BookwormBridgette's World: BLOG TOUR: Heaven and Hellsbane by Paige Cuccaro INTERVIEW + GIVEAWAY

Heaven and Hellsbane
Hellsbane Series,

Book Two

By Paige Cuccaro

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Publisher: Entangled Publishing

Ebook ISBN

978-1-62266-887-8
Print ISBN

978-1-62266-888-5

ASIN: B00BFQANJG

Number of pages: 320

Word Count: 97,000

Cover Artist: Karen Phillips

Available Here: Amazon | BN

Blurb:

Someone’s killing angels and turning the half human, half angel illorum warriors against their angelic supporters. If the supernatural baddy behind the attacks isn’t stopped soon, Heaven itself could fall victim. The Council of Seven has called in the best they’ve got to find the killers, and no one’s more surprised than Emma Jane Hellsbane when it’s her phone that rings.

But when her own angelic mentor—and off-limits hottie—Eli is targeted, Emma takes it personally. With Emma hot on the trail of the growing army of assassins, though, hackles start to raise around her. Everyone wants to know if she’s in it to protect all angels or just one in particular. The Council has their suspicions…and so does Emma’s boyfriend.

Now Emma isn’t just fighting off demons, rogue nephilim, and Fallen angels, but she’s defending her honor as well. The problem is even Emma Jane isn’t sure of her motives. One thing she does know: if she doesn’t figure out the killers’ identities soon, she may not live long enough to know what, or who, she really wants.

It’s all in a day’s work as Heaven’s ultimate bounty hunter.

Eli wrapped his arms around me from behind, holding me in the warmth of his embrace at the edge of the Canadian falls. Pale, colorful lights illuminated the massive curtain of water and a cool, misty breeze washed over us. I knew it was late, but I wouldn’t let myself worry over the exact time. Not yet. I didn’t want the evening to end. I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against his chest, breathing in the soothing scent of him.

He huddled around me, his lips brushing my ear, sending a quick volley of tingles over my skin. “I’ve missed you,” he said.

I swallowed hard, drowning in the emotion at the back of my throat. “I’ve missed you too,” I said, but my voice cracked, the last of it barely a whisper.

He turned me around, one arm holding my waist, the other hand catching my chin and raising my gaze to his. “They were wrong, Emma Jane. What I feel, it’s not what they think, what they fear. It can’t be…it’s more than that. I’ve been at home—at peace with my brothers, but you have never left my thoughts. There are so many wondrous things on heaven and earth that I wanted to show you, to share with you. It seemed every moment something new would make my mind turn to ask for your thoughts and my eyes search for your face. A comfort I’d grown accustomed to without realizing. A comfort I am finding it difficult to live without. I am lost without you. For even surrounded by all those who love me I am alone—unfinished. I missed you. Why is that wrong?”

My chest tightened and I inhaled hard, forcing my lungs to fill. I knew by the way he’d said it that he wasn’t really asking me, but I wished with all my heart I could give him an answer. “I don’t know.”

“Neither do I.” Before the last of his words left his mouth, Eli leaned down and pressed his lips to mine.

Heat spread through my body like a bolt of lightning, warming me from the inside out in an instant. My mind spun as his tongue stroked against my lips, gentle at first and then more demanding. I opened to him, tasting his sweet warmth—the warmth of an angel.

His arms slipped around me, pulling me closer until our bodies molded to each other. The hardness of his excitement pressed against me, cueing my brain, crystallizing my awareness. The risk we were taking, what it meant if we let go of our last thread of control, melted from my thoughts. We could do this. We could be together. All that was stopping us was…

Eli’s eternal life and…Dan. I broke the kiss and pushed back from Eli’s heavenly embrace, the cool chill of the falls’ misty breeze making the loss of his warmth all the more acute.

“I’m sorry. I…” Like a curtain had suddenly been lifted, reality blazed through my thoughts. “What time is it?”

“I don’t know,” he said with a soft laugh. Angels have little concept of time.

He reached for me, but I moved back checking my watch. “Shit, Eli. I’m late.”

Can you please share with us a little about yourself?

I live in central Ohio with my husband, three daughters, four dogs, and three cats. I love to write, (of course) watch movies, bike ride and generally hang around the house. I’m a homebody, and enjoy nothing better than spending an evening with the family talking around the dinner table.

Have you always wanted to be an author?

I’ve always enjoyed writing, but I didn’t really consider it as a career until after the birth of my oldest daughter. (22 years ago.) Even then I only dabbled. I wrote a hot-mess of a children’s story and then a few years later I wrote an adult romance story set on a horse farm. But it wasn’t until I moved to Ohio in 1999 that I really started writing seriously. (I’m originally from a tiny rural town in Pennsylvania called, Eighty four. Yeah, it was too small for a real name, so they just gave it a number.)

Can you share with us your typical writing day. Is there anything you have to have while writing?

My laptop. I write almost exclusively on my mini-laptop. It’s great to take with me wherever I want. Sometimes I just need to get away from my desktop computer and avoid the temptation of email and Facebook. My writing days are pretty much the same. I try to write the same hours every day, seven days a week—like a normal job. It helps in training my brain to turn on and off the creative juices when I need it. Two of my girls are in college but my youngest is still in high school. So I write from about 9:30 am to 4:00 pm and then I put away my writer hat and put on my mom and wife hat. Some days, when I’m under a deadline or just have a ton of stuff to do, I’ll grab my lap-top and sit with the hubby in the living room while we watch TV in the evening and work during the commercials. I don’t know why. I hardly get anything done that way. But I try. LOL

What would you say is the most challenging or rewarding part of writing?

The most challenging part is pushing through the days when the words just won’t come, and the days when I really don’t feel like writing. The most rewarding is the day I finish the first draft of a book. I love that feeling of accomplishment and pride. It’s awesome!

Can you please tell us about your latest book?

HEAVEN AND HELLSBANE is the second book in my HELLSBANE series. The series is about Emma Jane Hellsbane who was born different, the child of Fallen angel and human—the child of sin. But Heaven has a way for her to make amends for her birth. Like others born of Fallen angels, she’ll work as their bounty hunter, rounding up the Fallen and banishing them to the abyss. The trouble is, the Fallen won’t go quietly and Emma won’t be done until she finds the one Fallen angel who created her.

HEAVEN AND HELLSBANE picks up a year after the first book—

It’s all in a day’s work as Heaven’s ultimate bounty hunter.

How did you come with the idea for this story?

I’ve always been fascinated by the biblical stories about angels taking human wives and producing these giant children. I thought how cool it would be if they were still doing it, but over the eons had figured out a way to make their children seem just as normal as any human. Then these children, these nephilim, would be living among us, not even realizing themselves the true supernatural power they possessed. The entire Hellsbane series grew out of that premise. Depending on your beliefs it could all be very possible…and I love that!

Can you share with us your current work in progress?

Right now I’m working on a romantic paranormal for Entangled’s Covet line. It’s exactly what the line is quickly becoming known for, a beloved romantic trope with a magical paranormal twist. I don’t want to say a lot more than that. It’s still in the delicate developing stage, but let’s just say this one’s really going to have some claws.

Who are some of your favorite authors?

Anne Rice will always hold a special place in my heart. Her vampire series is what made me want to write in the first place. But auto-buys for me are writers like, Jim Butcher, Kim Harrison, Laurell K. Hamilton, Christopher Moore, actually there are a lot of them.

Do you feel that any of your favorite authors have inspired your writing style?

I think everyone I read influences my style a little. I learn how to improve my writing by reading good writers and that’s an influence right there. But ultimately, like any writer, my voice is my own and when I write in my own voice everything is so much easier.

Open your book to a random page and please reads us a few lines.

Eli was everything angels were supposed to be: tall, broad shouldered, with a strong, athletic build. He had the looks that could steal a woman’s breath, keep her speechless for seconds. His silky black hair hung in soft waves over his forehead, enhancing his startlingly pale cloud-blue eyes.

But I’d gotten used to his looks a long time ago. It was the man inside the pretty wrapping that played havoc with my good sense. He was my friend and so much more. I trusted him with my life. But there was nothing romantic between us.

There couldn’t be.

What is in your To Read Pile that you are dying to start or upcoming release you can’t wait for?

I’m reading Laurell K. Hamilton’s Affliction right now. After that I can’t wait to read the next book in Jennifer Armentrout’s Lux series. I’m a little behind in it, but she’s a great read!

Have you ever used anyone from your real life encounters in any of your books?

I always use bits and pieces of people in my real life to help a character come to life. But in the next book (not due out until 2014) there is a character that’s strikingly similar to my sister...in a good way, of course. ;)

What was the most surprising thing you learned about yourself while you were writing?

That I have a really screwed up imagination.

Thank you so much for having me! It was so much fun. I love talking about books and writing. I’m happy to answer questions anyone else might have in the comments.

Writing was never a foregone conclusion for me. I once had dreams of being a psychologist, a pediatrician, a school teacher, a photojournalist, a bartender, and/or an EMT. And then I met my husband and my world came into focus. Being wife and mother are my highest priorities and greatest joy. But escaping to the fanciful, sexy worlds twirling through my mind is an absolute necessity. Putting those worlds, and the cornucopia of characters that people them, on paper is just plain fun.

Paige lives in Ohio, with her husband, and three daughters. When she’s not writing she can be found doing the mom thing with a book in one hand and a notepad and pen in the other. Ideas come without warning and the best way to stimulate your imagination is to enjoy the imagination of someone else.

[Facebook][Twitter][Goodreads][Website][Blog]