I jumped at the chance to be a part of the tour for the second book in the Chronicles of a Reluctant Necromancer series by Melanie Card! From the gorgeous covers to the action packed story, there is a lot to be excited about with this series. Today on the Happy Booker you’ll get a little peek inside Ward Against Darkness with an excerpt. Be sure to find the word highlighted in red so that you can enter it in the Rafflecopter!! And also, remember to check out the rest of the stops on this fantastic tour!
About The Book
The last thing Ward de'Ath wants is more trouble. On the run from both the law and the criminal underworld, Ward and Celia flee Brawenal City only to stumble into the mansion of a powerful evil necromancer. And when Ward discovers the man possesses a dangerous grimoire, his duty leaves him no choice. He can't allow the necromancer to keep the grimoire. But the mansion is filled with monsters--human and undead--and Ward has no way of telling who's friend or foe. The only person he can trust is Celia who dominates more of his thoughts and feelings everyday. But there are still laws in the way of anything but friendship. She's still dead and he's still alive . . . for now.
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About the Author
Melanie has always been drawn to story telling. In fact, she can’t remember a time when she wasn’t telling a story in her head or on paper. In grade school, they had journal writing time which she turned into story telling time, weaving tales of magic and adventure that mimicked the fairy tales and myths that she loved to read. It was there, with the help of two very special teachers, that she nurtured this love and started her journey as a writer.
She writes fantasy, paranormal romance, and everything in between, seasoned with a good dash of adventure and mystery. Join her on my tales of magic, adventure, and romance.
Website/Twitter/Facebook/Goodreads
Excerpt
Chapter One, Part 2
So close, and yet impossibly far away. She was dead, he was alive…for now. Up until now, he’d managed to avoid talking about anything that had happened to them—particularly, their kiss in the cavern in Brawenal City. Besides, he wasn’t even sure they were friends.
“Still looks like the eight I counted yesterday. Where are those other two?” she whispered.
A bulky man lunged out of the thick underbrush, swinging a heavy sword. Ward lurched out of the way, catching his heel on a root, and tumbled onto his sore arm. Fire swept over his shoulder and up his neck. Mud squished between his fingers, and dead leaves clung to his wet clothes. He scrambled to his feet and held out the dagger.
Another man, his white shirt soaked and stained, rushed at them, while two more men followed close behind. They crashed out of the scrub without bothering to keep their movements silent.
One of the men jabbed at Ward. He hopped back, pointing his dagger at the man’s face. The tip shook, and Ward clamped his other hand on top of the first. His assailant jabbed again, forcing him back against a tree. Someone yelled, the tone too deep to be Celia. Metal clanged against metal. Moonlight flashed on steel.
Something moved at the edge of Ward’s sight. Shadow swooping through shadow. He dropped to his knees. A blade passed over his head with a whoosh. Celia shoved her opponent into the man in front of Ward, and they tumbled to the ground.
“Come on,” Celia said.
She parried a swing from yet another thug. Ward didn’t bother asking where she’d gotten her sword. She’d probably done something amazing to steal it from one of the men on the ground.
More men barreled toward them. They had to keep running. Ward pushed away from the tree, his feet slipping on the wet leaves and mud. His rucksack pounded against his hip, his illegal book on surgery and equally illegal case of surgical implements a weight pulling not just on his body, but his soul, as well.
Of course, it hadn’t been surgery that had gotten him into this mess, but necromancy.
It had been his only career option after getting kicked out of the physician’s academy, and his first job, to wake Celia, had turned his life upside down and set it on fire for good measure.
The trees opened up, and beyond lay the hint of black sky dotted with stars. But the sky, framed by gray clouds, was too low. It lay in front of him, not just above him. With a jolt, a single word formed on the tip of his tongue.
Cliff.
The sky meant a cliff.
He skidded to a halt, smashing into a jagged stone outcrop. Pain shot up his leg, and he bit back another cry. Celia slammed into his back. He stumbled forward, grasping at the outcrop and teetering on the edge.
Far below, water rushed gray and frothy, spilling over its banks, swollen from the days and nights of summer downpour. The cliff face was sheer. Not much hope for finding handholds to climb down, even if it weren’t slippery with rainfall. And they’d be exposed during the descent. Easy targets for the bounty hunters and their arrows.
He turned to Celia. She was already scanning the area but hadn’t dragged him in a different direction because there were no other paths—they’d run through a break in the rock wall hidden by shadows and thick pines onto a wide ledge. Steep granite towered above them. Not even a bush or scrubby tree clung to its side. They could try going up, but faced the same problem either way: target practice.
There was no place to go.
Giveaway
Details:
Prize 1: Signed copy of Ward Against Death and Ward Against Darkness and a $25 gift card (Amazon or B&N) US Only
Prize 2: $15 gift card (Amazon or B&N) US/Canada
Prize 3: 2 eBooks International
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Tour Schedule:
Week 1
9/23/2013- Fantasy Book Addict- Interview
9/24/2013- Book Briefs- Review
9/25/2013- Happy Booker- Scavenger Hunt
9/26/2013- Magical Urban Fantasy Reads- Scavenger Hunt
9/27/2013- Refracted Light Reviews- Scavenger Hunt
Week 2
9/30/2013- Books Are Magic- Review both books
10/1/2013- Reading In Twilight- Scavenger Hunt
10/2/2013- Fade Into Fantasy- Interview
10/3/2013- BookHounds YA- Scavenger Hunt
10/4/2013- Pinkindle Reads & Reviews- Review
