Art of Fictional Love (5)

I SQUEED out loud when I saw this on DeviantArt.  Pretty sure I gave the The Executive Officer a heart attack.  Two bad ass Brother/Sister teams from two great series drawn together in one portrait.  Yeah, I would say this piece of art by DeviantArt artist, N-Pricess, was worthy of resurrecting the Art of Fictional Love posts.

Trey & Jade Lansing (Witch Eyes) and Isabel and Alec Lightwood (The Mortal Instruments)

Demon Eyes Blog Tour - Scott Tracey Guest Post and Giveaway!

Today is our stop on the Demon Eyes Blog Tour!

 

Demon Eyes (released October 8, 2012) is the second book in the Witch Eyes Trilogy.  We are celebrating the release of Demon Eyes with an awesome guest post by author Scott Tracey and a giveaway of Witch Eyes AND Demon Eyes!   

Scott Tracey is the author of Witch Eyes and the newly released Demon Eyes.  Phantom Eyes, the last installment in the Witch Eyes trilogy ,will be released in the fall of 2013.  The first book in Scott's new Moonset series will be released April 8, 2013

We have been following Scott on Twitter almost as long as Bibliojunkies has been in existence.  In addition to some wonderful fun and snark, our favorite Scott Tracey tweets have been those that contain the hashtag #actualhouseconversations.  Scott has graciously agreed to share with us the history and hilarity of these conversations and at the same time makes us wish that we could hang out with him and his friends. 

DON'T TWEET THAT!
by: Scott Tracey

So for those of you who don’t know, Leah Clifford and I started this game a few years ago on Twitter, called #actualhouseconversations. Basically, what we would do is take our actual conversations out of context and tweet them. Because there are so many times where we say things, and one of us realizes just how that sentence sounds out of context. Here’s a few examples:

 

"You can wiki-wiki-wiki down the stairs." #actualhouseconversations
 

“I think you’ll feel much better after you have some sleep. Or slaughter.” #actualhouseconversations
 

“Stop tazing your boyfriend!” #actualhouseconversations

 

And my personal favorite:
 

“Don’t tweet that!!!” (which gets said ALL THE TIME around my house – and basically just ensures that whatever it is WILL get tweeted).

This is actually something that started between Leah and I almost *mumbles an inarticulate number* years ago at college. We’d randomly hear things that people were saying, and be captured by the beauty of the sentence, and be forced to write it down for posterity. We had sheets of legal paper filled, both sides, with these choice quotes, many of which are not safe for work. ;)

Unfortunately, not many of those overheard quotes are fit for public consumption (mostly because many of them aren’t PG-13), so I can’t give you many of them, but here’s one memorable one.

“Wow, it looks like someone sneezed in your pile of blood!”
 

Which honestly is just better out of context.

Anyway, it’s something we’ve done on and off for years. It’s probably one of the best games we have, next to “the best band name ever” in which random phrases are always deemed“the best band name ever.” A bonus #actualhouseconversation for you. We were staying at a friend's lake house, and got to talking about horror movies or something, and someone said, "Now is not the time for lake house slaughter." And then the other one said, "Lake House Slaughter would be the best band name ever." And thus, two weird games were born.
 

So there you have it, the origin of the #actualhouseconversation. Just know that we’re not actual crazy people, we just have crazy conversations. ;)

Scott Tracey

 

Thanks for stopping by, Scott!  We will be keeping an eye out for more crazy #actualhouseconversations on Twitter :-) 

 

As part of this tour, we are giving away a copy of both Witch Eyes and Demon Eyes to one lucky winner.  You know the drill.  Just fill out the Rafflecopter form below.  This giveaway is open to US Residents only.
 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Demon Eyes by Scott Tracey

* * * * 1//2

Demons don't die without a fight...

After destroying the demon Lucien, Braden—son of Belle Dam’s most powerful warlock, Jason Thorpe—doesn’t need the power of his witch eyes to see that everything in his life is turning against him: friends, family, and even his visions. When disturbing nightmares of Lucien’s return haunt him, Braden discovers that the simmering feud between the city’s two witch dynasties is fast approaching its explosive boiling point.

While struggling to come to terms with his attraction to Trey, Catherine Lansing’s son who should be his mortal enemy, a diabolical plan starts to unveil before Braden’s eyes. Young women are disappearing from Belle Dam, and as he investigates, Braden is forced to explore the dangerous unknown power within himself. But when the truth about his family is revealed, Braden must pay a terrible price. 

When I reviewed Witch Eyes, I listed what I loved and didn’t love about the story.  But Demon Eyes?  I honestly can’t think of a single thing I didn’t like.  Scott Tracey really outdid himself this time.  Braden’s story continues with more action and strengthened characters which in turn gave me a story that I couldn’t put down.   

The cast of characters really won me over this time around.  If you have ever read a review of mine you will know that characters, more than anything, are what really draw me into a book.  Braden reminded me a lot of Sam Winchester from the show Supernatural.  If you have ever watched it you will understand how I can say Braden is quite angsty, a bit of a martyr and yet, at the same time, so stinkin’ loveable.  Everything he does (even when it seems misguided) is done to protect him and those that he loves. Yeah, Braden is a keeper and is quickly working his way to the Forever Boy list. 

Braden’s friends (a relative term in some cases) provide a lot to this story. My favorite this time around was Drew.  We met Drew in Witch Eyes but he plays a bigger role now that he is the only person that will openly be friends with Braden.  He is an unlikeable jerk (his usual MO) but his snark perfectly balances out the angst.   

I complained about two things when I reviewed Witch Eyes.  The first was the adults – Catherine and Jason.  I was frustrated that even at the end of Witch Eyes I knew so little about them.  But by the end of Demon Eyes I had an understanding of what made Catherine tick and what her role is in the story.  Jason was somewhat non-existent in this installment but I think we are going find out a lot more about him in Phantom Eyes and I am looking forward to it.  Just goes to show me that I need to be patient.  It’s not like I can get all the answers at once, right?   

The 2^nd thing I didn’t like in Witch Eyes was Braden’s love interest, Trey.  He came across as a controlling jerk and I didn’t feel like he was good enough for the very gentle Braden.  I want to give a huge thank you to Mr. Tracey for making me like Trey this go around.  He is still kind of a jerk…in the beginning.  But through the story you see Trey struggle with where his loyalties lie.  By the end of the book I was actually hoping that Trey and Braden would get their happily ever after.  Did they?  Yeah, like I am going to tell.  I will tell you this.  Scott Tracey yet again proves his ability to write a page-smoldering kiss.   

I enjoyed Witch Eyes.  But Demon Eyes?  I LOVED Demon Eyes.  It’s an angry sort of love, though.  Because I now have to wait another year before reading the conclusion of Braden’s story in Phantom Eyes.  Damn you, Flux! Couldn’t you put it out earlier? 

 

 

Nat

Waiting on Wednesday (36)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that highlights future releases that we are excitedly anticipating.

We know, we know.  It's Thursday.  I've (Nat) been a bit off this week.  I seriously thought Wednesday was just starting.  Well, at least this means Friday is closer. 

By Scott Tracey
Publication Date: October 8, 2012 (rumor has it that this one has already been seen out in the wild...)

Demons don't die without a fight...

After destroying the demon Lucien, Braden—son of Belle Dam’s most powerful warlock, Jason Thorpe—doesn’t need the power of his witch eyes to see that everything in his life is turning against him: friends, family, and even his visions. When disturbing nightmares of Lucien’s return haunt him, Braden discovers that the simmering feud between the city’s two witch dynasties is fast approaching its explosive boiling point.

While struggling to come to terms with his attraction to Trey, Catherine Lansing’s son who should be his mortal enemy, a diabolical plan starts to unveil before Braden’s eyes. Young women are disappearing from Belle Dam, and as he investigates, Braden is forced to explore the dangerous unknown power within himself. But when the truth about his family is revealed, Braden must pay a terrible price.

By Stacey Jay
Publication Date: October 9, 2012

Seductive companion to the popular Juliet Immortal, in which former lovers—Romeo and Juliet—meet, not as true lovers, but truly as enemies.

Cursed to live out eternity in his rotted corpse, Romeo, known for his ruthless, cutthroat ways, is given the chance to redeem himself by traveling back in time to save the life of Ariel Dragland. Unbeknownst to her, Ariel is important to both the evil Mercenaries and the love-promoting Ambassadors and holds the fate of the world in her hands. Romeo must win her heart and make her believe in love, turning her away from her darker potential before his work is discovered by the Mercenaries. While his seduction begins as yet another lie, it soon becomes his only truth. Romeo vows to protect Ariel from harm, and do whatever it takes to win her heart and soul. But when Ariel is led to believe his love is a deception, she becomes vulnerable to Mercenary manipulation, and her own inner darkness may ultimately rip them apart.




By Daniel Marks
Publication Date: October 9, 2012

Velveteen Monroe is dead. At 16, she was kidnapped and murdered by a madman named Bonesaw. But that’s not the problem.

The problem is she landed in purgatory. And while it’s not a fiery inferno, it’s certainly no heaven. It’s gray, ashen, and crumbling more and more by the day, and everyone has a job to do. Which doesn’t leave Velveteen much time to do anything about what’s really on her mind.

Bonesaw.

Velveteen aches to deliver the bloody punishment her killer deserves. And she’s figured out just how to do it. She’ll haunt him for the rest of his days.

It’ll be brutal... and awesome.

But crossing the divide between the living and the dead has devastating consequences. Velveteen’s obsessive haunting cracks the foundations of purgatory and jeopardizes her very soul. A risk she’s willing to take—except fate has just given her reason to stick around: an unreasonably hot and completely off-limits coworker.

Velveteen can’t help herself when it comes to breaking rules... or getting revenge. And she just might be angry enough to take everyone down with her.