Book Blitz: Cup of Life by Juliana Haygert :: Excerpt + Giveaway

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Thirty or forty years ago, I wouldn’t have stared at the girl in front of me for more than five seconds before charming her into going to bed with me.

But this girl ... this girl was different.

“I think that’s everything,” Nadine said, stepping out of the cottage as Rok flew from the roof.

It was early January. The lights around the cottage reflected on the three feet of snow, and illuminated Nadine’s long brown hair, tinting some strands bronze. Her hair, her dark green eyes, and her red lips contrasted with her fair skin, and the only thought on my mind was that I had never seen a more beautiful girl in my entire life. And I had been alive for quite some time.

Nadine approached me, and as it was every time she looked at me, I fought the urge to reach to her, to pull her against me, to kiss her, to—

“It is everything, isn’t it?” She glanced at the bag slung across my shoulder and the box in my arms. She held her sister’s stuffed bunny in one hand, and a duffel bag in another.

We had been moving to our new location all day, making several trips to and from, and now we were the last ones here.

“I think so,” I replied, quickly glancing to Rok hovering above our heads. “Ready?”

She walked down the porch steps, into the snow, and turned to the cottage. Her eyes scanned it, as if she wanted to take every little detail with her.

She slung the duffel bag on her shoulder and turned the collar of her jacket up. “It’s odd. I feel like I should feel bad for leaving this place after fleeing so many others, after losing so many people.” She sighed. “But I don’t, and I totally should, especially after seeing the new place Ceris got us.”

I nodded, knowing too well that the new place brought her depressing memories.

No matter. It was a new place, a new path on our journey, a new beginning. We were on the right track.

I offered my arm to her. “Let’s go, darling.”

With a half-smile that made my heart skip a beat, Nadine sauntered to me and hooked her arm with mine.

I scooted closer to her, more than necessary, because I could, because I wanted, and transported us out of there.

------------------About the Book-------------------

Cup of Life by Juliana Haygert 

(Everlast #2.5) 

Publication date: January 20th 2014

Genres: Fantasy, New Adult, Paranormal Romance

Synopsis:

His existence would mean nothing without her.

**New Adult Fantasy Novella**

**Novella between book #2 and #3, told on Micah’s POV**

Book Links: Goodreads :: Amazon :: B&N

---------------------The Series---------------------

-----------------About the Author------------------

While Juliana Haygert dreams of being Wonder Woman, Buffy, or a blood elf shadow priest, she settles for the less exciting—but equally gratifying—life of a wife, mother, and author. Thousands of miles away from her former home in Brazil, she now resides in Connecticut and spends her days writing about kick-ass heroines and the heroes who drive them crazy.

Author Links: Website :: Goodreads :: Facebook :: Twitter

---------------------Giveaway---------------------

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blog Tour: Soul Oath by Juliana Haygert

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Review
If you guys haven't started reading this trilogy, I highly recommend you get on that. I liked Destiny Gift, but Soul Oath is just awesome. I feel like everything that happened in the first book was leading up to all the stuff that just explodes out of this book. Nadine is easier to connect with, the plot is getting twisted and complicated, and best of all - Micah is on FIRE. I found myself thinking about the story when I wasn't reading it and I just devoured it every chance I got.

We're back in the Everlast world, which is somehow darker than it was before. The threat of danger lurks on every page. No where feels safe and every time Nadine thinks she can rest for a minute, you just wait for the other shoe (or the other demons) to drop. We're off on quite the quest in this book, including some time in Minnesota which always makes me happy, and I can't wait to see where Nadine and gang are going from here.

The second Micah showed back up, the whole story just ignites. He just frustrates me in the best way possible. The tension he brings is just so great. He just makes Victor seem like a blip on the radar. Micah is larger than life and he says things and does things that are perfect even as he drives me crazy. And with the way he left things in this book I am dying to know how he's going to be in the next book.

Juliana has created her own mythology and it's getting more complicated. The gods and goddesses are starting to show their pasts, their roles in history, and they're even beginning to flash bits of their weaknesses. It's a bold move to create your own myths and Juliana really pulls it off. I love that she's doing something different in the NA field and if you're looking for something that's not contemporary, I think this is a great place to start. 

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About Soul Oath

Soul Oath by Juliana Haygert
(Everlast #2)
Publication date: November 25th 2013
Genres: Fantasy, New Adult, Paranormal Romance

Sequel of Destiny Gift (Everlast #1) – contains spoilers:

It’s been three months since Nadine last heard from Victor, Micah or Ceris, allowing her to concentrate on her own life. But until Victor and Micah find the scepters that will restore them as true gods, their human bodies will require her healing touch and it’s only a matter of time until they wreak havoc on her life again.

As if to prove that, Victor shows up at the hospital dragging along with him a swarm of demons. Nadine is forced to flee to safety. Despite her attempts to keep her loved ones protected, the demons find her, and they bring her to Imha, the goddess of Chaos.

Now, confronted by her greatest fear, Nadine finds a new motivation. Vengeance. And when seeking revenge, no risk is too great, including her own life.

Book Links: Goodreads :: Amazon :: B&N

Everlast #1: Destiny Gift

Book Links: Goodreads :: Amazon :: B&N

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About the Author

While Juliana Haygert dreams of being Wonder Woman, Buffy, or a blood elf shadow priest, she settles for the less exciting—but equally gratifying—life of a wife, mother, and author. Thousands of miles away from her former home in Brazil, she now resides in Connecticut and spends her days writing about kick-ass heroines and the heroes who drive them crazy.

Author Links: Website :: Goodreads :: Facebook :: Twitter

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Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Check out the rest of the Soul Oath Tour schedule!

Book Blitz: Soul Oath by Juliana Haygert

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About the Book

Soul Oath (Everlast #2)

by Juliana Haygert

Expected pub date: Nov/25/2013

Length: ~80,000 words

Cover: Okay Creations

Summary from Goodreads:

It’s been three months since Nadine last heard from Victor, Micah or Ceris, allowing her to concentrate on her own life. But until Victor and Micah find the scepters that will restore them as true gods, their human bodies will require her healing touch and it’s only a matter of time until they wreak havoc on her life again.

As if to prove that, Victor shows up at the hospital dragging along with him a swarm of demons. Nadine is forced to flee to safety. Despite her attempts to keep her loved ones protected, the demons find her, and they bring her to Imha, the goddess of Chaos.

Now, confronted by her greatest fear, Nadine finds a new motivation. Vengeance. And when seeking revenge, no risk is too great, including her own life.

**New Adult Fantasy Novel**

Available from:

  

Book One:

(linked to Goodreads)

Amazon | Barnes&Noble | Kobo | Apple | Createspace

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Teaser

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About the Author

New Adult author and contributor at NA Alley blog.

While Juliana Haygert dreams of being Wonder Woman, Buffy, or a blood elf shadow priest, she settles for the less exciting—but equally gratifying—life of a wife, mother, and author. Thousands of miles away from her former home in Brazil, she now resides in Connecticut and spends her days writing about kick-ass heroines and the heroes who drive them crazy.

Author Links:

    

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Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Blitz Organized by:

Double Cover Reveal: Soul Oath & Cup of Life by Juliana Haygert

Soul Oath (Everlast #2)

by Juliana Haygert

Expected pub date: Nov/25/2013

Length: ~80,000 words

Cover: Okay Creations

Summary from Goodreads:

It’s been three months since Nadine last heard from Victor, Micah or Ceris, allowing her to concentrate on her own life. But until Victor and Micah find the scepters that will restore them as true gods, their human bodies will require her healing touch and it’s only a matter of time until they wreak havoc on her life again.

As if to prove that, Victor shows up at the hospital dragging along with him a swarm of demons. Nadine is forced to flee to safety. Despite her attempts to keep her loved ones protected, the demons find her, and they bring her to Imha, the goddess of Chaos.

Now, confronted by her greatest fear, Nadine finds a new motivation. Vengeance. And when seeking revenge, no risk is too great, including her own life.

**New Adult Fantasy Novel**

***

Cup of Life (Everlast, #2.5)

by Juliana Haygert

Expected pub date: Nov/25/2013

Lenght: ~15,000 words

Cover: Okay Creations

Summary from Goodreads:

His existence would mean nothing without her.

Book One:

(linked to Goodreads)

Amazon | Barnes&Noble | Kobo | Apple | Createspace

About the Author:

New  Adult author and contributor at NA Alley blog.

While Juliana Haygert dreams of being Wonder Woman, Buffy, or a blood elf shadow priest, she settles for the less exciting—but equally gratifying—life of a wife, mother, and author. Thousands of miles away from her former home in Brazil, she now resides in Connecticut and spends her days writing about kick-ass heroines and the heroes who drive them crazy.

Author Links:

    

Cover Reveal Organized by:

Author Interview: Juliana Haygert

        I'm stoked to have Juliana Haygert on the blog today answering my questions! Juliana is the lovely New Adult author of Destiny Gift and the upcoming Breaking the Reins. If you want to check out my review of Destiny Gift you can check it out HERE.

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   In the Best Worlds: What are three things about yourself that not many people know?

Julianna Haygert: Wow, what a start!

Okay, let’s see.

1) I have a moon shaped scar on my right knee (just like Victor does).

2) I’m obsessed with my weight – I exercise like crazy, and I cry whenever I gain a pound.

3) I hate it when my husband travels for work (which thankfully doesn’t happen much anymore) because I don’t feel like I’m “safe” when he’s gone. I’m dead serious.

   ITBW: New Adult consists largely of contemporary fiction, so what made you decide to write a paranormal NA novel?

JH: Though I’ve been on a contemporary phase lately, Paranormal and UF are my favorite genres, and most of my ideas always come to me with something supernatural about them. When I first started writing with publication purposes (around 2009), I wrote three UF manuscripts before attempting contemporary, simply because that was the order the ideas came to me.

ITBW: Destiny Gift is set 30 years in the future. What made you decide to write during that time? Did you have any challenges in picturing our world in the near future?

JH: I wanted a different world, and, after a lot of thought, I figured it would be easier to change the future than to change the past. Though, I had to delete several pop culture references on the book, like at one point I mentioned Lady Gaga and her fame, and then I thought, hm, Lady Gaga would be almost 60 years old during DG’s period so I had to take those out.

ITBW: There’s a unique mythological story line in Destiny Gift. What inspired you to write outside of traditional Greek and Roman mythology?

JH: I LOVE mythologies. Always have, always will love.

At first, I thought about using Egyptian mythology (my favorite – I will write a book involving it someday!) or Greek and Roman, which are the most common – but, in the end, I wanted something different. There are so many books out there that deal with Greek and Roman mythology, I didn’t want DG to be compared to them. Besides, it was fun creating my own gods and creatures and legends.

ITBW: What is your favorite thing about writing in the NA field?

JH: The freedom to write the heck I want. Seriously. I mean, if you write YA and there are sex scenes in your books, people are gonna talk (bad) about it. If you write adult but the tone of your protagonist is a little immature or if that’s not enough sex (gasp!), people are gonna talk (bad) about it. With NA, you have the immature + mature, the new + old, the sex or no sex at all, the responsibility + the stupidity that comes with thinking you’re responsible.

Well, people still talk a lot about NA, band AND good stuff LOL

      ITBW: Are there any NA books you’d recommend?

JH: There are sooooo many. Easy by Tammara Webber, Broken at Love by Lyla Payne, The Wild Ones by M. Leighton. I have a “new adult” and a “favorites” list on goodreads – there you’ll find all the books I recommend ;)

 ITBW: What are you working on now?

JH: I’m finishing revisions on Breaking the Reins, my upcoming NA Contemp, and soon I’ll be drafting the sequel of Destiny Gift! And then I think I’m gonna pick up a forgotten NA contemp and rework it ;)

    ITBW: Finish these sentences…

::We could be best friends if...you were Jennifer Lawrence lol Seriously, the girl is so awkward         and so crazy. Love her.

            ::When I was 20 (or a new adult) I…got married.

            ::You should read my book because…it’s a crazy, unexpected ride!

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More about Juliana: While Juliana Haygert dreams of being Wonder Woman, Buffy, or a blood elf shadow priest, she settles for the less exciting - but equally gratifying - life of a wife, mother, and author. Thousands of miles away from her former home in Brazil, she now resides in Connecticut and spends her days writing about kick-ass heroines and the heroes who drive them crazy.

Find Juliana Online: Website :: Blog :: NA Alley :: Facebook :: Twitter 

Destiny Gift - Juliana Haygert

Synopsis: Thirty years in the future, a sinister New York City exists in permanent darkness.
A student at the secured NYU, nineteen-year-old Nadine has visions of Victor Gianni, an imaginary guy she has real feelings for. Afraid of being truly insane, she explains the visions away as simple daydreams, but she can no longer deny them when she bumps into Victor in real life. But this Victor doesn’t know her, and turns her away. After the encounter, Nadine’s visions change to those of eerie fates, gods she’s never heard of, demons with sharp claws they are not too timid to use … and instructions.
To discover if she’s losing her mind, Nadine follows the vague directions—with the real, rude and reluctant Victor—leading to a man who knows it all: Nadine can restore an ancient creed by unveiling the clues on her visions, and bring sunlight and peace to the world again. But that’s only if the demons and the other evil forces behind the darkness don’t stop her first.

For as obsessed as I've been about New Adult, I hadn't ventured beyond the contemporary genre until I read Destiny Gift. This book is really great for breaking apart all the labels people have taken to placing on NA lit. It combines mythology and urban fantasy, throws in a dark futuristic setting and it has a love interest that doesn't take precedence over the story at hand. Even with all these things, Nadine is still at college and dealing with the type of independence, decisions, and friends that come along with being that age. Destiny Gift really is a unique story that kept me on my toes, totally surprised me, and left me needing more.

Juliana creates her own mythology for this story. I kept trying to figure out what mythology the gods and goddesses in this story were based of of, but once I realized they were totally new I got really excited. They're very well written, so it's hard to tell that they haven't been around for a long time. I also loved that there's a nod to Greek and Roman mythologies, where she acknowledges their existence and kind of sets this structure up as the true one, even if it's fairly unknown. The gods and goddesses have their own fascinating feuds, there are scholars of the religion, and of course you have humans who are pawns in their schemes.

And of course when things blow up between gods, the whole world suffers. Which brings us to the world Nadine lives in. It's much darker and bleaker than the world we live in now, yet it's set just 30 years in the future. Natural disasters hit all the time and it's dangerous to walk unguarded in New York. Nadine attends NYU, which is heavily guarded. She's a relatively normal girl who's studying pre-med and has friends who worry she doesn't get out of the apartment enough. She's normal, except that she has visions and has fallen in love with the guy in her visions. All of these aspects come together in a really interesting way - because the visions and the mythology are really enhanced by the background of this potential future.

Then there's this guy that Nadine is in love with in her visions, who doesn't seem like the same guy when she meets him in real life and then there's Micah who swoops into her life from out of no where and it's hard to figure out why he's there. It seems for a bit that there's a love triangle setting up, but honestly the romantic storyline takes a back seat to all the action going on, so it's hard to really decide if there's enough feeling on the part of both guys to really set up a proper triangle.

I love where the story was heading, especially after it turned into a kind of avoid-the-apocalypse type of road trip. But there was a moment where I was truly stunned at the way the story took a turn and I got really excited. A lot that didn't quite fit all suddenly fit into place, but there are still a lot of things that I need answers to. I'm still really curious how Nadine fits into the larger picture, where pieces are beginning to become more clear.

I'm really happy with my first non-contemporary foray into NA and if you're looking for something different in NA lit, definitely give this book a shot. It might change your ideas of what NA is all about. Plus, it's just a great and enjoyable story. And for the next couple weeks it's only 0.99 cents. So really, why not give it a shot?