GUEST POST + GIVEAWAY: Cecilia Robert

As part of our blogoversary celebrations, today we have the absolutely wonderful Cecilia Robert featuring on our blog! She's also been nicer enough to allow us to do a giveaway of her book, Reaper's Novice. Thank you so much to Cecilia- not only for this post but for supporting us for the last six months or so.


10 Random facts about me by Cecilia Robert.

- I love reading  Zodiac signs –not in an obsessive way—just to learn about character traits. This is much more fun when I am creating two characters whose signs are incompatible s and have to compromise so they can get along without killing each other.
- I'm a huge fan of Avatar: The Last Airbender --The animated series.
- I tend to think I wasn’t born to drive anything on wheels (Other than a bicycle). The Last time I took driving classes, I lasted a week. By the end of it, I almost suffered a nervous breakdown. Every time I drove too close to the pedestrian walk, or edged closer to the Zebra crossing. I’d clutch the wheel so hard my knuckles hurt.
- I can knit/crochet while watching the TV.
- I'm a slow reader. It takes me approximately one week to finish a book.
- I'd rather use the escalators than climb the stairs
- I prefer spicy foods over chocolate
- I'm 5'3, and somehow most of my characters end up having the same height or shorter, in my stories.
- I speak German and Swahili fluently.
- When I was young, I wanted to work as a flight attendant. Now I’m Acrophobic and can’t stand the thought of  having more than five feet between the ground and my feet.

About the author
Cecilia Robert lives in Vienna with her two children, has an incurable obsession with books, anything romantic, and medieval architecture. When not working in her full time job, catching up with her two children, writing or reading, she can be found, daydreaming about her next hero in a story who'll make her swoon with just a look (or a word).
Links:
Blog: http://cecereadandwrite.blogspot.com

About the book: Reaper's Novice (Soul Collector #1)

17- year- old Ana Maria Tei’s life has always been perfect: loving parents, good grades, and a future so bright it outshone the sun. But now words like “separation” and “divorce” are sending her world plummeting to hell. Determined to keep her family intact, Ana plans a family-bonding trip from Vienna to Tuscany. Except fate has other plans. Ana’s parents and siblings are killed in a car accident on their way to pick Ana up from school.

Enter Grim, aka Ernest. He promises to relinquish the four souls if Ana agrees to trade her soul for theirs and serve a lifetime as his novice. In order for Ana to graduate from her Reaper’s Novice station to a Soul Collector graduate, Grim puts her to test. To her horror, she finds out becoming a Reaper’s Novice didn’t happen by chance. It was preordained, and she is forced to make a choice: save her family’s souls or come to terms with who she really is and complete the task set for her.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

BLOG TOUR: Reaper's Novice by Cecilia Robert

Title: REAPER'S NOVICE

Author Name (Pen Name): Cecilia Robert

Release date: 5^th December 2012

Social Media links:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CeCeMR

Blog: cecereadandwrite.blogspot.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CeciliaMRobert?ref=tn_tnmn

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/ceciliarobert/

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/Cece26

Book Description:

17- year- old Ana Maria Tei’s life has always been perfect: loving parents,  good grades, and a future so bright it outshone the sun. But now words like “separation” and “divorce” are sending her world plummeting to hell. Determined to keep her family intact, Ana plans a family-bonding trip from Vienna to Tuscany. Except fate has other plans. Ana’s parents and siblings are killed in a car accident on their way to pick Ana up from school.

Enter Grim, aka Ernest. He promises to relinquish the four souls if Ana agrees to trade her soul for theirs and serve a lifetime as his novice. In order for Ana to graduate from her Reaper’s Novice station to a Soul Collector graduate, Grim puts her to test. To her horror, she finds out becoming a Reaper’s Novice didn’t happen by chance.  It was preordained, and she is forced to make a choice:  save her family’s souls or come to terms with who she really is and complete the task set for her

Excerpt:

My eyes flutter open. I blink. Why do they feel so heavy? My head hurts worse than anything I’ve ever experienced in my life. Ugh, my chest. I glance down to see if someone might have ripped it open while I slept. I look around. What am I doing under this tree? Why are there so many people around? Who the hell is this guy—who’d be attractive if he wasn’t middle aged—staring down at me as if I’m a prize he won in an auction?

I take deep breaths, averting my eyes from the disturbing ones staring at me unblinkingly. I frown as I zoom in on the fire brigade truck, then at the men working diligently on a mess of metal, their expressions solemn, as if on an important mission to save the world. Images flash in my head. I gasp, everything coming into focus.

Mom, Dad, Anton, and Lucy. I spring to my feet, struggling to stay on them as my body sways like sea grass during a storm. My hands shoot out in search of anything that will hold me up. Instead, a hand grips my arm, a firm but gentle hand.

“Ana.” I blink and focus on the dazzling face in front of me.

“Let go of me. I need to get to them. I won’t leave them. I’m going—”

“Ana.” His voice is low and commanding, gentle, calm, and kind. Everything I’m not feeling inside.

I pause, taking deep breaths. “They are not dead! They can’t be dead. Not them.” I jab my finger at his chest.

He doesn’t look fazed. “Who else, if not them? Fate doesn’t care about family. When the time is up, she nicks at the thread,” the man says in the same gentle yet firm voice.

Part of me wants to pound him until he lets go of my arm.I shake my head, my body trembling. “No. It wasn’t. I won’t believe it. We were supposed to travel to Italy. We were supposed to be together. Who are you to tell me what was or wasn’t?” I jerk my arm again, but even holding me loosely, his hand is like a manacle of sorts.

“I’m glad you asked.” He finally drops my arm. For the first time, he beams, his dark eyes lighting up like I just asked one of his favourite questions. “My name is Ernest. Most humans prefer to call me…” he pauses as if weighing what he should say, “Grim or Death. I do not care for either of those names. Why call a spoon a spoon? So mundane. Better upgrade it to a spade. Even the spoon will thank you for it.”

The author is giving away some super awesome stuff for this tour and we have broken it all down into three unique giveaways all of which will be open internationally!

Giveaway #1: 2 eBook copies of Reaper’s Novice:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway #2: Two $15 Amazon gift cards:

a Rafflecopter giveaway


OR:http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/share-code/MGRkMDAxY2Q1MmYzZjBiY2MzNDFmYjIyNDVjN2VhOjM=/

Giveaway #3: The Swag: Violin magnet, violin pin, and a beaded necklace/bracelet:

a Rafflecopter giveaway


OR:http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/share-code/MGRkMDAxY2Q1MmYzZjBiY2MzNDFmYjIyNDVjN2VhOjQ=/