When he let her up for air, she dabbed at his bottom lip, and said, “Keep your nuts. This one’s on the house.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Laurie Olerich is the author of the urban fantasy romance series Primani. She loves to create guilty pleasures full of exciting locations, roller coaster action, strong, quirky heroines, and steaming hot heroes who’ll raise the temperature in any room you’re in! Paranormal romance? Check! Urban fantasy? Check! Romantic suspense? Check! Her Primani series combines the best of the three. When not plotting, writing, or fantasizing about her next hero, she’s planning parties, traveling the world, and spending lazy nights with her son, her Dal pals, and friends. Laurie spent most of her life in the Northeastern United States and in Germany. She now lives in San Antonio, Texas, with her son and Dalmatian duo, Domino and Rambo.  Before throwing caution to the wind and diving into a writing career, Laurie dedicated 20 years to a career spent around men with guns and cool toys...this explains her obsession with both!

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Top Ten Best Things about Being an Author

10. Staring into space is considered “research.”

9. A pub can double as office space.

8. Standing in an endless line at the airport is a people watching event filled with potential inspiration. Ditto for any previously boring errand and/or social occasion!

7. A trip to Europe is a tax write off. So are rope, duct tape, and handcuffs...

6. Childhood nightmares become awesome plot twists. No need to pay for therapy!

5. Old boyfriends can be killed off without jail time. More than once if they were really bad.

4. Annoying bosses, coworkers, and neighbors get eaten first when the zombies, demons, or other monsters show up.

3. Amazing people suddenly find me interesting. This always surprises me!

2. Hearing voices in my head is perfectly normal. No crazy here!

1. The number one best thing about being an author? Meeting readers who quote characters from my books! How cool is that? Bringing escape and excitement to other people is the absolutely best part of my life!

INTERNATIONAL GIVEAWAY

One lucky winner is going to take home:

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• E-copies of Call the Lightning, Stone Angels and Broken Souls by Laurie Olerich

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Racing Hearts: Book One (Racing Hearts #1) by Laura Lascarso - Blog Tour, Review, Guest Post & Giveaway!!

RACING HEARTS (Book One) 

by Laura Lascarso 

SHINE /Leap Books, LLC 

eBook Novella

Book Description:

Start your engines…

Eighteen year-old Jesse Copeland learns of a local car race sponsored by his father’s nemesis, Shep Bradley, and the prize money might be enough to keep his family from losing their home – if he can win. 

Brooke, Shep’s daughter, is also aiming to compete, with or without her father’s approval. She’ll do whatever it takes to persuade Jesse to make her car race ready. Both are driven, both are risk-takers, and soon it’s more than engines getting fired up. Jesse tells himself their relationship is strictly business, until it isn’t. 

Can two star-crossed lovers overcome a family feud as old as Ford vs. Chevy, or will the competition become too explosive for these racing hearts?

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My Review:

Racing Hearts: Book One  (Racing Hearts #1) is a novella written by Laura Lascarso.  I found this novel is easy to read and the story flowed quite well, the character's are well written and you get to know Jesse and Brooke right away.

I won't say to much about the story but it is well written, great story line and in the end you want book 2 right away so you can see what happens to these two characters. Because who doesn't love cute guys and fast cars!!!

Laura Lascarso writing is excellent, her story flows and you want to read more.  I am very excited to see where this story goes and what happens with all the character in her story.

I have rated it a 4 star's and cannot wait to read book two in this series.

Guest Post:

Why do you write YA?

By Laura Lascarso

In presenting to classrooms and at conferences, I get asked this question a lot. While it’s an easy question for me to answer, I never feel as though I address it in its entirety. Because there are a lot of reasons why I write YA. 

One reason is because I like the conventions of YA where characters feel emotions deeply, take control of their own destinies, and generally kick ass. The structure of YA has a relatively short timeline, which lends to more action and plot twists.  YA writers take chances with the subjects of their stories and the way they in which they tell them. I believe in taking risks and challenging yourself to strike out on new paths.

But far and above the mechanics, I write YA because I believe in my audience. Teens and young adults have the capacity to change the world in a positive way. And I believe that it’s my mission and life’s work to empower them to do so.

When I was a teen I thought I knew everything about the world. But now, in my mid-thirties, I realize just how much I didn’t know back then—how painful it is to have your heart broken, how people you think are your friends might not have your best intentions at heart, how money and politics rule the world, and perhaps most importantly, how to take all that anger and frustration and funnel it in a positive, action-oriented direction. My teen self is my adult self, only with a little more knowledge of the world around me. As a writer, I want to share what I’ve learned with teen readers. Not in a preachy, I-know-what’s-best-for-you sort of way, but in a way that encourages the reader to ask questions about their own lives and the lives of others. I do not propose to have the answers, but I do know that the only way to get answers is to ask hard questions, of yourself, your friends and family, and your world.

There’s another reason that I write YA. It’s because I believe in books. Books are a way to experience another life, live in another person’s skin, learn about their challenges and heartaches, and see the world from a different point of view. Many of the problems facing our world right now are because people don’t understand each other—cultures, nations, generations. We make assumptions about others, which leads to prejudice, which leads to hate and violence. In our society there’s a lot of talking but not a lot of listening. When you read about another person’s life experience, you become the listener. Reading teaches you compassion and it allows you to travel to worlds you might not otherwise experience.

In fiction there are heroes and there are villains. In the real world it’s not always so easy to determine who is who, and the slope from good guy to bad guy is a slippery one. This is why it’s so important to know thyself. When I write characters, I see myself in every one of them, villains included. Because every person has the capacity for good and bad. There’s an old Cherokee tale and it goes like this: 

One evening an old Cherokee Indian told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, ‘My son, the battle is between two ‘wolves’ inside us all. One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.’

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: ‘Which wolf wins?’

The old Cherokee simply replied, ‘The one you feed.’

I believe that each and every one of us has the potential for good. I believe that books feed the good wolf inside of us. And that is the reason why I write YA.

About the Author:

Laura Lascarso strives to craft stories that are honest and real with characters who must overcome great odds. Her debut novel Counting Backwards (Atheneum 2012) won the Florida Book Award gold medal for YA literature. RACING HEARTS is Laura’s first e-series with Leap Books. She lives in North Florida with her darling husband, two children and a menagerie of animals.

Watch for Laura’s series with Shine which follows a pair of star-crossed lovers. He wants to honor his father’s legacy; she wants to prove her father wrong in this modern-day Romeo & Juliet set in the world of competitive car racing. (ETA. Fall 2015)

Visit Laura on Twitter, Facebook, and her website.

Where to Buy!

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What Gifts She Carried by Lindsey R. Loucks - Blog Tour & Giveaway!

What Gifts She Carried

(The Grave Winner #2)

Book Description

Leigh Baxton just wants to pick up the pieces of her life—if you could call it that—but someone keeps resurrecting the dead. These new zombies have a knack for spilling Leigh’s precious blood, something she was warned about by a certain pair of undead sorceresses.

Desperate to find out why they’re here so Leigh can put the nightmares behind her, she must learn more about the gifts she carries. With Tram’s training sessions and clues from her mom’s past, Leigh begins to piece together what she’s capable of.

Too bad there isn’t a Cliff’s Notes version to saving the world.

The zombies have teamed up with followers of the darkest sorceress who ever lived, and they’ll play a wicked game until she’s freed from her prison inside the earth. When the battle to the death begins, Leigh must rely on friends, crushes, and even her enemies to win the war, but not the grave.

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Excerpt

Jo slammed the door behind me, which made me jump a little, then waved. They backed out and rode off, leaving me all alone. Well, almost all alone.

I watched them go for a second, but the shadow above lanced the top of my head like only an angry dad’s stare could. 

The puddles in the cracked pavement rippled with the moon’s reflection, and I hopped over them on my way up the iron staircase. Time to face the music, or in this case really loud shouting. Every step upward vibrated doom, doom, doom. I gave it the middle finger for the friendly reminder and rounded the corner.

As soon as I reached the top step, the shadow unplugged the pen light from his mouth and shined it in my face. I turned my head away from the spots dotting my vision and took my final steps toward him. The green paint on the walls and doors had peeled and crumbled to the walkway like little piles of broken dragon scales. My boots crunched over them. Welcome to Krapper’s finest and friendliest Crumbly Motel.

“Why didn’t you call?” Dad asked in a low voice. He sounded as tired as I felt. And way pissed.

“I’m sorry.” I blocked the light with my hand and tried to look him in the face. “I lost track of time.”

“Were you really working on a school project?”

The truth was loony-bin crazy, and I’d already lied before. Might as well play it up. “Yes, I was. And we finished the pirate project. The pirates have sailed on to loot and pillage their hearts out. I’m really sorry I’m late, Dad.”

He stood, his book tucked under his elbow, the pen light still aimed at my eyes. “Do you have any idea—”

A loud thud came from inside the motel room. Both our heads whipped towards the door. 

My heartbeat skipped. Too many bizarre things had happened. Too many weird sounds would haunt me forever, and this one didn’t feel right at all. I lunged for the doorknob, but it was locked. 

“Darby?” I shouted and pounded on the door.

“Leigh, quiet down. I’ve got the key.” Dad pulled the card from his pocket and stuck it in the slot. When the light flashed green, I tore through the door. I had to wait for my eyes to adjust to the dim overhead light before I saw her. Directly across from us. Outside on the balcony. Leaning over the railing so far I could barely see her upper half.

Her purple mermaid nightgown fluttered around her legs. A sudden sharp breeze tossed the hair around her shoulders and unsteadied her grip on the rail for half a second. That half second shot me across the room.

Once I reached the balcony door, I grabbed her foot and pulled. “Darby, what are you—?” Something trickled from my nose. I brushed it away, and blood smeared my hand. A pinprick of dread punctured the small amount of hope I clung to. Hope that all the nightmares in my life could be done. That hope left me deflated when Darby turned around.

Blood seeped from her nose, too. Her hands were covered with it. Terror blazed bright behind her glasses. “You’re…you’re bleeding.”

“You are, too.” The hairs along my arms lifted. Both of us had nose bleeds and both of us were Trammeler sorceressi. One and Two had warned me not to waste my precious blood, but now it flowed down both our fronts for everyone to see. For what? I swallowed. So we could be hunted down? With the balcony and front doors still open, I felt very exposed. “What are you doing out here, Darby?”

Blood settled above the curve of her upper lip. “I—I thought I heard something.”

Dad, hovering in the doorway, raked his hands through his hair. “What on Earth is going on with you girls?” He took Darby by the shoulder and guided her to the bathroom. “Leigh, get the doors and then let’s get you both cleaned up.”

I reached for the handle while holding a sleeve up to my nose. As I slid the door closed, a small, bloody handprint smudged the streetlights behind it. Darby’s. She was bleeding more than me.

A slow but steady doom, doom, doom of footsteps echoed up the stairs outside the still open front door. Someone was coming. And with them came the stink of nasty meat floating in a sewer. Even with all the blood gushing a river out my nose, I could still smell it. Death. Coming closer.

Guest Post

One of my best friends in high school and I no longer speak to each other. I was dumb enough to let a boy come between us, and that was the end. Poof. Five years of friendship gone. My Facebook friend requests to her are ignored. The end.

So I guess I did what any creative type of person would do to deal with this situation and created a lovable character known as Jo in The Grave Winner series. She’s my main character Leigh’s best friend, and she shares many similarities with my lost friend. They share the same bright red hair that comes from a box and the same devotion to saving the planet. Neither of them have any interest in hiding their quirky personalities from judgment. I suppose that’s why I love Jo so much and why friendship plays such a central theme in the books.

My friend and I used to spend a lot of time in thrift stores, and Whaty-Whats, the thrift store in the books, is based on a real location. We perused the racks together, the smell of moth balls, cedar, and gently used clothing solidifying all those times into happy memories. I purposefully made that a special place for Leigh and Jo, a place neither of them would ever forget for lots of different reasons, some horrific and some pleasant.

I have a lot of happy memories of my lost best friend, like the time she wedged herself underneath a chair and couldn’t escape, or the hundreds of times we stalked our crushes. Do I blame her for breaking up with me? No. Do I miss her? Of course I do, but I have those memories of us, and now I can relive our friendship through Jo and Leigh. For now, that will do.

About The Grave Winner (Book #1)

Book Description

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.

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Lindsey R. Loucks

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.

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Fractured Truth Tour by Rachel McClellan - Giveaway, Excerpt & Guest Post

Fractured Truth

(Fractured Light #3)

Llona is determined to end the fight with the Vykens once and for all. All she needs is to find and destroy the Shadow–the ultimate source of dark power. But when she makes a startling discovery about someone she loves, Llona has to fight the toughest battle yet in this exciting conclusion to the Fractured Light series.

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Fractured Light

(Fractured Light #1)

Llona Reese is used to living on the run. After the Vykens killed her parents, she knew they would eventually come for her too. She can’t take any chances. But when she starts to make friends for the first time in her life, she gets careless and lets her guard down. Big mistake.

As an Aura, Llona can manipulate light and harness its energy. But if she wants to survive, Llona will have to defy the Auran Council and learn to use her power as a weapon against the Vyken whose sole desire is to take her light. Now she’s caught in something even bigger than she can understand, with a power she can’t wield, and no one she can trust, except, just maybe, a mysterious stranger.

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Fractured Soul

(Fractured Light #2)

Llona will do whatever it takes to protect her new found friends and home, but the dark plot threatening Lucent Academy, a school that’s supposed to be a safe place for Auras, may be too powerful for even Llona to defeat.

This fast-paced tale of love, loyalty, and overcoming the darkness will keep you on the edge of your seat until the last page!

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Guest Post

Why I Write

There are a select few who claim to see dead people. I’m not one of them, but I do see characters, and, honestly, some of them are just as scary. The other day I reached for a hanger that had slid partially beneath an attic door in the back of my son’s closet. Just as my fingers touched the hard, white plastic, something, or someone, sucked the hanger into the attic. It was only a moment later that I realized the thing in my attic is the ghost of a seriously pissed-off, murdered woman.

None of this happened, of course. It was only in my imagination, but now the woman is there. Stuck inside my head as much as she’s stuck in my attic. She joins the countless others who are just waiting for their story to be told. I listen best I can, and when I have time I write down their stories. The sooner the better.

It wasn’t always this way. There was a time when I could look at an oddly-shaped tree and keep walking; the deep hole in its side was merely a squirrel’s home and not an entrance to a world where humans hide at night and travel at day to avoid the growing number of Junks (those who have had their humanity turned off by the Authorities).

At first I tried ignoring the characters, pretended they didn’t exist. But this only made them louder. When their cries started to contend with that of my children’s, I knew I had to listen. It took some time, but eventually I found a way to balance my own life with that of theirs.

Llona wasn’t the first character I wrote about, but she was the loudest, and, gratefully, wasn’t as scary as the others. I like writing about her. She makes me laugh so I’m glad she has more to say in the sequel of Fractured Light.

Those of you interested in writing, listen to characters. They’re all around us desperately waiting to be heard. Help them find their voice. Work hard. Stay focused. And most importantly don’t give up on them. They only want to exist.

Excerpt:

Chapter One

“You have four minutes, Llona,” Liam said through a microphone in my ear. His voice, like the ringing of a great bell, pounded my already aching head.

The small plane’s engine shrieked, a high-pitched sound different from the steady hum of the last twenty minutes. Everyone had boarded a while ago. It was a silent crowd, not one likely to converse with each other.

I shifted my weight in the plane’s cramped closet. I could’ve come out as I’d just turned invisible, but I wanted to wait until the speed of the plane increased, covering any sounds the closet door might make when opened.

It was shortly after Cyrus kidnapped my aunt Sophie from Lucent academy that I taught myself to turn invisible. I’d practiced every day, sometimes for hours, until I could do it without the accompanying paralyzing weakness. And although the pain hadn’t gotten any better, I was able to increase the time I could maintain invisibility to several minutes. I’d accomplished all this in just the few short months since Christian’s death.

Just then the plane lurched forward, picking up speed on the runway. I opened the door and peered into the plane’s small kitchen. Empty. Perfect. I quietly slipped out and closed the door behind me.

The front wheels of the plane bounced. The cabin, as I suspected, was full of Vykens sitting in their seats, their backs to me, as if they were regular passengers. Most of them looked like normal humans, which meant they’d fed on Auran blood recently, but a few were in their purest form— facial features deformed and gray with moldy skin peeling back from their faces.

There was only one different from the rest. Jackson. He sat three rows up to the right of the center aisle.

With the Deific’s help, Liam had finally received a tip on Jackson’s whereabouts. It was the closest we’d come to finding out where Cyrus was keeping Sophie. I glanced to my left, to the emergency exit. By the way the plane was vibrating, it was close to taking off.

A Vyken stood and slid into the aisle. I pressed myself against a seat to keep him from bumping into me. I had yet to learn how to let matter pass through me. That may be a trick only my mother knew.

After the Vyken passed by, I went to Jackson. He was looking down at his bloodied knuckles. How did that happen? Jackson used to be a guardian. He (and a bunch of others who had followed him) had joined the Vykens against the Auras months ago. I’d been training harder than ever to stop them all and restore the Auras to their former strength. The strength only a few knew about.

The plane lifted. Still plenty of time to make my move.


I reached down, careful to avoid touching Jackson, and undid his seat belt. He glanced to his lap, brow twisted together. I smacked the back of his head, hard. He turned around and stared at the Vyken behind him.

“What’s your problem?” Jackson asked. 

The Vyken ignored him.

Jackson stood and confronted the Vyken again. “Hey, I’m talking to you!”

The Vyken lifted his gaze from the sports magazine in his hand. “I know Cyrus said we can’t kill you, but he didn’t say we couldn’t hurt you. Sit down, guardian.”

Liam’s voice spoke again in my ear. “Hurry up.”

Several Vykens looked around. His voice, this close to so many of them, must have drawn attention.

Time to pay for your crimes, Jackson.

I drew my fist back and punched Jackson in the face. His hand came up to his bloodied nose. “What the . . . ?”

A few Vykens stood up.

I punched him again. He stumbled back toward the exit, arms outstretched as though to steady himself. Blood ran onto his chin.

“What’s going on?” he yelled.


I answered with a swift kick to his chest. It took just a second for him to recover before he started blindly throwing punches. “Someone help me!”

Vykens looked around as if they didn’t know what to do.

I dodged Jackson’s fist and punched him again. He was in position. I took hold of the emergency latch and pulled it as hard as I could. The door flew open, sucking air from the cabin.

Papers and all kinds of debris flew past me. Jackson scrambled backward, his eyes darting around until he was pressed against the wall separating the kitchen from the cabin.

The others stood alert, some in a fight-ready stance. But who were they going to fight? They couldn’t see me. No one could.

Grabbing Jackson, I spun him around until he was facing the open door; his clothes and hair whipped around violently. He stuttered.

His fear excited me, sending a wave of adrenaline through my blood stream.

I was about to reveal myself to him, just so I could see the surprise in his eyes, but Liam’s voice sounded in my ear. “Get out of there—now!”

Jerking into action, I wrapped my arms around Jackson’s chest and jumped from the plane, spiraling into a black abyss.

Chapter Two

I fell through the darkness, slicing through it like a knife in water. Cold air burned my face, and the force of it made it difficult to breathe. 

Jackson’s body was torn from my grip, and he was twisting and writhing as if he could somehow climb his way back into the airplane. He was probably screaming too, but I couldn’t hear over the deafening sound of the wind rushing over me. 

I glanced around, my eyes wet from the air. What appeared to be streetlights were growing closer. I’d never done this before, jumped from an airplane, but I wasn’t nervous, although I should be. I wasn’t wearing a parachute.

I squinted my eyes to try to see Jackson, but he wasn’t spread eagle like me so was probably falling faster. The tree line of the forest came into view against the night sky. I was really close now. Maybe fifteen seconds before impact. I began to count.

At twelve, my body jerked as if I had been sucked into a tornado, and I had a difficult time controlling which way my body was twisting. It was like no other sensation I’d ever experienced before, and my lungs tightened and pressure built up in my ear- drums until I thought they might burst. But in no time at all, I was on the ground, my legs unsteady from the whirlwind.

Liam appeared next to me, having shifted back to his human form. It still amazed me whenever he did that. 

“You okay?” he asked.

I inhaled deeply. “I think so. What a rush.”


“Sorry it took me longer than usual to catch you, but Jackson was fighting against me so I had to knock him out. I hope you weren’t scared.”

Jackson was nearby, lying on the ground, his brown hair drenched in sweat. “I wasn’t worried at all.”

“You weren’t?”

“I knew you would catch me.” I went to Jackson and nudged him. “Let’s get him back before he wakes up.”

When Liam didn’t answer, I looked back at him. He was staring at me, his green eyes illuminated by the moonlight. For just a moment I was reminded of his age, over two centuries old. I often forgot this because on the outside he didn’t look much older than me, but in the right light his eyes would betray him, revealing years of inner torment.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“You shouldn’t put so much trust in me.” 

“Why? You’ve never let me down.”

He walked over to Jackson, picked him up, and threw him over his shoulder. “Because one day I may not be there for you.”

Rachel McClellan

Rachel McClellan was born and raised in Idaho, a place secretly known for its supernatural creatures. When she’s not in her writing lair, she’s partying with her husband and four crazy, yet lovable, children. Rachel’s love for storytelling began as a child when the moon first possessed the night. For when the lights went out, her imagination painted a whole new world. And what a scary world it was…

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