Excerpt+ Release + Swag Pack/E-book Giveaway: Unreap My Heart by Kate Evangelista

Title: Unreap My Heart (The Reaper Series, #2)

Author: Kate Evangelista

Publisher: Omnific Publishing

Release: September 17, 2013

Genre: Paranormal

Age Group: Young Adult

Event organized by: AToMR Tours; 

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Book Description:

When Death is stabbed with a dagger that sucks out his powers, Balthazar is roped into helping him find the Redeemer, the only one who can remove the dagger. But nothing is free in the Underverse. For travelling to the most dangerous places in the Underverse, Balthazar asks Death for control of the Crossroads.

Arianne was ready to pay Death’s price to save Niko. She was ready to be blind with no memory of the boy she loves. Instead, she wakes up in a strange room, still able to see and with Niko in a deep sleep. She agrees to work with Balthazar on the condition: Death needs to wake Niko. But Arianne soon finds out that helping the bad guy means having to do lots of bad things.

EXCERPT

“I bet you’re completely regretting saying yes to this now.”

She shook her head. “I shouldn’t have.”

“Yes, you shouldn’t have.” She’d backed herself into a wall and Balthazar reached her in two steps. She flinched when Balthazar spread one hand on the wall beside her head. He shifted his weight there as he leaned over her and whispered, “You smell like roses.”

“I-i-it’s the bath water. They used rose oil,” she stammered. Having Balthazar so close frazzled her brain. He seemed bigger somehow. Like he’d grown ten feet since she'd last seen him. And so broad too. When did his shoulders and chest get so broad?

Balthazar touched the tip of his nose to the base of her neck and traced a line up to her jaw, inhaling as he went. The move sent Arianne slumping against the wall for support, her knees threatening to give way beneath her. She raised her shackled hands until they spread over the center of his chest. She clutched at the buckles there, the cool metal digging in to her palms. Balthazar tsked after he’d pulled away far enough to stare into her eyes—eyes now lined with kohl. She found herself shaking her head along with him.

“You shouldn’t have spoken over me the way you did,” he said with the softest threat. The kind that sent tingles down her spine.

“I didn’t.” At least she didn’t stammer anymore. Instead, her voice sounded breathy, which seemed so much worse.

He touched her lips with the tip of his finger. “Oh, but you did. I'd pretty much convinced Solara that you didn’t need to change for the Underball, but you had to go and ruin it by agreeing without my consent. Not that I’m complaining.” He raked his gaze over her body again. Like a bomb exploding, Arianne felt all her blood rise to the surface. “But something has to be done about this master/slave relationship we have here.”

“W-w-what do you mean?” Great, the stammering returned. The muscles in her abdomen quivered in the most delicious way. Arianne tried to ignore it and focus, but her body betrayed her more and more the longer Balthazar stood this close to her. She only noticed now, so close to him, that he smelled like sandalwood. The spicy earth scent brought her back to the time her mother burned incense around the house. She went through a whole New Age-y phase before Carrie got sick. Standing a nose away from Balthazar sent a sense of comfort surging through her body with a hint of something more. A feeling Arianne didn’t care to acknowledge. Hot. Drugging. Dangerous. She knew if she let herself cross the line she wouldn’t find her way back.

Balthazar moved his hand from the wall to her cheek. Arianne fought against leaning in to the touch. Even with the fingerless gloves, she could feel the warmth of his hand. The calluses on his exposed skin didn’t feel rough on her face at all.

“You put us both in danger if you don’t act like an obedient slave, Ari.” He whispered her name like the sweetest candy on the tongue. A part of her wished he’d say it again. The other part of her struggled to continue the conversation.

“I won’t disobey you. I promise.” And she meant it too.

“Remember when I said you shouldn’t force me into teaching you a lesson about what it means to have a master?”

She nodded. They’d had that conversation right before they entered the Voyeur mansion. Balthazar had warned her, yet she’d forgotten all about it the second Solara came into the room with her demons. Arianne thought she’d done something good by agreeing. Unfortunately, her good deed backfired in the most frightening yet insanely delicious way.

She hardly recognized the guy standing before her. The sarcasm and gruff nature had disappeared, leaving behind someone who oozed sex appeal like some cologne he’d sprayed on. Heat pooled inside her stomach, causing every muscle below it to clench. If Balthazar didn’t step away now, she’d find herself flat on the floor.

“You know what happens now, don’t you?” His eyes locked with hers again. His voice grew even softer.

She shook her head into his touch.

“I punish you.”

The way he said punish blew the last of her knees’ power to support her body weight. The second she began to slide down the wall, Balthazar’s other arm snaked around her waist and pulled her forward until her body fused against his. Every buckle that touched her skin made her shiver.

She looked up and Balthazar’s lips descended.

About the Author

When Kate Evangelista was told she had a knack for writing stories, she did the next best thing: entered medical school. After realizing she wasn't going to be the next Doogie Howser, M.D., Kate wandered into the Literature department of her university and never looked back. Today, she is in possession of a piece of paper that says to the world she owns a Literature degree. To make matters worse, she took Master's courses in creative writing. In the end, she realized to be a writer, none of what she had mattered. What really mattered? Writing. Plain and simple, honest to God, sitting in front of her computer, writing. Today, she has four completed Young Adult novels.

Author social media links:

Blog - http://kateevangelistarandr.blogspot.com/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kate-Evangelista/165693410143202

Twitter - @KateEvangelista; https://twitter.com/KateEvangelista

Event Giveaway:  

1. The author is offering a Swag Pack Release Event giveaway.  Ends October 1st.
   

   

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2. Per blog Giveaway: 
   (1) eBook copy of Reaping Me Soflty (Book, #1) - (ePacks with all electronic formats will be provided by the publisher) – International –

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FREE EXCERPT: Taste by Kate Evangelista

Title: Taste

Author: Kate Evangelista

Publisher: Crescent Moon Press

Release Date: not set

At Barinkoff Academy, there's only one rule: no students on campus after curfew. Phoenix McKay soon finds out why when she is left behind at sunset. A group calling themselves night students threaten to taste her flesh until she is saved by a mysterious, alluring boy. With his pale skin, dark eyes, and mesmerizing voice, Demitri is both irresistible and impenetrable. He warns her to stay away from his dangerous world of flesh eaters. Unfortunately, the gorgeous and playful Luka has other plans.

When Phoenix is caught between her physical and her emotional attraction, she becomes the keeper of a deadly secret that will rock the foundations of an ancient civilization living beneath Barinkoff Academy. Phoenix doesn’t realize until it is too late that the closer she gets to both Demitri and Luka the more she is plunging them all into a centuries old feud.

 Excerpt: 

I sat up and followed Calixta’s gaze upward. I rubbed my eyes. I didn’t know what I was seeing at first. A statue? ­My brain refused to snap together coherent thoughts.  I didn’t realize I’d fallen so close to one of the garden benches until I stared up at the boy that sat on one. He was strikingly beautiful. His tumble of blonde hair curled just above his sculpted cheekbones. He wore a silk shirt and a loosened cravat, like he’d become bored while dressing and decided to leave himself in disarray. His ivory skin and frozen position was what had me mistaking him for something carved from marble by Michelangelo. Then he sighed—a lonely, breathy proof of life. If I had to imagine what Lucifer looked like before he fell from heaven, the boy on the bench would certainly fulfill that image. My brain told me I had to look away, but I couldn’t.

“Luka,” Calixta said again, her voice unsure, almost nervous. It no longer contained the steel and bite she had threatened me with, which made me wonder who the boy was.

He leaned on his hands and crossed his legs, all the while keeping his eyes fixed on the night sky. His movements spoke of elegance and control. I’d encountered many people with breeding before, but his took on the air of arrogance and self-assuredness of someone used to getting what he wanted when he wanted it.

I only realized I’d been holding my breath when my lungs protested. I exhaled. My heart sputtered and restarted with a vengeance. Luka tore his gaze away from the stars and settled it on me. I’d expected pitch-black irises, like the other Night Students, but blue ice stared back at me.

“Human,” he whispered.

He reached out, and with a finger, followed an invisible trail down my cheek. I stiffened. His touch, cooler than Demitri’s, caused warm sparks to blossom on my face. He lifted his finger to his lips and licked its tip. He might as well have licked me from the way my body shivered.

Luka’s curious gaze held mine. “Leave us,” he said, but not to me.

“But—” Calixta protested like a spoiled child.

He spoke in a language I hadn’t heard before, remaining calm yet firm. The words had a rolling cadence I couldn’t quite follow, like rumbling thunder in the distance. They contained a harsh sensuality. The consonants were hard and the vowels were long and lilting.

Footsteps retreated behind me.

Luka reached out again.

It took me a minute to realize he wanted to help me up. I hesitated. He smiled. I smiled back timidly and took his hand, completely dazzled. Even with my uniform soaked from melted snow, I didn’t feel cold—all my attention was on him and the way his callused hand felt on mine. Without moving much from his seated position, he helped me stand.

“What’s your name?” he asked. He had a voice like a familiar lullaby. It filled my heart to the brim with comfort.

I swallowed and tried to stop gawking. “Phoenix.”

“The bird that rose from the ashes.” Luka bent his head and kissed the back of my hand. “It’s a pleasure meeting you.”

My cheeks warmed. My head reeled, not knowing what to think. I couldn’t understand why I felt drawn to him. And the strange connection frightened me.

From behind, someone gripped my arms and yanked me away before I could sort out the feelings Luka inspired in me. I found myself behind a towering figure yet again. Recognizing the blue-black silk for hair tied at the nape, relief washed over me. Calixta hadn’t come back to finish me off.

Demitri’s large hand wrapped around my wrist. Unlike the night before, no calm existed in his demeanor. He trembled like a junky in need of a fix. The coiled power in his tense muscles vibrated into me.

“What are you doing here?” Demitri asked.

I didn’t know he’d spoken to me until I saw his expressionless profile. I sighed.

“Phoenix.”

I flinched. The ruthless way he said my name punched all the air out of me. “You owe me answers,” I said with as much bravado as I could muster.

“I owe you nothing.” He glared. “In fact, you owe me your life.”

“I don’t think so.”

Ignoring my indignation, he faced Luka, who’d remained seated on the bench during my exchange with Demitri. “Why is she with you, Luka?”

“I wasn’t going to taste her, if that’s what you’re implying,” Luka said. “Although, she is simply delicious. I wouldn’t mind if you left us alone.”

There it was again. Taste. The word that kept coming up between these Night Students and I was connected to it in an increasingly uncomfortable way. To taste meant to sample, but what? My flesh? They had to be joking because the alternative wasn’t funny.

“The sins of the father …” Demitri left his sentence unfinished.

Luka’s smile shifted into a snarl. “Obey my command.” His chin lifted. “Kneel.”

Demitri’s stance went rigid. His grip tightened around my wrist.

Okay, weird just got weirder. Why would Luka want Demitri to kneel before him? I thought back to Eli and the others bowing to Demitri when he questioned them, but they didn’t kneel. Seriously? Were they all living on a different planet or something?

“Kneel.” Luka’s detestable smirk made his features sinister rather than angelic. The real Lucifer: a fallen angel.

Without letting go of my wrist, Demitri knelt down on one knee and bowed his head, his free hand flat at the center of his chest. “Your command has been obeyed,” he said formally.

Luka nodded once.

Demitri stood up and pulled me toward the school without telling me where we were going. Not having the time to thank Luka for saving me from Calixta, I risked a glance back. Luka smiled at me. His smile spoke of whispers, secrets, and promises to be shared on a later date.

Cover Unveiled: Taste by Kate Evangelista

Title: Taste

Author: Kate Evangelista

Publisher: Crescent Moon Press

Release Date: not set

At Barinkoff Academy, there's only one rule: no students on campus after curfew. Phoenix McKay soon finds out why when she is left behind at sunset. A group calling themselves night students threaten to taste her flesh until she is saved by a mysterious, alluring boy. With his pale skin, dark eyes, and mesmerizing voice, Demitri is both irresistible and impenetrable. He warns her to stay away from his dangerous world of flesh eaters. Unfortunately, the gorgeous and playful Luka has other plans.

When Phoenix is caught between her physical and her emotional attraction, she becomes the keeper of a deadly secret that will rock the foundations of an ancient civilization living beneath Barinkoff Academy. Phoenix doesn’t realize until it is too late that the closer she gets to both Demitri and Luka the more she is plunging them all into a centuries old feud.

I actually saw this cover in LibraryThing (2010) as one of the profile pics of the users there. Since then, I always love this picture, I never thought this is a cover art of a book..