Review: The Demon's Kiss by Lacey Weatherford

Title: The Demon's Kiss
Series: Of Witches and Warlocks
Author: Lacey Weatherford
Publisher: Global Authors Publications
Publication Date: 13 Apr 2010

Source: Loaned from the adorable Susan K Mann




Synopsis: From Amazon
Can someone else's past come back to bite you? After being drained of nearly all the blood in her body, novice witch, Portia Mullins, wakes up to find that her warlock boyfriend, Vance Mangum, has fled in search of his demon father. Determined to keep him from facing the evil alone Portia follows after him, unknowingly setting herself on the path of a new adventure that will take her, Vance, and their coven over international borders, into a foreign place where they will discover that the black magic which awaits them is far worse than they ever imagined. Portia finds herself tangled up in a web of lies and deceit in an other's quest for demonic power in the excitingly romantic second paranormal novel in the Of Witches and Warlocks Series, The Demon Kiss.

Review:
Following on from The Trouble with Spells Portia has developed into a really strong female character around which the rest of the characters seem to orbit. I love Portia as a role model even if she sometimes lacks 'common' sense which ultimately leads to dangerous situations.

Vance's conflict against his demonic nature is endearing. The deep bond he shares with Portia was heart warming to follow, especially shining through the narrative when Portia helps Vance cope with the physical pain it causes him to struggle against the demon raging inside him. The chemistry between these two literally crackles from the pages.  The way in which Lacey handles the physical side of the relationship as not to be rushed into and a true commitment adds to her abilities as a writer. It would have been all to easy to slip into eroticism with this but I feel it does the relationship justice (alongside the story as a whole) the way in which it was dealt with.

The character development across the board was stunning. All of the characters were developed uniquely yet made up the whole 'coven' if you will, each person had a specific role and no-one was a 'weak link' so to speak. I especially enjoyed the way in which the 'human' characters were included in the paranormal storyline. Playing a crucial role within the plot and their actions were pivotal to the action. Proving that a single person can make a difference even if they do not have 'special powers'. The group dynamics, character development interactions was just fantastic.

Some of the scenes were quite gory and scary for me (as I don't do gore or horror) but the beautiful romance and 'that' [ ; D ] romantic scene stole my heart and more than made up for the gore. The action is fast paced and really keeps you on your toes. There is a jaw-dropping cliff hanger of an ending - just be prepared to rush straight out and buy the next book.

This book is the complete package.

Seriously UK publishers you really need to scoop this writer up. She already has a 'cult' following [ : D ]

Trailer Tuesday: Of Witches and Warlocks by Lacey Weatherford plus free e-book

Portia Mullins had always lived the life of a normal teenager, up until her sixteenth birthday. She is then informed by her grandma that she is actually a witch who is a descendant from a long line of witches and warlocks. After overcoming her disbelief she finds that being a member of the coven comes with one great perk in the form of the school's handsome bad boy, Vance Mangum. Vance and Portia have an immediate connection as a budding romance begins, only to be threatened by turbulent skies on the horizon as Vance's checkered past rears its ugly head to haunt them. Portia is forced to use her untried powers in defense of everything she loves in a desperate attempt to hold on to the one thing that really matters in her life.

Review here

Seriously this book contains one of the best literary couples ever - the passion crackles from between the pages.
Plus Lacey is just so darn cute (see video at the bottom of this page). Laceys books are being republished with a new publisher, they contain new content *happy sigh*. So now is the time to go get them.

Convinced yet???

See what I mean - super cute [ : D ]

Plus you can download a free e-book of The Trouble with Spells for a limited time only using the code on the coupon displayed below. Just go to the SmashWords website by clicking the link and input the code at checkout. ENJOY.

Thursday Tunes: Guest Post: Lacey Weatherford Part 2

Songs used for books 2-4

(Lacey won't tell me the significance of these songs as she thinks it will give away the plot of the other books)

Instead of embedding all the videos as it would make a giant post; I am just going to include my favourites and link to YouTube for the rest ;)

More- Selena Gomez

Running Up That Hill- Placebo

Heavily Broken- The Veronica's (heart wrenching when you think of Portia and Vance being separated)

Lithium- Evanescence (because I love it and the video is gorgeous: it wouldn't let me embed the official video so I have linked it and put in this fab anime one)

Whataya Want From Me- Adam Lambert

Bad Romance- Lady Gaga (I had to include this video as it is asastars fave song at the moment and she would never forgive me if I didn't include it. Plus I loved the Glee version)

Monster- Lady Gaga

Hot Mess- Cobra Starship (this one reminds me of Vegas ;)

When It All Falls Apart- The Veronica's

If Today Was Your Last Day- Nickleback

Leave Out All the Rest- Linkin Park (I complete love/heart this song)(It goes so well for so many scenes)

Second Chance- Shinedown (Another song I completely adore)(I can really imagine this at the end of Book 2)

All The Right Moves- One Republic (another of my faves)(plus the video is awesome)

Right Here Waiting for You- Richard Marx (not a song I am particularly fond of but I can see how it fits into the story)

Aftermath- Adam Lambert

Nocture- Paul Schwartz (so beautiful)

Thank you once again for Lacey for sharing her eclectic taste in music with us. Listening to music has always been a really big part of my life, I think I have found my music twin. Thanks Lacey

Thursday Tunes: Guest Post: Lacey Weatherford Part 1

Can you imagine my excitement when I was chatting with Lacey on Twitter and randomly asked her if she had a play-list for her books; I was literally jumping about in my chair with excitement that not only did she have said play-list but I could put it on the blog *faints*

Here is part of the email she sent me *happy dances*

Most of these songs have actual significance to the story somewhere.  There may be a couple that I have on here that I just liked.  These are songs from the play-lists of all four books so if you hear something that you think doesn't relate to the story, it may be because you haven't read that part of the story yet!  Anyway, these songs were hugely inspiring.

Lacey knows I have only read the 1st book in the series so far but I have fallen in love with the whole premise of it.

Of Witches and Warlocks Play-list

Naturally- by Selena Gomez (Portia's song to Vance, used through out)

It certainly takes on a whole new meaning when you listen to the lyrics and put it together with the story

I Can't Stay Away- The Veronicas (Used through out)

Apologize- Timbaland (Featuring One Republic) (Used during the scene where Vance is begging Portia while he is contained) God I love this song even more now -I just cant get it out of my head.

Pictures of You- The Last Goodnight (For the picture taking scene in the canyon)

4ever- The Veronicas (used during some of those hot chemistry scenes)

Fall For You- SecondHand Serenade (used at the end of book 1 and in the beginning of bk2)

Faraway- Nickleback (Used all through the book because I just love it!)

Savin' Me- Nickleback (Used at the end of book one)OMG I can just picture it ;)

Better- Lynden (Used at the end of book one)

Tired of Being Sorry- Enrique Iglasias (Used through out)

Speechless- The Veronicas (Used through out)

Wow Thanks for sharing these amazing songs with us. I have discovered some great new artists for my collection.

Part 2 next week : D

Review: Of Witches and Warlocks: The Trouble with Spells by Lacey Weatherford

Synopsis: From Goodreads
Portia Mullins had always lived the life of a normal teenager, up until her sixteenth birthday. She is then informed by her grandma that she is actually a witch who is a descendant from a long line of witches and warlocks. After overcoming her disbelief she finds that being a member of the coven comes with one great perk in the form of the school's handsome bad boy, Vance Mangum. Vance and Portia have an immediate connection as a budding romance begins, only to be threatened by turbulent skies on the horizon as Vance's checkered past rears its ugly head to haunt them. Portia is forced to use her untried powers in defense of everything she loves in a desperate attempt to hold on to the one thing that really matters in her life.

Review:
WARNING: The following review will contain lots of gushing. Read on if you dare : D

From the start I should tell you that this series is right up there with the Twilight Saga for me. Are you shocked? In fact the female protagonist, Portia, makes a far better role model than Bella. Imagine if you will a 16 year old Buffy mixed with Willow's magical power. I can even go so far as to say I wanted to be Portia even more than I wanted to be Buffy *Gasp*. Portia kicks some series butt, both magically and literally. At 16, she has more inner strength, loyalty and devotion than most double her age.

From her 16th birthday her abilities manifest, phenomenal in their power and Portia's ability to use them. The background and imagery of the witchcraft was astounding, showing an amazing amount of research on Lacey's part.

If you saw my trailer post yesterday you will know that the male protagonist is based on Matt Lanter. At 18 Vance has the whole brooding bad boy thing going on; throw in a leather jacket and motorcycle and you have a protagonist so hot you can feel the steam coming off the pages ;) As you probably know by now I kinda have a thing for the bad boy trying to be good. So Vance hit all the right buttons for me. Bad through his upbringing (his dysfunctional family made mine look relatively normal, lol) battling his destiny with his soul-mate at his side. The intensity of the emotion emanating from the pages was heart wrenching (in a good way).

The incorporation of different religions, showing their compatibility was fantastic. Making the point that why are there so many different factions all battling each other when they could work together. Why does there have to be a divide.

For me this is one book that I could read time and time again. Something I only normally do with Twilight. It has everything; powerful central characters you will fall in love with; action; adventure; romance with a mix of paranormal/supernatural.. It is addictive and compelling. Definitely rate it as one of my favourite books.

Check out the Of Witches and Warlocks website

So all you UK publishers take note - Lacey doesn't have a UK publisher - someone really needs to snap her up now!!!!!!

If you have reviewed this book as part of UK Book Tours please leave the link to your review here: