Blog Tour and Giveaway: Forsaken (A Daughters of the Sea Novel; Book 1)

Rating: 5 Stars
Genre: YA Paranormal
Author: Kristen Day Blog :: Goodreads :: Facebook :: Twitter
Release Date: July 18, 2012
Buy: Amazon :: B&N

Blurb: Once you’ve been touched by darkness, it never leaves you…

Abandoned by her parents as an infant; seventeen year old Hannah spent her childhood wading through countless foster families until being adopted by the Whitman's three years ago. Unfortunately, Atlanta’s high society wasn’t quite ready for Hannah…or the strange events that plague her.

Chilling visions of murder, unexplained hallucinations, and a dark, mysterious guy who haunts her nightmares all culminate to set in motion a journey of self-discovery that will challenge everything she’s ever believed; not to mention her sanity. 

Sent to live at The House of Lorelei on Bald Head Island, NC for ‘kids like her’, Hannah quickly realizes things are not what they seem. Her fellow ‘disturbed’ teens are actually the descendants of mythical Sea Gods and Goddesses. And so is she.

But when Finn, the ghost from her dreams, appears in the flesh; her nightmares become reality and her dark visions begin coming true. Inexplicably drawn to him, she can’t deny the dangerous hold he has on her heart. The deadly secrets he harbors will ultimately test her courage and push the boundaries of her love. 

She must decide if she is ready to embrace the ancient legend she is prophesized to be a part of. The fate of all the descendants will forever depend upon it.

I'd like to begin saying that this book was AMAZING! I read it in 6 hours...with breaks only for food and dog walking. So, yes, I would most definitely recommend this book to any and all of you paranormal lovers out there. I love the way Kristen Day writes - her journey through the land of sea gods and goddesses is one that I cannot wait to continue uncovering in the release of the second installment in the Daughters of the Sea series, Awaken (Fall 2012).

From the first page, I was immediately captured by Hannah, our heroine, living as the adopted child of a well-to-do family in Georgia. Having never experienced a loving home, Hannah is just going through the motions at 17...waiting to for the opportunity to begin her life again, away from the "charity-case" stereotype that follows her wherever she goes. And with a controlling and dismissive "mother" like Dee, and an extremely jealous and manipulative "sister" like Laura Beth, who can blame her? But life isn't all bad...it could be worse...like it was before.

Within the first few chapters of Forsaken, Hannah finds herself experiencing a black out, being taken to not one but two psychiatrists, and finally, is sent to a boarding school in North Carolina. Even with chaos ensuing, Hannah realizes that this is what she's been hoping for - a way to reinvent herself...even if it is with a bunch of crazy teens that have black outs and weird tattoos.

This is when Hannah decides to change her name to Anastasia, Stasia to her friends, and really begins to understand what and why all of these bizarre happenings are occurring around her. After meeting her guide, Kira, and her amazingly unique and amusing roommates, Pheobe, Willow, and Carmen, Stasia feels like she may finally be home.

Slowly, Stasia begins uncovering her powers, and her attraction, to sexy dark-haired, blue-eyed Finn, all while trying to fit into this brand new ever-changing world. As Stasia comes to understand her place in this world of merfolk and power, she finds that some of the people closest to her are in grave danger...but can she trust herself and others in time to save them?

Forsaken is a passionate and beautiful book, encompassing a lovely heroine, her hilarious and grounded friends, and a seductive and mysterious lover all uncovering a destiny more grand than any of them could've imagined.

And Kristen has allowed me to share an amazing excerpt from Forsaken - check it out!

"I jumped as Finn seemingly materialized next to me. I couldn’t tell if he was talking about the ocean or my desire to be close to him. I lost all train of thought as he fixed his blue eyes on me.  

“What are you doing here?” I said, a little too spastic. 

“Baking cookies,” he smirked at me. 

“You shouldn’t tease me like that, it’s dangerous. I take baked goods very seriously.” A slow smile formed on his lips. 

“Dangerous happens to be my specialty,” he said in a low voice, taking a step closer to me. My entire body warmed. He was like my own personal bonfire. “Being afraid reminds us how alive we are. What makes you afraid, Stasia?” I felt my legs get wobbly.  

“Nothing scares me,” I said with as much confidence as I could muster. He definitely terrified me, but only because I didn’t trust my body to function correctly around him.  

“Nothing at all?” His gaze intensified.  

“Nothing at all.” I straightened and held my chin slightly higher to prove it. 

“You’re not a good liar.” He leaned in closer and I could feel his breath on my cheeks.  

“What makes you afraid?” I whispered. I was having trouble breathing. His answer was another slow smile. If I moved forward even an inch, his mouth would be on mine. Trying not to hyperventilate, I noticed when his eyes glanced down at my lips. His smile disappeared abruptly and he took a step back. As he turned his attention to the water, I tried to figure out what had just happened. My entire body, humming with electricity, was instantly cooled by the distance he’d put between us.  

“Come with me.” He took my hand in his, leading me down to the water. It fit perfectly in mine and warmth spread up my arm and into my chest. We stopped once the waves hit our ankles. “Don’t move your feet.” He grinned down at me as I rolled up my jeans. He raked his fingers through his dark hair and the skull and crossbones trace on his forearm shimmered at me. In the pale light of the moon, it was dangerously alluring.  

“I used to do this all the time when I was younger,” he explained with obvious nostalgia. My feet disappeared farther into the wet sand, locking me in place, while the water rushed onto the shore and then back out again.  

“What happens if we need to go somewhere?” I asked. I could be buried up to my knees in no time at this rate.  

“Who says we’re going anywhere?” He held my eyes and put a hand on my shoulder. Before I could come to grips with the tingling sensation his touch created on my skin, he lightly pushed backward. Too late, it dawned on me. Once set in motion, however, I had no way of preventing it. My knees bent and I fell right on my butt onto the wet sand. The water crashed over my knees, soaking my jeans. I tried to stand back up and failed miserably. I glared up at my assailant.  

“What are you doing way down there?” He looked down at me with mock surprise. I scooted forward and pushed behind his knees with my hand as hard as I could. He came crashing down beside me. “What was that for?” he asked innocently.  

“I told you I can be dangerous. Bad things happen to people who try to push me around.” If he only knew how true that was. I shook the thought and smiled at him. A piece of leather peeking out of the sand caught my attention. Wrapped around his ankle, it held four small black beads shining in the moonlight. I had a good guess as to which type of stones they were. 

“If that’s all you’ve got, I’m not too worried,” he taunted me. I dipped my hand in the wet sand, grabbing a handful. I slowly raised it above his head threatening to release it. Before I even noticed, he caught my wrist and pulled it back down. Holding my eyes, he delicately threaded his fingers through mine, while the wet sand squished out. The gesture was somehow very intimate and a shiver ran down my spine. The wet sand ran down my arm but I didn’t even notice. We stayed like that, hand in hand, facing the ocean for what seemed like hours.  

I had a million more questions waiting in the wings, but decided this wasn’t the time to open up that can of worms. So, I settled for the least complicated one.  

“Why weren’t you in class today?”  

“There was somewhere I had to be,” he answered simply.  

“You missed a very important lesson. It was life altering.” I teased him.  

“The only thing I really missed was sitting next to one very extraordinary girl.” I didn’t think I was breathing anymore.  

“She sounds wonderful.” I tried some humor to shake off my nervousness.  

“You have no idea.” 

Someone laughed in the distance and I pulled my eyes away from his. I realized my roommates were probably getting worried about me. 

“I should be getting back to the bonfire. They’re going to think I’ve been kidnapped.” He pulled me toward him in one quick motion. 

“Kidnapped insinuates some sort of struggle.” He said in a low voice with a sexy grin. “You’d enjoy being captured by me.” My heart jumped in my throat, but I tried to remain cool. 

“I’d like to see you try,” I threw back at him, “but first you’ll have to escape your own sandy death trap” I wiggled my feet out of the sand, stood up and washed my hands off in the water. He followed my every move with curious eyes. 

“Sweet dreams, Anastasia.” I wasn’t sure if there was an underlying meaning to his words. “Sweet dreams, Finn,” I responded, breathlessly. "

Here is a bit about our author:

Kristen Day is a southern belle at heart with a crazy streak that desperately tries to escape at every opportunity.  She loves all things nostalgic, rustic, and quirky.  She’s been told she sees the world through rose-colored glasses, but she prefers to think of them as kaleidoscope glasses - swirling and morphing reality into something she can digest (who hasn't pretended those pasty lima beans were really kiwi strawberry jelly beans?). 

She is the author of the DAUGHTERS OF THE SEA trilogy, which includes FORSAKEN, AWAKEN (Oct 2012), and CHOSEN (Winter 2012).  She loves all books, but really enjoys writing young adult, paranormal romances.  She’s loved to write for as long as she can remember.  Her first published work was her poem RED in second grade (you guessed it - it was a poem about the color red - life altering, right?) that won her 5 gold stars and a spot in her elementary school's poetry book. That's when her addiction to the written word officially began.  She was the only kid in fifth grade that actually enjoyed diagramming sentences. Go ahead and laugh - its okay.

When she’s not writing she’s making jewelry, painting, feeding her addiction to sweet tea, watching the Discovery Channel, or going on random adventures in the mountains of North Carolina with her amazing husband. She was born in Boone, NC and graduated from Appalachian State University with a degree in Marketing in 2001.

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