Darlene's Book Nook: Pretty When She Destroys Blog Tour: Guest Post and Giveaway with Rhiannon Frater

Friday, August 2, 2013

Pretty When She Destroys Blog Tour: Guest Post and Giveaway with Rhiannon Frater

Hi, everyone!

I am pleased to participate in the Book Blitz hosted by Xpresso Book Tours for Rhiannon Frater's Pretty When She Destroys.

About Rhiannon:

Rhiannon Frater is the award-winning author of the As the World Dies trilogy (The First Days, Fighting to Survive, Siege,) and the author of three other books: the vampire novels Pretty When She Dies and The Tale of the Vampire Bride and the young-adult zombie novel The Living Dead Boy and the Zombie Hunters. Inspired to independently produce her work from the urging of her fans, she published The First Days in late 2008 and quickly gathered a cult following. She won the Dead Letter Award back-to-back for both The First Days and Fighting to Survive, the former of which the Harrisburg Book Examiner called ‘one of the best zombie books of the decade.’ Rhiannon is currently represented by Hannah Gordon of the Foundry + Literary Media agency. You may contact her by sending an email to rhiannonfrater@gmail.com.

CONNECT ONLINE WITH RHIANNON:

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

Welcome back to Darlene's Book Nook, Rhiannon!

Rhiannon has written a guest post, so I will now turn the floor over to her.

Rhiannon's Top 5 Favorite Books and Why
By Rhiannon Frater

It’s always difficult to be faced with the prospect of compiling a favorites list, whether it’s movies, books, televisions shows, etc. I enjoy several different genres and trying to narrow down my selection can be rough.

The books on this list met several different criteria. First and foremost, the books stuck with me long after I finished reading. Secondly, in some way they influenced my own writing.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

This is my absolute favorite book of all-time. Every time I read the story I glean something new from the narrative, or find myself enjoying the book in a new way. I first fell in love with the gothic atmosphere and storytelling. Later, I would come to love Jane as I realized how strong she is in the face of a very sexist and cruel world.

It wasn’t until I was an adult and married that I finally invested myself fully in the romantic aspect of the book. For a long time I didn’t really understand the love that develops between the two leads. It wasn’t until my last reading that I finally grasped the finer intricacies of their love affair.

Jane Eyre definitely had a huge influence on my love of strong female protagonists and gothic horror.

Dracula by Bram Stoker

When I first read Dracula, I was obsessed. I was in my mid-teens and my mother bought me a beautiful collector’s edition with full color illustrations inside. I devoured the book in an all-night reading spree that left me exhausted and transfixed.

Bram Stoker’s elegant prose, vivid descriptions, and attention to detail are awe-inspiring. Though there are times where it’s almost a bit too much, in the end, his careful research adds a richness to the story that made it more real and fascinating.

Though the story is definitely a product of its time, Mina is a very strong female character. Her love and dedication to her husband is touching, but her fierce protectiveness is what made me love her. Though Dracula is trying hard to seduce her and transform her into one of his brides, she fights him every step of the way. I adored her for that. Feminists knock the novel because the men rally to “save the woman,” but Mina is often the voice of wisdom throughout the story.

I also loved how we never really know Dracula’s motivations. He is a complete mystery.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

When I first started to read Coraline, I thought it was a rather enchanting book for kids. Boy, was I ever wrong! What’s so amazing about Coraline is how it creeps up on you gradually. It doesn’t scare you right out of the gate. It fools you into thinking you’re reading a magical children’s book then slowly builds up to being a solid supernatural horror tale. Honestly, I had to sleep with the lights on when I finished.

I love little Coraline as a main character. She’s one of the best depictions of a little girl in any book that I’ve read. I totally got her. In some ways, she reminded me of myself.

This is most definitely one of the best books Gaiman has written, if not the best. Amazing.

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

I have probably read this mid-grade novel a hundred times. I love this book completely. I discovered it as a kid and I have read it as an adult.

Again, the story has a strong female protagonist in Kit Tyler. She’s a bit spoiled in the beginning of the book, but she’s a product of wealth and doesn’t really understand the rest of the world. When she’s transplanted to the harsh life of the American colonies from the lush life of the Barbados’ plantations, she has a very difficult time adjusting. Yet, Kit finds a way to retain her inner strength while also evolving into a much more compassionate young woman.

By the end of the novel, Kit does find her place in life and it’s at no sacrifice to herself. I loved that she found someone to love her for who she was and a life where she didn’t compromise.

Salem’s Lot by Stephen King

When I read Salem’s Lot, I had to sleep with the lights on for probably a week. I was a teenager and fascinated with vampires after reading Dracula. I snatched up this novel at a bookstore and dove right in. It scared me to death.

Whereas Dracula was a more gothic tale, Salem’s Lot is straight out horror. Though the vampires in both novels are horrific and evil, the plague of vampirism that takes place in Salem’s Lot was just terrifying.

Plus, little kid vampires. *shivers*

All in all, all five books have contributed to my love of horror, strong female protagonists, gothic atmosphere, and realistic, but touching romances. In other words, they all heavily influenced the Pretty When She Dies novels.

Thanks so much for joining us today, Rhiannon!

About the Series:

TITLE: Pretty When She Dies

SERIES: Pretty When She Dies, Book #1
AUTHOR: Rhiannon Frater

PUBLISHER: CreateSpace
PUBLICATION DATE: November 24, 2008
FORMAT: Paperback, 226 pages

GENRE: Horror, Fantasy/Urban Fantasy
ISBN: 9781440429637

Amaliya wakes under the forest floor, disoriented, famished and confused. She digs out of the shallow grave and realizes she is hungry...

... in a new, horrific, unimaginable way...

Sating her great hunger, she discovers that she is now a vampire, the bloodthirsty creature of legend. She has no choice but to flee from her old life and travels across Texas. Her new hunger spurs her to leave a wake of death and blood behind her as she struggles with her new nature.

All the while, her creator is watching. He is ancient, he is powerful, and what's worse is that he's a necromancer. He has the power to force the dead to do his bidding. Amaliya realizes she is but a pawn in a twisted game, and her only hope for survival is to seek out one of her own kind.

But if Amaliya finds another vampire, will it mean her salvation... or her death?

Buy Links:

Amazon / Barnes & Noble

The link to my 4-star audiobook review is located HERE.

TITLE: Pretty When She Kills

SERIES: Pretty When She Dies, Book #2
AUTHOR: Rhiannon Frater

PUBLISHER: Rhiannon Frater
PUBLICATION DATE: September 5, 2012

FORMAT: Paperback, 246 pages
GENRE: Horror, Fantasy/Urban Fantasy

ISBN: 9781441440105

Amaliya Vezorak never believed in happy endings…

When Amaliya harnessed her necromancer powers to defeat her greatest enemy, she believed she had finally found a happy ending with Cian, her lover and the master of Austin. That happiness is short-lived when the vampire ruling over San Antonio attempts a takeover of Austin in order to capture Amaliya and use her power for his own devices.

To make matters worse, Samantha, Cian’s ex-fiancée, is seeing ghosts, the untested vampire hunters of Austin are running scared as a supernatural war looms, a mysterious man is hunting Amaliya with the help of her one time lover, Pete, and Rachoń, the Summoner’s favorite progeny, appears to be out for revenge.

When Amaliya’s grandmother, a powerful medium, experiences terrible visions that reveal there is another necromancer vampire and she is crying out for help, Amaliya realizes happy endings do not come easily…

Buy Links:

Amazon / Barnes & Noble

The link to my 4-star book review is located HERE.

TITLE: Pretty When She Destroys

SERIES: Pretty When She Dies, Book #3
AUTHOR: Rhiannon Frater

PUBLISHER: Rhiannon Frater
PUBLICATION DATE: August 27, 2013

FORMAT: E-book
GENRE: Horror, Fantasy/Urban Fantasy

Amaliya Vezorak always believed she was destined to live a failed life in obscurity until she was brutally murdered by an ancient vampire named The Summoner and reborn as a powerful vampire necromancer. Now it is up to her to save the world…

There are two giveaways, and you can enter either one or both!

One lucky winner will win digital copies of all three books in the Pretty When She Dies series!

There is also a tour-wide giveaway for paperback copies of all three books in the Pretty When She Dies series, as well as some cool vampire jewellery!