Book Tour for Redemption by Erica Hayes (Review & GIVEAWAY)

Those readers wanting a book full of intense action, life or death circumstances, and a hard fought journey to a HEA will find themselves drawn to Redemption by Erica Hayes.  It's a gritty paranormal read that's another satisfying stepping stone in the Seven Signs series. Keep reading to get a glimpse into this book courtesy of Erica talking about the making of this series as well as my review of this book as well.  Not only do you get to discover a new read today, don't forget to sign up for the Kindle Fire giveaway before you leave.......

Thanks for hosting me on The Scarf Princess today. I'm stoked to be here!

I'd like to share with you a bit about my Seven Signs paranormal romance series, which continues this month with REDEMPTION. First things first: what an awesome cover. Crazy hot angel warrior, we haz him. Are those gorgeous golden wings, or what?

Now we've got that over with… what's it about, you ask? In twenty-five words or less? In near-future Manhattan, a gang of fallen angels must defeat demons intent on staging their own apocalypse and creating hell on earth.

Swords, magic spells, vengeful demons, tough heroines and hot guys with feathers. Cool!

I've always wanted to write an end-of-the-world series. I love post-apocalyptic – all those violent wastelands and struggles for survival – but what about the End itself? Whose fault is it? Can it be stopped? Why should we all die just to fulfill some crummy old prophecy, anyway?

Let me assure you that this isn't a book about religion. Grin. Hell, no… but the seven signs in the series title refers to my fantasy version of the biblical apocalypse – seven terrible plagues, unleashed by heaven to herald the end of the world. The dead rising, oceans of blood, the sky raining fire and holy vengeance. Frightening stuff, even if its all part of the Big Plan.

But what if it wasn't? I thought to myself. Self, said I, what if demons hijacked the Apocalypse, and twisted the seven signs to their own ends? According to the prophecy, evil's supposed to be defeated once and for all… but what if that destiny could be changed?

So that's what happens in the Seven Signs, starting with REVELATION and continuing this month with REDEMPTION: an unscheduled Apocalypse. Here's an ocean of blood, there's a plague of zombies, over there's a horde of ravenous demon-cursed vampires. The signs are appearing with no go-ahead from heaven. The Demon King has stolen seven ancient vials of holy wrath, and he's got a plan: release Satan from the pit, win the Final Battle, and create Hell on earth.

To cut a long story short: angels, demons, and the end of the world, with lashings of hot romance. Oh, and plagues of vampires and cursed walking corpses. Sound like fun? It sure is. You can check out excerpts and behind-the-scenes cool stuff at my website:http://www.ericahayes.net/sevensigns.html

And don't forget to enter my blog tour giveaway, for a chance to win a Kindle Fire. You know you want one…

Japheth the Tainted is on the hunt for a mysterious demon vampire. But meeting her face-to-face might disarm his warrior spirit—and spark an unquenchable passion with apocalyptic consequences.

As a fallen angel, Japheth is determined to make his way back to heaven by staying pure and slaying hellspawn. With a new scourge of vampires unleashed by a blood-drinking demon, the Prince of Thirst, there’s plenty to be done. But Japheth is after one vampire in particular—the one they call the Angel Slayer.

Rose Harley never wanted to be a vampire, but the Prince of Thirst can turn even the kindest soul into a soldier of hell. Feeling abandoned by God, she stalks the West Village taking revenge on his angels—until she meets her match.
When Japheth and Rose encounter each other, the battle is fierce and charged with desire. But when they discover a common enemy—the Prince of Thirst himself—they form a dangerous alliance that could either cost them their eternal lives, or spark a love more powerful than heaven or hell.

EXCERPT:

The angel crouched, glittering wings backswept. One hand outstretched for balance, the other leveling his sky-fire sword at her. He wore dark leather pants and a silver angel’s cuirass that sparked with electric blue rage. Blood spotted his feathers, slicked in his sweaty golden hair. A dark and angry warrior, primed for battle. His gaze stabbed her, poisoned with malice, frigid and greener than hatred.
“Angel Slayer,” he hissed. Barely audible, quivering . . . but not the passionate, reckless head rush of thirty seconds ago. Frosty, lethal rage, calculated to the last inch for the kill.
Jesus. Rose thought she had issues.
But her pulse raced, lacing her blood with heady fight or flight. She’d lost the surprise advantage that helped her make her previous kills. And the bastard was strong, agile. Big, too, those glistening muscles packed with power. She’d need all her wiles to win . . .
“Very good,” she mocked, circling to get better range. “What’s the matter, angel? Can’t fight properly with a hard-on?”
“I always fight with a hard-on, whore.” An ice-spiked laugh. His accent was elusive, mixed. “Maybe slitting your throat will get me off. Whaddaya say?”
“Have at me, then, sucker, you’re cutting into my feeding time—umph!”
Sizzling blue fire scythed past her nose. She swayed, dizzy. She’d ducked his blade by an inch. Fuck, he was fast.

But so was she. She dived into a handspring and rolled to her feet. He was already there and kicked her legs from under her.

Her flesh tingled. Fighting was dancing, but with sharp objects. She whiplashed, and jumped, aiming a backhanded slash at his face. He thrust up a wing to block her strike, and grabbed her wrist, flinging her off her feet.

Her skull cracked on the pavement. Groggy, she fought, but he straddled her, pinning her shoulders with his knees.

Wildly, Rose kicked, but connected only with a cushion of feathers. He slammed her wrist into the concrete. Skin sizzled on bare skin. Her knife dropped from numb fingers, and smoothly he aimed his burning blue sword point at her throat. “Don’t talk and fight. It makes you careless.”

Fuck! She wanted to scream in frustration. That was way too easy. She’d been too confident.

He was good, she’d give him that. He was breathing hard, and she couldn’t help noticing the bastard filled out his silver chest plate admirably. Blood stained his golden hair, and the big muscles in his arms gleamed with sweat. His shining feathers quivered taut with rage. His thighs strained inches from her nose—strong, hard-packed thighs, not one wasted curve—and as her gaze traveled upwards, treacherous heat rose in her belly. He hadn’t been bullshitting about the hard-on. She could smell him, heady, more chili espresso than angelstink, with a musky lash of hot male flesh. An impressive hunk of powerful masculine beauty.

And what a stupid fucking thing to be dwelling on, when he was about to send her screaming to hell.

Rose thrashed, and spat curses that blistered his fingers. She threw a spell, hellsmoke stinging, but he deflected it easily now he was on his guard, and ash exploded, raining harmlessly. His blade singed her neck. Her wrist sizzled where he crushed it. She didn’t care. “Spare me your preaching, godscum. I don’t want to be saved.”

“Oh, I won’t preach to you, bloodsucker.” His gaze glittered, icy. Impossibly green, this angel’s eyes. “I wouldn’t waste my time. You’re already damned.”

For a moment, she quailed. She didn’t want it to be true. She’d made a mistake, let herself be seduced. What happened to Bridie was an accident. She hadn’t wanted this stinking, disgusting life. The blood, the slaughter, a demon prince’s dirty urges, the endless threat of eternity in hell if she didn’t comply . . .

But too late. She’d crossed that bridge. Bridie was dead. No going back.

And this angel’s precious heaven didn’t care.

“Fine.” She tried to cover the crack in her voice with sass. “Then fuck your God, and fuck you.” And she spat, right into the angel’s face.

It hit his bloodstained cheek, and sizzled to steam, and she waited for the burning thrust of steel into her throat.

MY IMPRESSIONS OF THE BOOK:

In Erica Hayes' Redemption we jump right back into the chaos of the upcoming Apocalypse as the sexy Tainted Angels return to find another of the keys to the end of the world while fighting demons here on Earth as well as those inner demons weighing on their souls.  And no Tainted Angel seems to have more weighing on him than Japheth, who's kept his emotions locked inside since being cast out.  His inner torment made me ache for him and I longed for him to find someone to ease his pain.  He allows no comfort or happiness into his life as penance and continues on as the dutiful soldier, at least until he meets the one woman to tempt him in over a 1000 years.  She's his enemy though something about her calls to him and unthaws his cold heart and for the first time he's unsure of what is right.  Should he give in to the only bright spot he's found since being cast out or throw away his last chance at redemption for the love he sees in her conflicted soul?  Rose was made a vampire against her will and has done whatever necessary to keep from being sent to Hell.  Her latest mission is to corrupt the incorruptible Japheth through seduction and once they meet it's hard to tell who's really being seduced.  Rose knows she's abhorrent because of her demon blood and can't understand why the pure-hearted and sexy Japheth wants her, but wants her he does.  Rose is a strong-willed woman who hates what she's become and the hurts she's caused.  She doesn't believe in redemption or the concept of honor until Japheth shows her a different way of living.

What follows is a journey full of sexual tension where they have to rely on each other to get what they both want.  It's a dangerous and bloody war they wage against powerful enemies and with their own desires. Neither wants to hurt the other but at times it's hard not to cause each other hurts when there's constant betrayal all around them.  They fight each other every step of the way but you can sense their connection and the succor they could give each other if they just give their true feelings a chance.  The verbal sparring at the beginning is the first glimpse into their attraction.  Their sexual interludes later on are super steamy and well worth the wait.  The final part of the story was about great sacrifice and brought a tear to my eyes.  It gave new meaning to what redemption truly is.

Hayes' world building is unique and vivid with its dark and gritty city full of a dangerous cast of various demons all partying their way to the Apocalypse.  The action scenes are numerous and heartpounding with much blood being shed.  In a separate storyline we see the rest of the Tainted Angels hunting another piece of the Apocalyptic puzzle in a deadly fight of their own where the archangel Michael continues to crave power and continues to poison his warriors through promises and lies.  He's becoming more dangerous and I fear for those sexy and heroic Tainted Angels.  A final scene that caught me completely by surprise involving Tainted Angel Jadzia and her demon lover opens up an entirely new can of worms and has me greatly anticipating the next book in this series.

My rating for this is an A.

*I received this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.

BUY LINKS: 

PAPERBACK:  Amazon   |   BN   |   Book Depository

EBOOK:  Amazon   |   BN   |   iTunes

AUTHOR INFO:

Erica Hayes was a law student, an air force officer, an editorial assistant and a musician, before finally landing her dream job: fantasy and romance writer.

She writes dark paranormal and urban fantasy romance, and her books feature tough, smart heroines and colourful heroes with dark secrets.

She hails from Australia, where she drifts from city to city, leaving a trail of chaos behind her. Currently, she's terrorizing the wilds of Northumberland.

http://www.ericahayes.net
http://erica-hayes.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/ericahayes.author
http://www.twitter.com/ericahayes
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2922003.Erica_Hayes

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