The Big Love Letter Event + Giveaway: Wendy Higgins

Today marks the first day of The Big Love Letter Event, a joint month-long feature hosted by Danny from Bewitched Bookworms and myself, and I hope you guys are all as excited as we are!

I'm beyond thrilled to kick things off with one of my very favorite authors and someone I'm proud to call friend, Wendy Higgins. I picked Sweet Evil up a couple years ago and found myself completely blown away by the story and its characters, but let's face it, lover of swoon-worthy boys that I am, Kaidan Rowe was the highlight for me. He continued to be so in last year's Sweet Peril, and I may or may not have worn a path in my floor as I've paced waiting for his return once again in Sweet Reckoning.

Wendy took pity on me though and has oh-so graciously allowed Kaidan to stop by the blog today to share with us a little special something to help tide me (and everyone else who loves him desperately) over until April. Kaidan was asked to write a love letter, but given his love of music he decided to write his letter in the form of song lyrics. Lyrics I like to think were written with me in mind. Delusional, party of one ;-)

I know you're all here for Kaidan so I'll stop the gushing and get to the sharing, but after you read (and drool), be sure and check out all the details on a fantastic giveaway and don't forget to hop over to Bewitched Bookworms to check out their featured letter from Katie McGarry!

And now I give you Kaidan Rowe, drummer for Lascivious, son of the Duke of Lust, and fictional boyfriend extraordinaire:

LOVE LETTER by Kaidan Rowe

Staring at this paper
Trying to write a “love letter.”
This is not my thing,
This is just not me.
My mind turns instead
To a wicked beat in my head,
And I bang out the lyrics to a song.
Yeah, I bang out the lyrics to a song.

You’re soft to my hard,
You’re sweet to my salt.
If we both wind up naked
It’ll all be my fault.
Yeah, I’ll take the blame,
That’s it, say my name.
You’re gorgeous, so gorgeous,
Let me win at this game.

CHORUS:
Gimme, gimme, gimme,
I’m Greed when you’re near.
I want more, I need more,
Stay the f**k away, fear.
Heat me, scald me, burn me,
I’m Lust for your touch.
You kill me with a smile
And I refuse to be rushed.

How’s this for a love note?
Do my words quake your boat?
If not, I’ll need to try harder
Take things a little bit farther.
You bet your ass I can do that,
Raise the bar, sexy little cat.
So step closer to me and turn up the AC.
I’ll have you singin’ the chorus in 1, 2, 3…

CHORUS

Roses are red and violets are blue,
That played out sh*t wasn’t meant for you.
I got your love letter right here in my eyes.
If you look long enough you’ll see the truth through the lies.

* Iadlkjfasdkjgalkga;dsfkjalkjfal

*.......

* Sorry about that everyone, I couldn't form actual words there for a few minutes. Ahem. Thanks so much Kaidan, I can now no longer concentrate on work. *runs away to re-read Sweet Evil and Sweet Peril instead*

• • • • • • • • • • • 

SWEET RECKONING
(releases April 29th from HarperTeen)

It’s time.

Evil is running rampant and sweet Anna Whitt is its target. Nobody knows when or how the Dukes will strike, but Anna and her Nephilim allies will do anything necessary to rid the earth of the demons and their oppressive ways.

The stakes are higher than ever, and Anna is determined that the love she feels will be her strength, not a liability. But trying to protect the ones she loves while running for her life and battling demonic forces proves to be perilous—especially as faces are changing and trust is fleeting. When the Duke of Lust sends Anna’s great love, Kaidan Rowe, to work against her, Anna must decide how much she’s prepared to risk.

In the most sensual and fast-paced installment yet, Sweet Reckoning brings all the beloved Neph together one last time to fight for their freedom.

  

Goodreads • Amazon

• • • • • • • • • • • 

WENDY HIGGINS

Wendy Higgins is the author of Sweet Evil and Sweet Peril from HarperTeen. She lives in the Washington D.C. area with her husband, daughter, son, and puppy Rue. 

Website  • Facebook • Twitter • Goodreads

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GIVEAWAY

Danny and I have an amazing giveaway to share with you all, one that will have 14 winners in total!

• Winners 1 and 2: Each will get a book of their choice from one of the authors featured during the event (open internationally as long as Book Depository ships to you!)
• Winner 3 : Signed Copy of Crash Into You by Katie McGarry (open US/CAN only) – Prize is provided by the author – A huge thank you to Katie!
• Winners 4- 14: Sweet Trilogy swag packs from Wendy Higgins (open internationally) - Prize is provided by the author – Thank you so much Wendy!

The giveaway will run until March 7th and you can enter via the Rafflecopter form below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Don't forget to check back both here and at Bewitched Bookworms every Friday in February for more letters and a whole lot more love from these fantastic authors:

•      Wendy Higgins (Sweet Reckoning)

•      Katie McGarry (Crash Into You)

•      Kasie West (Split Second)

•      Sara B. Larson (Defy)

•      A.C. Gaughen (Lady Thief)

•      Tiffany Schmidt (Bright Before Sunrise)

•      Gena Showalter (The Queen of Zombie Hearts)

•      Nichole Chase (Recklessly Royal)

•      Lorraine Heath (When the Duke Was Wicked)

•      Lynne Matson (Nil)

Sweet Peril Blog Tour: Review, Band Tour Posters + A Giveaway

SWEET PERIL
The Sweet Trilogy #2
Wendy Higgins
Paranormal Young Adult
374 pages
HarperTeen
Available April 30th
Received from publisher for review

THE STORY
Anna Whitt, the daughter of a guardian angel and a demon, promised herself she’d never do the work of her father—polluting souls. She’d been naive to make such a vow. She’d been naive about a lot of things.

Haunted by demon whisperers, Anna does whatever she can to survive, even if it means embracing her dark side and earning an unwanted reputation as her school’s party girl. Her life has never looked more bleak. And all the while there’s Kaidan Rowe, son of the Duke of Lust, plaguing her heart and mind.

When an unexpected lost message from the angels surfaces, Anna finds herself traveling the globe with Kopano, son of Wrath, in an attempt to gain support of fellow Nephilim and give them hope for the first time. It soon becomes clear that whatever freedoms Anna and the rest of the Neph are hoping to win will not be gained without a fight. Until then, Anna and Kaidan must put aside the issues between them, overcome the steamiest of temptations yet, and face the ultimate question: is loving someone worth risking their life?

MY THOUGHTS
Sweet Peril has a rather daunting task ahead of it from the beginning, following up a debut that was surprisingly intense emotionally, and while it is definitely a middle book in some ways, Ms. Higgins uses the slightly slower pace of this sequel beautifully, allowing readers time to really study the characters and walk away from them with a far deeper understanding than we had when we started. We begin with a rather brutal prologue – a harsh reminder of just what Kaidan and Anna risk should they try to be together – and it succeeds in planting a seed of tension in our guts from the onset, something that continues to grow and often forces us to hold our breath as our concern for Anna and Kaidan’s safety reaches an all time high.

Anna is both the girl we met at the beginning of Sweet Evil and yet drastically different at the same time, forced to split her personality in two in order to keep off the Dukes’ radar. She’s not the girl that can look at the world and see only the good anymore, instead her painful lessons in life as a Nephilim have given her a few sharp edges where before there were only smooth curves. She never resorts to melancholy or despairs of all the ways her life has changed since learning of her heritage though, instead she meets every challenge with a lift of her chin and an admirable confidence borne from the hope that one day her future will be free of its current confines. Her handling of the romantic drama in this sequel causes us to release a sigh of relief, a love triangle flickering briefly into place before Anna definitively shuts it down, embracing her feelings for Kaidan even though she knows he may never be able to return them.

Many readers may find themselves a touch antsy during the first half of this book as Kai is physically absent for the most part, but Ms. Higgins gives us a scene at the very beginning that acts as a branding iron, searing our skin and causing a sharp pain to flare before fading to a dull but persistent ache, leaving behind a permanent reminder of Kaidan that we keep with us until he and Anna join forces once again. What becomes hauntingly clear in this second installment is just how dark and unforgiving life for the children of the Dukes really is, Anna’s upbringing a stark contrast to the torment Kaidan and the others suffer daily; their fathers constantly seeking ruination rather than salvation and pain instead of love, all the while using their sons and daughters as the tools by which they cast a black mark on the soul of humanity.

Anna’s separation from Kaidan and the things she learns as she travels the world searching for allies among the Neph make their relationship all the more poignant when they finally work through some of their issues, Kaidan’s ability to express any kind of emotion at all shocking given the depravity his father requires of him, and our hearts beat to an erratic but pounding rhythm as Anna bleeds love into a man who knows nothing of it. Sweet Peril definitely sets readers up for what is sure to be an epic showdown in the final book, but the quieter nature of it gives us time to truly breathe these characters in before that breath will no doubt be expelled quickly as the Dukes bring fists to vulnerable flesh in book three.

Rating: 4.5/5

Find Sweet Peril:

Goodreads • Amazon • Barnes & Noble • The Book Depository • Facebook

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LASCIVIOUS TOUR POSTERS

For any of you who have yet to read this series (first of all, get a move on, Kaidan is waiting for you!),  Kaidan Rowe is the drummer for a band called Lascivious. Those of you who follow this blog with any frequency know I'm scarily mildly obsessed with these books and Kaidan in particular, and given I find Mr. Rowe to be, ahem, inspiring, I thought it might be fun to design some promotional posters for Lascivious as though they were actually going out on tour.

Below are the three posters I created for Kaidan and his band as a token of my undying affection for them, Wendy Higgins, and this series as a whole :)

KAIDAN ROWE

LEAD ME INTO TEMPTATION

WHO MAKES YOUR HEART BEAT LOUDER?

• • • • • • • • • •

WENDY HIGGINS

After earning a bachelors in Creative Writing from George Mason University and a masters in Curriculum and Instruction from Radford, Wendy taught high school English until becoming a mommy. Writing Young Adult (YA) stories gives her the opportunity to delve into the ambiguities of those pivotal, daunting, and exciting years before adulthood.

She lives in Northern Virginia with her husband, daughter, and son. Sweet Evil is her debut novel.

Website • Twitter • Facebook • Goodreads • Pinterest

 • • • • • • • • • • 

GIVEAWAY

The prizes:

1 Grand Prize Giveaway - engraved “Kaidan Rowe Sweet Peril” drumsticks, fruity scented lip balms, a paperback copy of Sweet Peril and a signed Sweet Peril bookplate.

5 Winners for - a paperback copy of Sweet Peril and a signed Sweet Peril bookplate.

Giveaway is US only and ends May 10th at 12:00 a.m. PDT. Only one entry per household and you must be 13 or older to enter. Just fill out the Rafflecopter form below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 • • • • • • • • • 

BLOG TOUR

Don't forget to check out all the other amazing tops on this tour for more interviews, guest posts and general Sweet Peril awesomeness! A huge thank you to Rockstar Book Tours for putting this tour together.

April 22nd - YA Sisterhood - Guest Post
April 23rd - Tater's Tall Tails - Kaiden Interview
April 24th - Supernatural Snark - Review + Artwork
April 25th - Books with Bite - Anna Interview
April 26th - Tales of a Ravenous Reader - Guest Post

April 29th - Bewitched Bookworms - Guest Post
April 30th - Two Chicks on Books - Guest Post
April 30th - Curling Up with a Good Book - Review
May 1st - Magical Urban Fantasy Reads - Guest Post
May 2nd - The Book Cellar - Guest Post
May 3rd - Fiktshun - Guest Post

Fire and Ice Blog Hop: Character Interview with Kaidan Rowe + Giveaway

Today I'm going to attempt to not hyperventilate over the fact that I have Kaidan Rowe, the oh-so sexy and charming love interest from The Sweet Trilogy by Wendy Higgins (Sweet Evil sits atop my list of favorites from last year, you can read my review here) joining me on the blog. Did I also mention he's the son of the Duke of Lust? Yeah. Anyone who has been following this blog for a while knows my interest in Kaidan borders on unhealthily obsessive, but I like to think of it more as adorably fixated. I enjoy deluding myself you see. But, enough about me! Today is all about Kaidan, so for those of you who have yet to meet him, I hope this interview makes you want to do so, and for those of you who have, well, I hope this tides you over a bit until the release of Sweet Peril in April!

This interview is part of the Fire and Ice Blog Hop hosted by Rainy Day Ramblings, Love of Books, Cambria Hebert, The Caffeinated Reviewer, and Mostly Reviews, so be sure and check out all the participants here so you don't miss out on all the reviews, interviews, guest posts and giveaways!

Since this is our first time “meeting”, I figured we should just start things off with a nice icebreaker; something to help us get comfortable with one another. So, here goes. Hypothetically speaking (of course), should I brazenly make a pass at you and put all my feminine wiles (which are obviously legion ;-) to use, what kind of reaction could I expect?

Well, luv, if you were to do that we’d have to pause this interview for a bit, yeah?  ;)   

If you could ask Wendy to write any scene from Sweet Evil from your point of view knowing that Anna would be the only one to read it and be privy to what you were thinking, which scene would you choose?

My first reaction is to say “none” because I’d rather not have the vulnerability of anyone knowing my thoughts. But at the same time it would be interesting for Anna to see herself the way I see her. So I’ll say the night of our first kiss. She has no idea how bleedin sexy she is when she’s not even trying.

What genre of fiction best describes your life (horror, mystery/thriller, etc.)?

Ha. Is there such thing as Horrotica?

You have the ability to look at a woman and know exactly what she needs to see/hear/feel in order to fall into bed with you, thus making the job you do for your father a bit easier. If Anna had a variation of this ability wherein she knew not what it would take to get you into bed, but rather what it would take for you to fall in love, what might this gift show her about you?

I believe you’re stealthily trying to get in my head, but I forgive you because you’re beautiful. However, I still can’t answer this question. The whole idea of “falling in love” is...beyond my scope of understanding. I was raised to see love as a weakness, and frankly it’s difficult to get past that mindset.

Aside from Anna, has any other woman ever resisted the temptation that is you?

No. I’ve had some tough cases that required me to pull out all the stops, but resistance is futile.

If things were a bit simpler for you and Anna and you were able to take her on a date, what would your ideal evening with her consist of?

She’s quite easily impressed and it’s entertaining to watch her be dazzled. I’m thinking dinner overlooking water—something beautiful where I can sit back and just watch her reactions.

For those of us dying a little each day as we wait for the release of Sweet Peril, please take pity on us and describe what we can expect in the sequel using only the title of a song (or songs).

How about “I Hate Myself For Loving You” by Joan Jett. There’s an uplifting little teaser for you, eh?   

Last question, and it’s very serious in nature, so please prepare yourself. When you hear the name “Jenny”, what’s the first thing that pops into your mind?

Sex. Definitely sex.

*Jenny falls down dead*

I'm sorry everyone, I'm not sure I can run this blog any longer because my entire body just liquified and I've taken up permanent residence on the floor. It's been lovely knowing you all ;-)

A huge thank you to Kaidan for stopping by the blog and answering my, ahem, probing questions! More information on Kaidan, The Sweet Trilogy and Wendy Higgins can be found here:

Website
Twitter
Facebook
Goodreads
Sweet Evil Buy Link
Sweet Peril Buy Link

SWEET PERIL (releases April 30th from HarperTeen)

Anna Whitt, daughter of a guardian angel and a demon, promised herself she'd never do the work of her father--polluting souls. She'd been naive to make such a claim. She'd been naive about a lot of things.

Haunted by demon whisperers, Anna does whatever she can to survive, even if it means embracing her dark side and earning an unwanted reputation as her school's party girl. Her life has never looked more bleak. And all the while there's Kaidan Rowe, son of the Duke of Lust, plaguing her heart and mind.

When an unexpected lost message from the angels surfaces, Anna finds herself traveling the globe with Kopano, son of Wrath, in an attempt to gain support of fellow Nephilim and give them hope for the first time. It soon becomes clear that whatever freedoms Anna and the rest of the Neph are hoping to win will not be gained without a fight. Until then, Anna and Kaidan must put aside the issues between them, overcome the steamiest of temptations yet, and face the ultimate question: is loving someone worth risking their life?

  

 GIVEAWAY

In celebration of Kaidan and his ability to warm up these cold winter nights, I'm giving away either a copy of Sweet Evil for newcomers to the series or a copy of Sweet Peril for those of you who are already in love. Sweet Peril will be a pre-order, I do not have an advanced copy to give away. To enter, please fill out the rafflecopter form below. This giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents only, good luck everyone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cover Reveal: Sweet Peril

Some of you may remember a few weeks back (months back? Time is flying by.) I entered a cover design contest for the sequel to one of my favorite reads of the year, Sweet Evil. During my shameless campaign to encourage votes, I somewhat obsessively went on and on about my love for one Kaidan Rowe, son of the Duke of Lust and ultimate bad boy to heroine Anna's good girl. After finishing Sweet Evil, my love for him was deep, but thinking about him made my heart ache because at the time the sequel to Sweet Evil had not yet been picked up by the publisher. I was less-than amused by this discovery. I needed more of Kaidan. More of his badassery. More of the delicious pain his impossible relationship with Anna caused me. So it was with a heavy heart and mostly bitten-off nails that I awaited any news on Kaidan's fate.

Why am I telling you all this you ask? Well, my heart has lightened considerably recently. Not only has book two been picked up by HarperTeen, but book three has as well which means there is much more Kaidan Rowe in my future. And even better? The official cover for book two, now titled Sweet Peril instead of Sweet Hope, has just been released along with the blurb:

Anna Whitt, daughter of a guardian angel and a demon, promised herself she’d never do the work of her father—polluting souls. She’d been naive to make such a claim. She’d been naive about a lot of things. Haunted by demon whisperers, Anna does whatever she can to survive, even if it means embracing her dark side and earning an unwanted reputation as her school’s party girl. Her life has never looked more bleak. And all the while there’s Kaidan Rowe, son of the Duke of Lust, plaguing her heart and mind.
 
When an unexpected lost message from the angels surfaces, Anna finds herself traveling the globe with Kopano, son of Wrath, in an attempt to gain support of fellow Nephilim and give them hope for the first time. It soon becomes clear that whatever freedoms Anna and the rest of the Neph are hoping to win will not be gained without a fight. Until then, Anna and Kaidan must put aside the issues between them, overcome the steamiest of temptations yet, and face the ultimate question: is loving someone worth risking their life?

SO EXCITED! And nervous. There's a lot of black on this cover, and I feel like we're getting a little foreshadowing through the literal use of shadow, indicating dark times are clearly ahead. I'm going to need to take deep, soothing breaths before I pick this one up!

If you haven't read Sweet Evil yet, I hope you guys give it a try, and definitely mark your calendars for the release of Sweet Peril from HarperTeen on April 30th, 2013. More information on the amazing Wendy Higgins and her books can be found here:

Website
Facebook
Wendy on Twitter
Kaidan on Twitter
Goodreads
Sweet Evil Amazon Buy Link
Sweet Peril Amazon Buy Link