The 12 Days of Lailah: Christmas with Jonah & Gabriel

Lailah (The Styclar Saga #1)
by Nikki Kelly
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Release Date: October 7th 2014

Read my review for Lailah

Synopsis:

The girl knows she’s different. She doesn’t age. She has no family. She has visions of a past life, but no clear clues as to what she is, or where she comes from. But there is a face in her dreams – a light that breaks through the darkness. She knows his name is Gabriel.

On her way home from work, the girl encounters an injured stranger whose name is Jonah. Soon, she will understand that Jonah belongs to a generation of Vampires that serve even darker forces. Jonah and the few like him, are fighting with help from an unlikely ally – a rogue Angel, named Gabriel.

In the crossfire between good and evil, love and hate, and life and death, the girl learns her name: Lailah. But when the lines between black and white begin to blur, where in the spectrum will she find her place? And with whom?

Gabriel and Jonah both want to protect her. But Lailah will have to fight her own battle to find out who she truly is.

Styclar fans, as you may know Jonah and Gabriel are very different. One is a Second Generation Vampire, cocky, self-assured, troubled and with a hard exterior, and the other is an Angel Descendant, loving, protective, determined, at times lost, and somewhat mysterious. So you can guess they have also different traditions when it comes to celebrate Christmas.

In Gabriel's realm it would be like the climax of all Christmas parties. I can imagine his realm all with cheerful angels singing and all full of christmas decorations, and while they are also serious and deadly they can set aside those qualities to celebrate Christmas all together.

In Earth, Gabriel, as the loving angel he is, he would make everything to make, unintentionally, all the female population swoon over him. That means he would make Christmas happen in his house. He would buy the tree, make a big dinner and give presents that would impress everyone. And to make it more special he would probably take Lailah to the Symphony or something like that. He'd be determined to bring the spirit of this festivity to everyone.

As for vampires, I don't think they would be as cheerful for Christmas as the angels would be. Or any other festivity that's not Halloween, right? I bet for them it's just another day.

However, Jonah might have a little Christmas spirit inside of him. Jonah as a human would follow all the traditions of his family. He'd celebrate Christmas with all of them and he would probably celebrate New Year's Eve at some huge, wild party with his friends, and likely to end up with some girl (probably me...). He'd be the perfect brother and buy all the presents he could find for her sister, just to see her smile.

However, the Jonah we know from Lailah, the Second Generation Vampire, would probably crash Gabe's party. Would get drunk, change the music to some rock music, loud enough to wake up an entire city, and would start dancing "Damon-style" while trying to seduce Lailah.

Yep... still wishing it was me. However, I bet these two would drop all their Christmas traditions if Lailah asked them for a real and happy holidays. It wouldn't be strange to find these two singing some carol songs. What do you think?

No matter what, I know who I would invite to celebrate the holidays and have an awesome time. And you? Who would you invite over?

*Sunday, December 14th: Beth at Curling Up With a Good Book shares a Lailah-themed Christmas playlist. 

*Monday, December 15th: Brittany at Please Feed the Bookworm matches Lailah characters to their fitting ugly Christmas sweaters. 

*Tuesday, December 16th: Rachel at A Perfection Called Books shares exactly what to get the Lailah, Gabriel and Jonah for Christmas. 

*Wednesday, December 17th: Patricia at The Unofficial Addiction Book Fan Club shines some light on exactly how Gabriel and Jonah would celebrate the holidays in their respective realms. 

*Thursday, December 18th: Pili at In Love With Handmade whips up some Lailah holiday cupcakes. 

*Friday, December 19th: Andrew at Endlessly Reading showcases Jonah and Brooke's potential Christmas outfits. 

*Saturday, December 20th: Jessica at The Book Bratz hosts a guest post by Lailah author Nikki Kelly where she shares her favorite Christmas traditions and memories. 

*Sunday, December 21st: Ri at Hiver et Cafe releases some exclusive Lailah quotes and shares her take on what Lailah would wear for Christmas. 

*Monday, December 22nd: Andrew at Endlessly Reading hosts a character interview with author Nikki Kelly, Lailah, Jonah and Gabriel. 

*Tuesday, December 23rd: Genissa at A Story Diary hosts a guest post from Nikki Kelly about the Christmas scene from Lailah. 

*Wednesday, December 24th: Dana at Dana Square bakes some Lailah-inspired Christmas cookies. 

*Thursday, December 25th: Amber at The Book Bratz releases a brand-new rendition of The Twelve Days of Christmas - Lailah style.

(Misha not included in the prize. Sorry girls.)

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Blog Tour: Her Perfect Game (Hot & Nerdy #2) by Shannyn Schroeder

Her Perfect Game (Hot & Nerdy #2)
by Shannyn Schroeder
Publisher: Kensington Books - eKensington
Release Date: October 27th 2014

Synopsis:

Spring break is supposed to be a week of fun in the sun for three childhood friends about to graduate from college. But one of them is ready to get her game on somewhere else…

Charlie Castle is an expert archer and a fierce warrior—in her favorite video game, anyway. But college life was a program she couldn't quite master. To land a cybertech job without a degree, she's entering a "hackfest" over spring break—where she also hopes to meet the sweet gamer who's been flirting with her online. Instead, she runs into the hot guy who walked away years ago, and can't fight the desire that comes rushing back. 

Jonah Best has never gotten over Charlie, whose kisses were always as deliciously creative as her coding. But now that they're face to face again, he doesn't know how to admit that her online admirer is really him—or how to convince her that he's offering her a job for her incredible skills, not her sex appeal. Can Jonah cut through their communication glitches and persuade Charlie that the next level up for them should be forever?

Inspiration: Actor Richard Tanne

Gaming Name: Win Abo (dwarven mage)

Job: video game developer

Likes:

· MMORPG (massive multi-player online role playing game)

· Chicago (where he went to college)

· Breakfast in bed (or any meal in bed if it’s with Charlie)

· White hat hacking (running security on his games)

Dislikes:

· Conventions (he doesn’t like the crowds)

· Cosplay (especially Charlie’s blue body paint that rubs off on him)

· People who mess with his coding

· Misogyny in gaming (especially when he witnesses what Charlie has to deal with)

Driving personality trait:

Jonah is a protector. In real life and in the game, he wants to protect Charlie. When she’s reckless, he’s got her back. He worries about her and her safety. In the game, he’s a mage, so when she’s injured, he heals her. In real life three years ago, he taught her hacking skills, comforted her in the wake of her friend’s suicide, and tried to warn her when she was getting obsessive. When they reunited, he offered her a job in a field he knew she would excel at.

Follow the Her Perfect Game tour by clicking on the banner below. Don't miss any tour stop!

Shannyn is a former English teacher, who now works as a part-time editor while raising her three kids.

Even though she wrote from high school through college (mostly poetry), she’d never considered a career as an author. Writing fell by the wayside as she focused her energy on creating lesson plans and new and fabulous ways to torment her teen students. One group in particular dubbed her “The Torture Master,” a title she carried into motherhood.

After the birth of baby number two, Shannyn resigned from teaching and fell in love with reading romance novels. She read so many books so quickly that her husband teased, “If you’re going to read so many damn books, why don’t you just write one?”

So she did.

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Lailah (The Styclar Saga #1) by Nikki Kelly

Lailah (The Styclar Saga #1)
by Nikki Kelly
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Release Date: October 7th 2014

Read some chapters on Macmillan
Rate: Loved it (5 stars)

Synopsis:

The girl knows she’s different. She doesn’t age. She has no family. She has visions of a past life, but no clear clues as to what she is, or where she comes from. But there is a face in her dreams – a light that breaks through the darkness. She knows his name is Gabriel.

On her way home from work, the girl encounters an injured stranger whose name is Jonah. Soon, she will understand that Jonah belongs to a generation of Vampires that serve even darker forces. Jonah and the few like him, are fighting with help from an unlikely ally – a rogue Angel, named Gabriel.

In the crossfire between good and evil, love and hate, and life and death, the girl learns her name: Lailah. But when the lines between black and white begin to blur, where in the spectrum will she find her place? And with whom?

Gabriel and Jonah both want to protect her. But Lailah will have to fight her own battle to find out who she truly is.

You know those stories that shatter your books world with its awesomeness? I find them the hardest to review because I'm not sure I could find all the right words to explain why the story blew my mind and how much I'm dying to read the second book. It would be a gibberish between a crazy-bookish-fan and a fangirl. Lailah is one of those stories and definitely one of my favorite books of this year.

I have to confess that the vampire has been overused in the YA world, so I try to avoid them. Not because the story is bad, but because I arrived a point where I was bored of the same old. However, Lailah had a dark touch to it, bringing more supernatural creatures like angels and another dimension like styclar plena that made me re-think it. As you can see, Nikki Kelly's story won my internal battle and I found myself with a story that had the best of both world: a Supernatural touch with its own personality and story.

I do not want to give anything from the story, but mainly Lailah is different. She has lived many lives and she has no idea where she comes from. With visions from a past life and no family ties, she ends up meeting an injured Jonah while leaving work. That's when her story starts. 

The author did an excellent job. I like those stories who held the tension and mystery until the very end, just to wait until the very last page to make you scream due to the high cliffhanger that held the story. She knew had to do that, while putting in massive danger all her characters, had time for swoon-worthy moments and creating a true villain. 

The level of secrets and unsaid things were so many that you can't see them coming. The story is fluid and gives the impression that Lailah's past tries to catch up to her, unraveling secrets and reveling shocking truths up to the final moment when you are left speechless. If a story has the potential to make us feel that way, it's not just a must read book, but it has all the numbers to be a favorite one among other YA reads.

There were some funny moments, some others were the reader can make a connection with all the characters and some action scenes that keep the reader on edge until the very last page. 

One of the catching things in this story is meeting Lailah. Her past and her present. As the story goes we get to know her, but she also tries to find herself, trying to figuring out her role and her relationship with Gabriel and Jonah. She's one of those characters who have a badass and sweet side all mixed up and we see either side in the right moments. 

Another important characteristic in this story that brings a magnetic pull to the story is the relationship with both Gabriel and Jonah. While it is a love triangle is one of those love triangles you like because of the so many differences between the two male characters. I liked that one took for granted the connection with Lailah and the other saw her true nature, the best of both worlds. And that was one of the important things that made me pick up a team in this love triangle. Good guys with angelic intentions are overrated and the ones who are supposed to be the bad ones end up being the best, sweetest and loyal man alive. So yes, I am team Jonah all the way down. Nikki Kelly has made me a Jonah addictive and a Styclar Saga fan.

Lailah is definitely a page-turner and one of those YA stories you cannot missed. Beautifully written and with some breath-taking characters that have the potential to ruin you for future fictional boyfriends, the Styclar Saga exceeded my expectations and I have the pleasure to say to all of you, Book Addicts, that is one of those stories you might end up re-reading sooner than expected.

My dream cast for Lailah

Jensen Ackles as Jonah

Gabriella Wilde as Lailah

Alex Pettyfer as Gabriel

Nikki Kelly's dream cast for Lailah

As you might have guessed after two weeks of blog tour, after you read Lailah it might end up in a emotional turmoil over choosing the male fictional character that make you swoon and fall in love. 

I knew from the very first pages where Jonah was involved that I would end up being Team Jonah all the way down. But what make me fall in love with him to the point of asking Nikki to send me real Jonah to Spain was this quote:

"I might desire the darkness within her, but I fell in love with the light that I heard in her laughter."

Now ladies you may swoon, faint, fangirl and even toss your underwear at Jonah, 'cause he might be the bad boy, the one that means trouble, but he was the only one who truly saw Lailah. 

Not saying anything else! You'll have to read Lailah to know more. And if you do, remember to keep Jonah on your good side. 

The funny thing about this whole thing is that I don't have to fight my US sister over fictional characters. Why? Because while I'm team Jonah, she's team Gabriel. So I'm willing to recruit more fans to Jonah's team.

But I have to convince you first, right? So, here you have Jonah's bio and an exclusive interview with him! If you also want to read Gabriel's go to A Reading Nurse.

Jonah: Second Generation Vampire

Pureblood Master (Maker): Emery

Turned from mortal to Vampire in Florida, but originally from New Jersey

Physical Features: Dark, disheveled hair, hazel eyes, tall and brooding! 

Attributes: Cocky, self-assured, troubled, hard exterior

Jonah: Couple drinks in a bar, then see where the night takes us… 

Jonah: I’ve done some bar work, can’t say it was the worst job though it had its upsides. 

Jonah: Red Hot Chili Peppers—Under the bridge 

Jonah: The Wizard Of Oz (it was the movie I watched with my Sister) 

Jonah: Not sure why first kisses are a big deal, if I like you, I’m gonna kiss you. 

Dogs or Cats? Dogs 

Walks on the beach or hiking in the mountains? Hiking in the mountains 

Flowers or Candy? Are you kidding? Neither. 

Rock Concert or the Symphony? Rock concert 

Boxers or Briefs? You think I wear underwear?! 

Jonah: What, you never played with fire? Too afraid you might get burnt? Put your hand in mine; see if you feel the spark, see if you melt in my flames. You might like it.

(This is definitely me right now)

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I was born and raised only minutes away from the chocolately scent of Cadbury World in Birmingham, England. So it will probably come as no surprise that when I'm not dreaming in Vampires & Angels, I dream in chocolate! For the past ten years I have lived in West London with my hubby and two dogs, Alfie - the Pug & Goose - the Chihuahua.

LAILAH is my debut novel, and first launched in serial form to wattpad, a readers & writers community. Within just 6months, LAILAH had over a million reads and thousands of comments and votes.

Since then, The Styclar Saga has gone on to pick up a traditional deal with Feiwel & Friends, and LAILAH, the first book in the series is due for release on October 7th 2014.

These days I spend my time balancing my amazing job of writing fantasy fiction, with my other, very important role of Chocolate Connoisseur. I like to multitask and do the two together. It makes me happy.

Win (1) hardback of Lailah by Nikki Kelly (US Only)

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