A note from Amy at Macmillan Children’s Books (my UK publisher) about how their crack Demon Trappers team spent this last Wednesday. This is incredible! I wish I could have been there! Thank you so much to all those who took part.- Jana

This Wednesday saw The Hunger Games UK Premiere take place at the o2 Arena in Greenwich. We decided to hijack it with a huge Demon Trappers sampling exercise . ..

A Demon Trappers street team dodged security guards and handed out 500 copies of the first book in the series (plus 800 flyers giving readers £2 off each book in the series) to the die-hard fans waiting for The Hunger Games celebs to cross the red carpet – the fans loved it and the books certainly got their complete attention whilst waiting an estimated 3-4 hrs for the premiere to start (to give you an idea of how close we got to the red carpet – the red carpet ran up to that blue escalator below)

I added commentary on the MyKindaBook site so you learn why I picked what song and why. I’ll be doing the same for the other books in the series, as well. Enjoy!!!

Well, not quite. This is a family blog, after all. Still, here’s a lovely piece from my cover model herself at MyKindaBook. She speaks about her photography career, her secret hobby that is a pastime no more and what’s in store in 2013.

And now… check it out. The trailer is HERE!

And the final snippet. As usual, spoilers abound.

As usual, my UK publisher (Macmillan Children’s Books) has done an awesome job incorporating Elizabeth May’s dramatic photo into the cover. And the red is SO hot. Which is perfect for this final book.

Amazon.co.uk page link here

Stand by as Riley prepares to kick some serious demon butt for the last time in this thrilling, dramatic and sexy conclusion to THE DEMON TRAPPERS series. Riley’s always known that Beck had a chequered history, but she’s not prepared for what it actually means to be in love with a guy with this many dark secrets. Now that he’s finally admitted to himself that he’s in love with her too, there’s no more hiding the truth about his past. And as it turns out, fending off a demon apocalypse is nothing compared to what’s to come. . .

It’s that time of year again so here’s the first snippet from FORGIVEN, the third book in the Demon Trappers Series. If you haven’t read the first two books, these snippets will be spoilers. You’ve been warned

Setting: Westin Peachtree Plaza (downtown Atlanta hotel)

Situation: Beck has been arrested by the Vatican’s Demon Hunters

###

The prisoner had expected room service, but Beck got a redhead instead. He rose off the bed as Justine Armando was escorted into his hotel room by one of the hunters.

“Hello, Beck,” she said, tossing her expensive black leather coat on a nearby chair, followed by a folded newspaper on the nightstand. “I heard you were here in the hotel, so I thought I’d pay you a visit.”

The guards were locked in full- stare mode— apparently they’d never seen the reporter in action. Sporting a set of brilliant emerald green eyes, Justine was a stunningly petite woman with shocking red hair that tumbled over her shoulders in wide curls. Her accent was hard to pin down, but it fl owed like verbal honey no matter the subject.

Beck’s attention moved to the hunters. “Any way ya can give us some space?”

A conversation started between the men in Italian, and for a time it didn’t look like the answer was going to be positive. Justine weighed in, also in Italian, and abruptly they changed their minds.

She had that effect on men. When the door closed behind his guard dogs, she settled into the chair, positioned so that Beck had a fine view of her long legs.

He sank onto the bed, regretting he looked so scruff y.

“How’d ya know I was here?”

Justine pouted. “I am a reporter. When I hear that Denver Beck is in the hunters’ custody and that there is a search in progress for Master Blackthorne’s daughter, I had to determine if it was all true.” She leaned closer. “You wouldn’t know where she is, would you?”

So this visit wasn’t just to check up on his welfare. Beck should have expected that, but his guy ego developed a new bruise.

“No, I don’t know where she is, or my ass wouldn’t sittin’ in this room,” he growled. “Riley could be anywhere. She knows a lot of places to hide.”

“Why do they want her? Is it because of the Fallen or something else?”

He stiffened. “How do ya know Ori was a Fallen?”

“One of the hunters told me.” She straightened her skirt.

“Why did Riley call you this morning?”

A nervous twitch crawled across Beck’s back. Too many questions.

“That’s private,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest, signaling the end of the conversation.

###

(c) 2012 Jana Oliver

FORGIVEN

Macmillan Children’s Books (UK & Australia) March 1st

St. Martin’s Griffin (US ) March 27th

Forgiven

Book Three in the Demon Trappers Series

(excerpt from Chapter Two)

Riley stood alone in a field of crisp, freshly fallen snow. There was nothing around her, no buildings, no people. High above a blood-red moon held court in the sky, thousands of stars paying homage.

A breeze tugged at her hair and it smelt of deepest midnight. She felt Ori’s presence even before his arms slid round her waist, drawing her back against him. She knew it was a dream, but she didn’t want to wake. Here it would be perfect. There would be no Heaven or Hell, no one to tell her what she was doing was wrong. It would just be Ori and her forever.

Turning in his arms, Riley gazed up at his black hair and those bottomless eyes. Eyes that had seen the beginning of the cosmos.

‘I am sorry,’ Ori murmured, his voice just as she remembered it. ‘I hurt you and that is not what I wanted.’

“It didn’t have to be that way,” she said. It could have been so different.

‘Let me make it right between us. Let me show you what your future can hold.’

He gestured and a scene appeared in the air in front of them. It was Riley, older now. She had a grace and strength that she never thought possible. She was teaching two apprentices how to trap demons and they were riveted on her words. This Riley was strong and confident, no hint of the troubled girl that lay within.

‘You’ll be a renowned master trapper, like your father,’ Ori explained. ‘The trappers will be in awe of your skills. All the while, my protection will keep you safe from harm.’

She could trap and be successful and everyone would think she was the best there was. Just like my dad . . .

His kiss reignited her desire for him. Her need for love, for someone to care for her. She melted against his body, savouring the touch and scent of him.

‘I am yours,’ the angel said. ‘Give me your soul and we can be together forever, Riley Anora Blackthorne.’

‘Do you love me?’ she asked. That was what she wanted, what she craved. To be loved by someone as magnificent as an angel.

Ori did not reply, his face tormented. As if he wanted to lie, but could not. He tried to smile, but failed. ‘Come with me,’ he said, offering a hand. ‘We will have eternity together. Is that not enough?’

Riley hesitated, her heart pounding hard. If he doesn’t love me . . . Was she so desperate that she’d settle for an empty life?

Caught in her doubts, she looked away and found that the field wasn’t empty any longer. Her family’s mausoleum now stood a short distance away, cloaked in snow and moonlight.

Solid red stones, stained-glass windows, all testimony to the Blackthorne legacy. The lion-winged gargoyles on the roof glared down at her, brilliant yellow flames pouring from their mouths. as if she was a threat to the dead within. The double brass doors swung open and, instead of the stone interior lit by dancing candlelight, there was semidarkness. Figures moved around inside, all talons and teeth and glittering ruby eyes. The emissaries of Hell awaiting her decision.

It was so tempting. She’d spend forever with her father. The demons couldn’t hurt her and ––

A voice cried out her name. She searched across the field and found Beck running towards her at top speed. He cried out again, his voice ragged as if he’d been shouting for hours and she’d not heard him.

‘Do not listen to the trapper,’ Ori warned. ‘He is jealous of us. Of what we have.’

She hesitated, confused.

‘Riley!’ Ori called, more forceful now. ‘Pledge me your soul. I promise you will never suffer another moment of your life.’

‘What will we have?’ she demanded. ‘Some promises? None of which you will keep.’ She shook her head. ‘You never loved me. You only loved my soul and what it will buy you in Hell.’

‘You are wrong,’ the angel retorted. ‘This was always about you.’

‘Lies!’ she shouted.

A searing cramp dug deep into her belly and she doubled over in agony. Riley forced herself to straighten up, holding her stomach. The area around her had become a minefield of skulls, each inhabited by a demon. They taunted her, threatened her, spoke of the endless tortures that awaited her soul in Hell.

Ori was no longer near her but at the edge of the skull field now, pacing in agitation. “You have to give your soul. It is the only way, Riley! Please, I beg of you!”

The snow around her turned crimson and began to boil.

‘No,’ she said. ‘I have lost too much already.’

As the skulls massed for an assault, Beck charged into the minefield, bent on her rescue. He only made it a few steps before he cried out her name once more, then died in tormented agony as the demons tore him apart.

‘NO!!!!’

Riley lurched upright in the bed, sweat pouring off her in streams. Her chest felt heavy and each breath only brought in a tiny stream of air. She bent over, clutching her stomach. Swallowing repeatedly to keep from vomiting, she struggled to regain her senses and break free of the nightmare.

With a groan, she wiped sweat off her brow. A vicious headache pounded in the very centre of her forehead. The room around her was quiet. There were no demons, no angel, no dying Beck. As the nightmare receded, the horror of it still clung to her.

Was this a sign of what her future held? Would Ori continue to push at her mind until she screamed for release? Would Beck throw away his life to save her soul?

With another groan, Riley rooted in her messenger bag and excavated two Advil and a bottle of water. She washed the tablets down, hoping they’d stay put, then leaned back against the headboard.

‘This seriously sucks.’ The verbal acknowledgement only made her head thump harder.

Once she’d shaken off the worst of the dream, she headed for the bathroom and made a totally useless attempt to do something about her hair. When she pulled on her clothes, she was relieved they smelt less like the lying angel now. It was a pity that the memory of his touch wouldn’t fade as easily.

Out of habit she retrieved her cellphone, but a second before powering it on she hesitated: did she dare check her messages? Would the hunters be able to track her here?

‘Better not,’ she said, leaving the phone off. It felt weird to be so out of touch. How would she let her friends know what was happening? Her best buddy Peter freaked if he didn’t hear from her regularly. Simi, her barista friend at the local coffee shop, would wonder what happened to her, especially since she insisted on updates every couple of days.

Staying with Mort was too dangerous for all of them. Eventually the hunters would come here. The only choice was for her and her dad to make a run for it, hide out until the Vatican’s boys got bored and returned to Rome. We’ll have to start over. Find a place to live. I’ll have to get a different job.

If they survived all that, eventually she’d have to convince Lucifer to put her dad back in the ground.

All because I wanted someone to love me.

Except from FORGIVEN – Book 3 in the Demon Trappers Series

© 2012 Jana Oliver

Macmillan Children’s Books (March 1, 2012)

St. Martin’s Griffin (March 27, 2012)