When I got asked to participate in this blog tour I was so excited. I had been wanting to read this book for awhile and Verdell did not disappoint me at all. On this stop there is an excerpt, interview, and my review. So let's get started with meeting Verdell and learning more about her and her book.
Verdell Walker is the author of THE COVEN
series. Born and raised in the South, writing has been her escape from reality
for many years.
Verdell is an avid sports fan and
absolutely devoted to the Green Bay Packers. A gifted cook and baker, few
things make her happier than making a meal for her family and friends. Except
maybe writing about her favorite boys.
Stalker Links:
This or That:
Night or Day?
I can’t
choose one here, because it totally depends on the season, day of the week,
activity, and so many other variables.
Theater or Rent?
I’d rather
rent a movie – thank God for Netflix. There are very few films that I’ll pay
$13.50 for a ticket to go see. I’d rather just wait and see it in the comfort
of my apartment!
Fall or Summer?
Even
though my birthday’s in July, I have to say fall is my favorite season. It’s
just so glorious. The leaves turn beautiful shades of orange, gold, and red.
You can wear (and knit!) cute scarves and pumpkin spice lattes come out. And
with the weather being a little chilly, I get to make a
lot of my favorite comfort food recipes.
Music or Reading?
Definitely
reading. While I love all kinds of music, I don’t think I could live without
books.
Pet Dragon or Pet Gargoyle?
A dragon,
clearly. Bonus points if it flies, breathes fire, and talks!
Flip flops or Tennis shoes?
Tennis
shoes. That way, you’re ready for anything that comes your way. Plus flip flops
have no support!
Coffee or Tea?
Tea. I’m
one of those weird people who don’t drink coffee. I love the way it smells, but
in order to drink it I need a ton of milk and sugar.
After her clique's bullying causes a
classmate's suicide, Kat Grey trades the vicious world of the California
"in crowd" for the chance to become a better person in Massachusetts Milton Academy
Kat's courage and compassion attract the
attention of Blaze Ward, Hannah's ex-boyfriend. As they fall in love, Kat
discovers that Blaze is more than the boy next door. He's a warlock. He is also
the leader of an in-crowd like no other - the Brotherhood, five young warlocks
charged with defending witches and humanity from a demonic adversary named
Seth.
Kat challenges Blaze to become a better
man and leader while he helps her find redemption as she makes it her mission
to stop bullying at Milton
Excerpt:
The body had left a spider web of cracks in Kat’s
windshield. Still wrapped in her seatbelt, Kat clutched the sides of her seat,
stricken with shock and fear. A rational
voice in the back of her head screamed at her to move, someone was injured,
maybe even dead. Trembling, she forced herself to get out of the car. On wobbly
legs she rounded the front of the Prius and scanned the area for the body.
Spotting a large, still lump lying in the grass, Kat sprinted over to the
person’s side. Kneeling, Kat placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. She couldn’t
detect any signs of blood; there was also no blood on her windshield. Whoever
he was, he smelled awful. Maybe it was a homeless person.
“Hello? Can you hear me?”
The man moved faster than the blink of an eye. One minute he
was lying immobile on the ground, the next he had his hand clamped on her mouth
and an arm around her throat. A shot of cold fear zoomed down Kat’s spine as
she felt herself being hoisted up. She kicked and thrashed in a desperate
attempt to get away, but the arm on her throat was like steel. Her cries were
muffled by the foul-smelling hand, and the stench of the grave enveloped her.
Kat thought she was going to faint until adrenaline and her fighting spirit
came to her rescue. She bit down on the stony fingers and used all her weight
when she stamped her foot on her attacker’s instep. The taste erupting in her
mouth was worse than the smell and made her want to vomit, but she concentrated
on wrenching herself free. The thing made no sound but jerked its hand back
from her sharp teeth. Kat used the opportunity to let out an ear piercing
shriek. Before it could silence her again, she tipped them both forward and
sent them sprawling toward the ground in a heap. Kat aimed another kick at its
stomach and managed to escape. It reached out and grabbed her foot but only
pulled off her sneaker.
Kat shot off into the night, racing back to her car. She
paid no attention to the gravel jabbing her shoeless foot as she ran. As she
ran she continued to scream, hoping someone, anyone, would hear her. Her thighs
burned as they ate up the distance, and she could hear her attacker gaining on
her from behind. Fear and a desire to live propelled her onward despite the
pain in her foot and throat, and tears ran down her cheeks from the biting
wind. Soon the Prius was in sight, but her attacker had almost closed the gap
between them. She could feel those disgusting fingers reaching out and trying
to grab her. Kat pressed on, even though every muscle in her body screamed to
stop.
Suddenly, a thick mist rolled in and enveloped the area,
blanketing everything. Because of it, Kat couldn’t see the exposed root
sticking up in her path. She tripped over it and pitched forward. As she fell, the
attacker’s hand grasped her hair, yanking it violently. Kat thought her neck
was going to break. She hoped it would, and that it would kill her before this
person, this thing could. She thought of the mother she was just getting to
know again, and felt sick. Then something hot streaked past her face, and the
ground beneath her shook.
“Kill the mist, Q! I need to see!”
Kat’s heart lifted – was someone coming to help her? She
didn’t want to believe, but then she heard another gruff, masculine voice.
“It’s not alone! Hold back till I clear this place!”
The mist receded, like water draining from a bathtub. Kat
was on the ground, and through her watery vision she could see two pairs of
boots racing toward her. Her attacker’s fist was still wound tightly in her
hair and she could hardly breathe for the stench. She tilted her face upward
and relief fled when she saw her saviors’ eyes cast an unearthly light in the
darkness, the color of the glowing embers of a fire.
“Oh my God,” Kat breathed.
Another shot – of lightning?! – whizzed past her. The
tension on her hair slackened. She heard a dull thud behind her as the blast of
whatever-it-was nailed her attacker in the chest and sent him flying backwards.
Her rescuers ran past her in a blur. One of them was a tall blond boy, the
other African American with close-cropped black hair. Her attacker tried to
crawl away from them but they surrounded him. The black boy brought his boot
down on his ankle, pinning him to the ground. The blond kicked him savagely in
the ribs, his body flipping over onto his back. He brought a knee down onto the
attacker’s scorched chest and placed his hands on either side of its head. The
blond boy’s hands glowed brightly as he twisted the attacker’s neck 180
degrees. A blinding white light filled the night, and the attacker’s body was
gone.
If Kat thought she was scared before, she was absolutely
terrified now. She pushed herself off the ground and tried to run away, but a
sharp pain in her ankle brought her back down. She must have sprained her ankle
when she tripped. Kat gritted her teeth against the pain and rose again. She
would crawl the last few feet to her Prius if need be, but come hell or high
water she was getting out of there.
“Hey, stop!”
Kat didn’t look back as she half ran, half hopped away. She
was almost to the Prius. Impossibly, the blond boy was right next to her in an
instant, blocking her path.
“Stop,” he commanded in a voice accustomed to being obeyed.
“Go to hell,” Kat spat back as she moved around him. She
tried to evade the long, powerful arms that reached out for her, but she was
too slow. Or rather he was unbelievably fast. On instinct, Kat fired her elbow
into his ribs. The blond let out a grunt and she slipped halfway out of his
grasp. He tried to regain his hold, but Kat reared back and scraped her nails
across his cheek. This made him angry, but she didn’t care. She was pissed. If
he took her, it wouldn’t be without a fight.
“Get away from me!” she screamed. Despite her best efforts,
he caught her again. His arms were like stone pinions around her.
“Relax,” he said into her ear in a deep, rich bass. “I’m not
going to hurt you.”
“You expect me to believe that! You just broke someone’s
neck!”
“You’re welcome, miss. It was a pleasure saving your life.”
Without thinking, Kat spat in his face.
A low whistle sounded behind him. It was the other boy.
“A girl who is immune to Blaze Ward’s charms – I do believe
this is a first.”
The one called Blaze lifted his right hand to wipe her spit
away, while still keeping her imprisoned in his left arm. She struggled against
his hard body uselessly.
“Do me a favor and hold onto her while I call Etienne.”
Oh no, there are more of them, Kat thought as she was passed
like a ragdoll between the two of them. The other boy held her just as tightly.
Her ankle throbbed. She thought about screaming again, but figured it was
impractical as there was no one else around.
Her captor leaned down to her ear and spoke to her in a calm
voice. “Don’t be afraid. We won’t hurt you. Just keep still and quiet. And
please keep your saliva to yourself.”
Blaze stepped away from them and closed his eyes. He made no
sound or movement, but he seemed to be reaching out to something or someone.
Moments later, another huge blond appeared with eyes as green as hers. Out of
thin air.
“Oh, good Lord,” Kat said aloud.
The new blond turned to look at her. “Crap – a norm. What’s
she doing here?”
“Dark One had her,” Blaze replied. “We rescued her.”
“And she thanked Blaze with a nice, big loogie,” Kat’s
captor said gleefully.
Mirth twinkled in the new blond’s eyes. “Did she see
anything?”
“Too much. Which is why I called you,” Blaze said.
“You need me to wipe her?”
“Please.”
Kat stiffened with terror. Her captor felt the change, and
rubbed her arm soothingly. “Calm down – he’s not talking about killing you.”
The new blond moved toward her. “No, baby. I promise this
won’t hurt, and you won’t remember any of this.”
“Get away from me,” Kat said in a hard, angry voice. He said
nothing, bringing his face closer to hers. Kat could make out the individual
hairs of his prickly stubble. His green eyes flashed gold.
Something pricked at Kat’s consciousness. She closed her
eyes and shook her head. The pricking continued, and some force deep within her
mind resisted. Kat squeezed her eyes and opened them again. The pricking
stopped, and she fixed him with a glare.
The blond frowned. “This one’s mind is strong. Most norms
would be drooling wrecks by now.”
“Try harder,” the first blond said.
Suddenly, a feeling of tremendous calm washed over Kat. Her
muscles relaxed, and the pain in her ankle drifted away. Those golden eyes
mesmerized her, held her in their sway. If her captor hadn’t been holding her,
she was sure she would have fallen to the ground. Her mind tried to fight back,
but this time it was impossible.
“You’re calm,” he whispered. “You’re safe, and warm.”
“Safe and warm,” Kat repeated drowsily, in spite of herself.
“Give her to me,” the first blond said. His voice sounded
far away and she nearly collapsed into his arms. He wrapped her arms around his
neck. Reaching down, he slipped an arm behind her knees and lifted her off the
ground. Cradling her to his chest, he turned to the others.
“Etienne, do something about her car. Q, conjure up another
shoe for her, will you?”
If she had been alert, she would have thought their
conversation was insane. But now all she could think of was sleep.
The one called Q stepped forward with her white and pink
Puma sneaker. Kat wondered idly where he had found it.
“I wonder who she is, and where she lives?” Blaze asked Q.
“Never seen her before. Probe her mind for it,” Q suggested.
“No need,” Etienne shouted. “Got her license here. Katherine
Grey, lives at 223 Shady Oak Lane
“Pretty sure she’s breaking curfew now,” Q said. “We should
get her home before she’s grounded for life.”
A thought occurred to Kat. “Text Mom,” she murmured.
Blaze shushed her. “Etienne, is there a phone over there?”
“Yup. Texting her mom now. Man, there are like 10 messages
from Momma Bear on this thing.”
“Q, go back to the others and make sure there are no more
Dark Ones roaming around. Etienne, drive her car back to her house. I’m going
to run ahead with her.”
Kat looked up at the young man holding her in his arms. His
handsome face was angular and sculpted, with high cheekbones and a strong,
masculine jaw. He must have felt her looking at him, because he peered down at
her. His narrowed eyes were a translucent, shimmering blue. She breathed
deeply, inhaling his scent. He smelled of sweat, dark spice, and pine. In spite
of herself, she felt completely safe and taken care of. He stared at her for
another second, and his eyes were inscrutable. The next thing Kat knew they
were moving, the night rushing past them at incredible speed.
My Review:
I loved this book. With witches, warlocks, and action packed fight scenes high school just got a lot harder.
Kat is a queen bee who changes her way from one terrible incident that her clique caused at school. She moves from California to Massachusetts to start over. She meets Blaze and a whole new world she never knew existed. But with a jealous ex-girlfriend and minion out to destroy her Blaze has to make the hardest decision of his life to protect Kat. Can Blaze break his kind’s most sacred rule to get back the girl he loves?
This book will grab you from paragraph one and have you staying up late into the night causing you to get no sleep so you can see what happens next. Kat is a heroine I found myself loving immediately she feels remorse for what her friends have done and vows to change herself for the better and to eliminate bullying so that terrible incident never happens again. Blaze is just a hero you will love from the moment he comes into the story. He just has that kind of charisma that draws people to him. I love the chemistry between Kat and Blaze. Oh and Blaze’s friends are just plain awesome. I loved them all and can’t wait to know more about them.
This story does have witches and warlocks in it but The Coven also deals with bullying and suicide. Verdell handles this heart breaking topic just right. With a story that has so much going on Verdell is able to keep it all well balanced and not let the reader get lost or confused. I am looking forward to reading more about this world and the characters that live in it. 5/5 Bloody Fangs
Buy Links:
I wanna say Thank you to Verdell for letting me review her book and Thank you to Bewitching Book Tours for letting me participate in this blog tour.
~Sabrina
Thanks for having me on your blog today Sabrina! I am humbled by the 5 stars and I'm so pleased you enjoyed Fire and Ice!
ReplyDelete