This post is packed with information on Ednah Walters and her most recent release, Betrayed, so get yourself an ice tea and a snack and kick back and read on. I am happy to be a part of Ednah’s blog tour, and a proud member of Team Fire! First up, my review of the book, but don’t stop there. Following the review is more fun stuff.
Betrayed is the second book in the Guardian Legacy, and although I have not read the first one, Awakened, I was immediately drawn into Walter’s world of Lil and her demon hunting friends Sykes, Remy and Bran. Lil is a Nephilim and has the gift of “psi” energy which allows her to not only control people and objects, but to wield the Kris Dagger, the Nephilim’s most sacred weapon. The action starts right off the bat as Lil, Sykes and Remy avert a terrible car accident by using their powers, and risk getting caught by human witnesses. This scene not only introduces the main characters but gives valuable back story information to those who have not read Awakened.
The Cardinal Guardians (as they are called) have been called to an office building to fight demons, when Lil runs into a child demon who tells her about “the list.” This list holds great importance, and contains the names of people who have sold their souls. Gaining possession of the list will determine the victor in the battle between good and evil, and is the main focus of the action in Betrayed.
One of the characters searching for this elusive list is Lil’s demon father Valafar, an evil man who wants to destroy the Guardians and become ruler of the demon world. But Lil’s boyfriend and soul mate Bran, who used to be a demon himself and is now a Guardian, also wants the list so that he can free the souls and avoid going back to the demons himself. Something is happening to Bran, however; he is starting to lose the feathers on his beautiful wings, a fact he tries to keep from Lil. Losing his feathers could mean he’s turning back into a demon, and the best way to avoid that is to find the list himself.
But of course things don’t go as planned, and there are lots of twists and turns to navigate before the reader comes to the exciting conclusion. Walters packs her story with lots of characters, both good and evil, and she is very good at creating complex relationships between them. Bran and Lil, who got together in Awakened and can read each other’s emotions, are experiencing growing pains as they work on trusting each other. Bran does not want Lil to know about his wings, and he distances himself from her in order to keep his secret. But when Lil does find out, the sparks fly, and not in a good way. The couple manages to work out their issues eventually, but not without some tension. Lil’s other friends are well-drawn and serve as a support system for her dangerous life, including a human friend named Kylie.
Walters’ dialog is excellent, and was one of my favorite parts of reading the book. She has a wonderful feel for characterization, and she knows how to pace a story and write exciting action sequences. My only complaint is the way she tried to catch up the reader on the events in the first book. Most of the time these sections were seamless and flowed with the rest of the story. But on occasion they stuck out as being too obvious. Knowing that not everyone will have read the first book in the series means the author has to give some back story, and it’s a tricky thing to do. In Betrayed, sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn’t.
Overall, this was a fun and exciting story that did a good job with the demon/nephilim mythos. I was often reminded of the television shows Supernatural and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and that is not a bad thing. Kudos to Ednah Walters for her solid writing and story-telling skills in the very precarious world of independent publishing.
Many thanks to the author for providing a review copy.
CHARACTER PROFILE FROM BETRAYED – IZZY
On this stop of Ednah’s tour, you get a chance to learn more about one of the characters in Betrayed, Izzy, who is a Cardinal Guardian and friends with Lil. This photo is an example of how Ednah would imagine Izzy to be if there were a movie version of Betrayed! That’s one of the perks of being a writer; you can imagine your characters to be whatever you want. I think she picked a great Izzy. Here’s what Ednah says about Izzy:
CHARACTER PROFILE: ISADORA “IZZY”
Race: Nephilim
Age: 18
Birthday: July 21st
Zodiac sign: Cancer
Grade: 12th
GPA: 4.0
Favorite Song: “S.O.S.” by Rihanna
Power: Time
Background: Nephilim with the ability to manipulate Time are rare. Not only do they stop time, but must speed it up to stabilize time. They can also move forward and backward in time. This usually drains their powers and most try to avoid time hopping.
Izzy is a first generation Cardinal, meaning she is the first person in her family to become a Guardian. As a result, she tends to be wary of breaking Cardinals rules. She is rarely judgmental and finds humor in the oddest things. She is compassionate and will look at things from someone else’s point of view, not just hers. She also makes friends easily.
Izzy comes from a family of five. She has a younger sister and an older brother. She is very close to her family and had a hard time adjusting to life on earth. Like Kim, Izzy grew up in Xenith, the Guardian world before she moved to earth.
Izzy loves to party and dance, something she shares with Kim. She is very versatile and has eclectic taste in fashion. In fact, she tends to dress according to her mood, from preppy to boho chic—meaning she could rock Gypsy-inspired styles like Lil’s one day and the next day wears blazers and a skirt complete with a tie. She also tends to have a wide range of hairstyles. Her attitude makes her respect other people’s style.
With her brown complexion and curly hair, five-seven athletic body and brown eyes, Izzy is gorgeous, though she doesn’t capitalize on it. She had a boyfriend throughout high school, whom she has stayed faithful to even after he left for college.
Casting Call: As usual I will leave it to readers to decide what Izzy looks like to them. So if I were to cast her, I’d use Megalyn Echikunwoke.
GIVEAWAY!!! Finally, your chance to win some cool stuff. Unfortunately, WordPress will not allow me to put the cool Rafflecopter entry form on this blog, so I will be directing you to Ednah Walters’ website where you can enter. You have lots of chances, just follow the instructions. You can even follow this blog, Books, Bones & Buffy if you aren’t already, and get an extra chance to win! Some of the prizes you can win are copies of Betrayed, t-shirts, and even a Kindle Fire!
Just click here to go to the Rafflecopter form.
The Betrayed Blog Tour goes through July 11th, and there’s a different tour stop every day. Click here to see the list of blogs participating.
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