Rua Blog Tour: excerpt, review and giveaway

We are today's stop on the Rua Blog Tour hosted by The Bookish Brunette. Isn't that a rocking cover? The story does rock as our review can attest to, along with the excerpt we have, and the author has a giveaway everyone can enter. Go check out the cute baby crow too! Hey, glad you stopped by.

RUA by Miranda Kavi
YA fantasy*Expected Pub: 9/2/2012Goodreads 

A girl with an unknown destiny.

A boy from a hidden world.When Celeste starts at a new school in a small, Kansas town, she hears whispering voices, has vivid nightmares, and swarms of blackbirds follow her every move. She is oddly drawn to aloof Rylan, the other new student who has his own secrets.The exact moment she turns seventeen, she wakes to a bedroom full of strange creatures, purple light emanating from her hands, and Rylan breaking in through her bedroom window.

He knows what she is . . .

Intriguing and deeply romantic, Rua is page-turning YA novel with a supernatural twist.

An excerpt:

“Rylan?” she whispered into the dark. No answer. She sat down at her desk chair to wait for his return. 

“Don’t sit. We need to go.” He was back, holding the window open for her. Her bedroom door was closed. 

“Quit showing off,” she said. He went out the window first then helped her down. “Where did you go, anyways?” she asked. 

“Just made sure your parents were in a deep sleep, that’s all.” He took her hand then led her through the forest again. It was much easier to navigate with shoes and socks. She followed him, expecting him to lead her to his parked car. But instead, he stopped. 

Keeping her left hand firmly grasped in his right, he pulled her close, then rotated her body until they were face to face. He took her other hand with his free hand. Their faces were only inches apart, and she was painfully aware of how close his body was to hers. She looked up into his face. 

He said nothing, but watched her with golden-flecked eyes. In the dark, they had some subtle luminescence. 

He said nothing, and she stayed still. 

Finally, he spoke, in the lowest voice she’d heard him use. “Please be careful. We can’t trust her.” 

“Okay,” she said. 

“I want to try something.” He dropped her hands, but replaced them with something better. He wrapped his arms around her waist then pulled her against him. Their bodies pressed together, spreading warmth to new places in the cold night. 

Her breath caught in her throat. 

He leaned closer. “Do you trust me?” 

“Yes.” 

“Close your eyes.” His breath moved the baby hairs framing her face. 

She did, expecting his lips to press on hers in the dark. Instead, her body was ripped violently into motion, like taking the first drop-off on a roller coaster. 

About the author:

Miranda Kavi 

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Miranda Kavi is a YA and Urban Fantasy author. She has worked as an attorney, an executive recruiter, and an assistant in a biological anthropology lab. She loves scary movies, museums, and is hopelessly addicted to chocolate. She lives in the Houston area with her husband and daughter.

Review: 

Author Miranda Kavi has made quite a name for herself in an ever increasingly popular YA market. Rua features some unique paranormal qualities--which, as a fan of the genre, I always appreciate reading something new and different. Celeste is such a likable teen and I loved that she has a normal relationship with her adoptive parents (yay!). As Celeste's closest friend, the openly gay Tink is destined to steal the reader's heart away. In every scene he's in, he inhabits it with humor, intelligence and wit along with a healthy dose of that special 'Tink-quality' he has. When strange things begin happening to Celeste (yes, this is majorly overdone in YA, but it didn't really bother me here), the mysterious Rylan approaches her. I had a love/hate thing going on for him, not really knowing much about him, not trusting him around Celeste, and I expect to find out more about him in the next book. There were a few twists I enjoyed and with a quick pace, the story draws you in and inside of it is where you'll remain until the end. I would've liked some more about Rylan so I could figure out which camp I'm in so now I'm inbetween. Rua is an exciting, different paranormal and the cover is majestic.

Rating: 4

Cover comment: Already made in my closing sentence. Majestic.

Book source: I received a promotional ebook copy in exchange for my honest review during a book tour.

Next stop on the tour: FireStarBooks

Find the complete schedule here.

Giveaway Info:

Paperback of Rua and a cute little stuffed blackbird (complete with an authentic crow call recorded when you squeeze it). Open to US residents Only. 

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