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

Redemption by Véronique Launier (Hearts of Stone #1)

* * *

Guillaume: For five hundred years I've existed as a gargoyle. Perched atop an old Montreal church, I've watched idly as humanity wanders by. With the witch Marguerite gone, there is no one left to protect, nothing to care about. I never planned to feel again. But then a girl released me from my stone restraints, allowing me to return as a seventeen-year-old human boy. I must find out all I can about this girl's power . . .

Aude: Getting attacked twice in as many days is strange in itself, but even stranger is the intriguing guy I keep running into. There's something so familiar about him, like a primal drum rhythm from my dreams. But spending time together only raises more questions--about my heritage, a native Mohawk prophecy . . . and an unearthly magic threatening our city..

Redemption’s premise about gargoyles and native culture and legend captured my attention. It’s an irresistible mix that Launier paced with a steady mix of mystery and tension.

It’s from Guillaume’s point of view that we first meet Aude as she’s being attacked by complete strangers. Guillaume perched high above the cathedral witnesses this horror but also something stranger. Somehow this girl is able to ward off her attackers and in the process releases him and his brothers from their gargoyle form.  Aude’s power is of great concern to them because if she is who they thinks she is, then she is the key to their survival.

Aude would rather just pretend that it all never happened.  She throws all her focus and energy into her band Lucid Pill. Guillaume is never far behind though as he befriends her and learns more about her. It’s just Aude and her mother; her father is a non-factor. But her ancestry is what intrigues Guillaume and his brothers.  When they learn that she is descended from a powerful line of witches whom Guillaume and his brothers have sworn to protect, Aude’s world gets more complicated.  Everything that was “normal” begins to change. Aude can’t pretend she’s a regular kid anymore.  Now she must learn how to harness her power and most importantly learn who she can trust.

I’ll admit, it took me a while to get into Redemption but that's because I was going through an annoying reading funk. While I liked the idea, I was feeling rather impatient for the story to move forward. So I decided to leave the book for a week and when I picked it up again, I did so with renewed enthusiasm. I began to appreciate how all the pieces were coming together and I felt chills when Aude and Guillaume discovered her heritage.

Launier telling the story from both perspectives helps to understand the confusion and apprehension that both of them feel throughout the book.  Aude is so used to being independent and being strong for her mother. Her single-mindedness about her band si what fuels her sense of purpose. So when Guillaume comes along, she’s hesitant about trusting him and leaning on him for support. Guillaume for his part has a past that’s weighed down by guilt and loss. In light of their discovery about her family, his problem becomes discerning if his attachment to Aude is love or obligation. Regardless, watching these two together is half the thrill in reading Redemption.

I think with its different locale and reference to the Iroquois culture and its Seventh Generation prophecy, Redemption adds a new flavor to the paranormal genre. It’s definitely worth the read. And after Aude and Guillaume have overcome their first hurdle, it's only a matter of time before things escalate. I’m looking forward to what’s next for this  new life Aude has entered in to.

~ Bel

But I Love Him by Amanda Grace

* * * *

"Sometimes at night, I wake up and stare at the heart for hours. I think of how I collected each piece from the beach, how I glued it all together into one big sculpture. I wonder if Connor realizes what it means, that he’ll always have a piece of me no matter what happens. Each piece of glass is another piece of myself that I gave to him.

It’s too bad I didn’t keep any pieces for myself."

At the beginning of senior year, Ann was a smiling, straight-A student and a track star with friends and a future. Then she met a haunted young man named Connor. Only she can heal his emotional scars; only he could make her feel so loved – and needed. Ann can’t recall the pivotal moment it all changed, when she surrendered everything to be with him, but by graduation, her life has become a dangerous high wire act. Just one mistake could trigger Connor’s rage, a senseless storm of cruel words and violence damaging everything – and everyone – in its path.

This evocative slideshow of flashbacks reveals a heartbreaking story of love gone terribly wrong.

But I Love Him is a very disturbing look at the descent of a relationship into violence. The first chapter opens with Ann, lying beaten and miserable on the floor after another argument on awry. This is the literal breaking point but we’re not given much else. All the pieces come together as her story gradually unfolds. Each chapter serving as a reference to a point in time in their relationship. Every so often, a chapter brings the reader back to the present.

At first, I found the jumbled chronology disorienting. There were a few times when Ann mentioned certain events and I wondered if I had missed something. But ultimately this tactic works because it narrows the focus to the history of the relationship first before anyone can point a leering finger at Anne, wondering why in the hell she remained with an abusive boyfriend for a whole year. It's written like one of those, "where did it all go wrong?" scenarios where you sift through your memories attempting to pinpoint that crucial moment in time.

Connor himself has suffered at the hands of his abusive father and watched as his mother was destroyed by it. Ann witnesses this as well. So it’s unnerving to see her make the very same mistakes as his mother did: staying with the guy, thinking it’s something she did that set them off. Such is the irony that Ann recognized those mistakes in his mother but not in herself. It’s gut wrenching to see how much Ann has relinquished from her life so that Connor can be the absolute center. Even her friends have given up on her somewhat. She knows what her life has become. She admits to the "wrongness" and stress of feeling guilt at being happy if she hangs out with a friend, or that she's scared to say the wrong thing to him. Yet she still feels she can fix things – as long as she can placate him, she can fix him.

But I Love Him is not a fun read but it’s engaging. Amanda Grace does a spectacular job of helping us to understand Ann’s psyche, why she stayed and why she felt she couldn’t leave. I wanted to read it because I wonder about people who remain in toxic relationships that are slowly ruining them. It's easy as an outsider, to think "Don't you have any self-worth? Can't you see the signs?". I could never comprehend why anyone would allow that to happen to themselves. But I suppose you don't know until you've been through it or had someone you love go through it. 

This is a very thought-provoking book that made me cringe several times. I developed great empathy for Ann and surprisingly, Connor too. I felt sadness for his pathetic and terrifying childhood, his sad excuse of a man for a dad and his hopeless mother who never chose to give Connor his best chance. And though initially I wasn't a fan of the jumbled chronology, it is in fact a genius ploy because by the very end of the book, where everything is set into motion, I was left breathless.

~ Bel

Witch Eyes by Scott Tracey

*** 1/2

Braden was born with witch eyes: the ability to see the world as it truly is: a blinding explosion of memories, darkness, and magic. The power enables Braden to see through spells and lies, but at the cost of horrible pain.


After a terrifying vision reveals imminent danger for the uncle who raised and instructed him, Braden retreats to Belle Dam, an old city divided by two feuding witch dynasties. As rival family heads Catherine Lansing and Jason Thorpe desperately try to use Braden's powers to unlock Belle Dam's secrets, Braden vows never to become their sacrificial pawn. But everything changes when Braden learns that Jason is his father--and Trey, the enigmatic guy he's falling for, is Catherine's son.

To stop an insidious dark magic from consuming the town, Braden must master his gift—and risk losing the one he loves.


A few things drew me to this book. First being that the main character was a boy and gay. Second, I absolutely (and secretly) have fallen in love with Scott Tracey via Twitter. He is wonderfully snarky and his tweets are a ton of fun. And third, although I don’t usually read books about witches, this seemed to be a pretty original story. In the end I enjoyed the book but unfortunately it was only an Enjoy” and not a “Love It” or “Awesome”.


What I didn’t like:

The supporting cast. With the exception of Trey and his sister most of the side characters fell flat for me. Particularly the parents. I felt that there should be more to Catherine and Jason besides their hate for each other. I am hoping that this may be explored in the next book.

Trey. I have to tell you. He is what I dislike most about Witch Eye’s. I think I was supposed to like Trey, Braden’s love interest. I won’t deny that the chemistry was well written. And oh my, that first kiss….swoon! But here is the thing. Trey is an overbearing, overprotective jerk. Don’t get me wrong. We Bibliojunkies like our share of bad boys – Patch Cipriano being a perfect example. But the bad boys we love always have a naughty sense of humor that wins us over. Trey was just a bad boy. There was nothing to lighten his character which in turn made him completely unlikable and in my opinion not good enough for Braden.


What I Loved:

The story. This story was original. Or at least it seemed so in my eyes (I’ve read precious few books about witches). This isn’t about a witch chanting spells and making potions. This is about a witch with powers that surpass anything imaginable and learning to use them while dealing with the side effects. When I say powerful, think Jean Grey/Phoenix in the X-Men movies.

Braden. We don’t often get a male first person perspective in YA. Particularly one written by a man. And we certainly aren’t often given a story where our main character is gay. In Witch Eyes we get the best of all worlds. Scott Tracey delivers to us a young gay hero that we love more at every turn of the page. Braden is a very strong and extremely likable character. What I enjoyed most about him was his ability to do what was right for him. Even when he knew the consequences of making the right decision.

Braden’s sexuality. I loved that this wasn’t a coming of age story about a boy discovering that he is gay. Braden knows who he is in that regard although he is not experienced or confident about it yet. Love and romance is so new to him.  And really, isn't that one of things we all love about YA, right?  Instead, this story is about him discovering his family and the extent of his powers.


Like I said, in the end I DID enjoy this book. And I enjoyed it enough that I am looking forward to the next one. I can’t wait to see how Mr. Tracey continues this story in Demon Eye’s which is scheduled to be released next fall.



Nat

What We Keep Is Not Always What Will Stay by Amanda Cockrell

"Accept that the universe is an apparently random dance...

You'll love some of it and hate some of it." p. 225

This book piqued my interested when I stumbled upon a brief review in BookPage.  The title's a mouth full, isn't it?  Regardless, this story of a 15 year-old high school freshman girl who learns that her parents are divorcing and who confides all her thoughts to a statue is quite the sweet tale.

Angie is not your typical high school student.  In fact, she’s one of the more confident teenage girls I’ve read. Her steady world is rocked when her mother decides out of the blue to divorce her very cool step dad.  She doesn’t accept this easily and believes it’s just another phase her mom is going through.  So Angie confides to St. Felix, a statue she found accidentally in the basement of her church.  He's the ultimate listener (what statue isn't?) and she has revealed many of her personal secrets to him over the last few years.

One day, she discovers a homeless guy in the basement instead of the statue.  After a dubious start, she becomes convinced that he’s St. Felix and continues to confide in him.  Felix comes off as a soulful hippie who has obviously been through a lot in life (Vietnam War vet) and provides Angie with much-need perspectives about her parents’ relationship.  Their interactions are very entertaining and he becomes an unusual mentor and protector.

As if she doesn’t have enough going on, at the beginning of the school year she befriends Jesse, a 19 year old who has returned home from Afghanistan to finish out his senior year. Jesse is an amputee who also experiences bouts of post-traumatic stress syndrome.  The kids at school either look at him with awe or think he’s a freak.  Angie and her best friend, the delightful and self-assured Lily, “adopt” Jesse. 

Angie and Jesse eventually start secretly dating knowing that her family would disapprove of the age difference and the possibility that he may have some demons to fight. He comes to rely on her as his calming center and she genuinely feels that just the simple act of caring for him can help him heal.  As she gets to know him she also sees how fragile he is.  Her naivety initially leads her to think that she can help fix him.  But after a very tense and ugly encounter where lines are crossed, Angie reluctantly realizes that she’s ill-equipped to handle Jesse's distress.  

Angie’s struggles with the relationships around her are at times lighthearted and there were even moments that were laugh-out-loud funny for me.  She’s already a smart girl to begin with but her growing maturity is endearing.  She does quip at one point, “It is entirely possible that I am not at the center of the universe.”  She questions the ramifications of war and the effects on the people who go and fight in the name of God.  But don’t worry - the book doesn’t become a platform for pro or anti-war dialog even though she has those conversations with her family and Jesse. 

Then there are also those serious moments when she acknowledges that there is no quick fix to people’s troubles especially when you can’t begin to comprehend the circumstances.   “You have to let people be who they are, even when they’re damaged,” says Lily’s psychologist mother. 

What We Keep is a smartly written book.  Cockrell’s humor diffuses some of the more confusing moments.  She also does an amazing job of including Angie’s Hispanic and Jewish heritages to show how Angie draws her strengths from them.  And because of the supportive and inviting family that she has created for Angie, it’s easy to believe how she can so easily come to have compassion towards Felix and Jesse. 

I can see myself reading this book again at some point and I've already blabbed about it to anyone who'll listen.  So get a delicious beverage, find a quiet corner for yourself, get cozy and enjoy.

- Bel