Urban Fantasy Investigations: Aug 27, 2014

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Guest Blog & Giveaway Night Unbound by Dianne Duvall

New York Times and USA Today Best Selling Author, Dianne Duvall, returns with the much-anticipated 5th book in her paranormal romance Immortal Guardians series, NIGHT UNBOUND!

Top 5 Favorite Things You’ll Find in NIGHT UNBOUND

Thank you so much for joining me! I’m here today to celebrate the upcoming release of NIGHT UNBOUND, Immortal Guardians Book 5, which will be released on September 2nd. Love paranormal romance that’s dark and intense with humor thrown in? Then my Immortal Guardians series is for you! Whether this is your first time hearing of it, or you’re a fan of the series, I thought I would share with you my Top 5 Favorite Things You’ll Find within the pages of NIGHT UNBOUND.

1. A powerful, irresistible hero. Zach has always been a very mysterious, formidable figure in the series. Tall, dark, with fascinating wings and a nature that could alternately be sardonic or kind, he remained in the background, for the most part, until he accepted a lollipop from Ami (perhaps the most vulnerable character in the series) and made me sit up, take notice, and want to tell his story. Zach is exceedingly powerful. Powerful enough to kill a man with a thought. And, like most of the men in my series, he admires strong women. Lisette’s strength, in fact, is what initially draws him to her. He’s intelligent. Protective. Though he has been deemed a traitor, he is honorable and will do anything he has to in order to protect Lisette from coming to harm. Zach can utterly terrify his enemies one moment, then turn around and laugh and tease and indulge in affectionate moments with Lisette the next. He’s definitely a keeper.

2. A heroine, who routinely kicks butt. If you’ve chatted with me online or joined me on previous blog tours, then you know that I’m a huge lover of horror films, but have had my fill of female protagonists who trip over their own feet, then just lie there, whimpering or screaming, as the villain slowly approaches. Lisette d’Alençon is the total opposite of this. Lisette has spent nearly every night of the past two centuries, hunting and slaying psychotic vampires. (That’s right—vampires are the bad guys in my series.) And she has courageously held her own in battle against even more formidable enemies when the odds were stacked against her. One of the first times she and Zach spoke, actually, was after she was lured into a battle she couldn’t win against human mercenaries and had resolved simply to take as many with her as she could when she died. Perhaps the only thing Lisette truly fears is punishment by the formidable leader of the Immortal Guardians. But she is even willing to risk Seth’s wrath to know more of Zach, who has intrigued her from the first moment she saw him.

3. Awesome action scenes. I’m talking action scenes that will keep you flipping pages even when you know you shouldn’t because you have to get up early the next morning. I like to describe them as Michael Bay action scenes. :-) And they often contain a surprise or two. Zach once issued the following warning to Seth, the leader of the Immortal Guardians:

“You’re battling a mythological beast there.”

Seth shook his head. “I don’t know what you’re—”

“Hydra,” Zach clarified. “You’re fighting the Lernaean Hydra.”

“The Greek mythological creature Hercules was sent to slay that had all the heads?”

Zach nodded shortly. “Cut off one head and it grows two more.”

The Immortal Guardians’ world is becoming increasingly more complicated, each enemy more dangerous than the last. Battles that used to be routine can now reach epic proportions and threaten the existence of any who engage in them. I can’t say much about the battle scenes you’ll find in NIGHT UNBOUND without issuing spoilers, so I’ll just tell you that—in past books—battle scenes have ranged from hand to hand combat with blades to massive battles that included Black Hawk helicopters, Sisu XA-180 armored personnel carriers, machine guns, napalm, tow missiles, flame throwers, and more.

4. Humor. One of my favorite things to hear from readers is that my books made them laugh out loud or that they’re enjoying the humorous banter my characters share. Humor has always been a big part of my life, so it naturally managed to find its way into my series. NIGHT UNBOUND definitely has some dark and intense scenes. But my Immortal Guardians and the humans who aid them are like one big family. They laugh and tease and razz each other as siblings do. Sometimes they say the most outrageous things. *cough* Sheldon *cough* And you’ll find the same in NIGHT UNBOUND. Though the stakes are higher than ever, the humor persists. :-)

5. Romance. I adore a good romance. That first shared look. (Even though Lisette and Zach first locked eyes in DARKNESS RISES, when Lisette captured him and chained him up with a little help from her immortal friends, I thought it was romantic.) The first touch. The immediate physical attraction. The breathless anticipation each time the hero and heroine see each other. The wanting to know more of each other. The budding friendship that swiftly blossoms into love despite fears that it can only lead to disaster. The passion that can no longer be denied. The willingness to risk all to be with each other . . . Lisette has waited over two hundred years to fall in love again. Zach has waited thousands. Nothing will keep these two apart.

Title: Night Unbound
Series: Immortal Guardians #5
Author: Dianne Duvall
Format: eBook/Mass Market Paperback, 432 pages
Publication: September 2nd 2014 by Zebra
ISBN: 1420129805
Genre: Paranormal Romance

Praise for the Immortal Guardians series:

"Duvall is a major player." --RT Book Reviews

"The Immortal Guardians series is one you'll want to follow." --The Romance Review

"These dark, kick-ass guardians can protect me any day!" --Alexandra Ivy on Darkness Dawns

"Whizzing along at light speed. . .this sophomore effort sizzles." --Publishers Weekly on Night Reigns

Dianne Duvall's Immortal Guardians protect humanity from unspeakable horrors--but their hearts are as fragile as any mortal's. . .

For centuries, Lisette d'Alençon has been a warrior against the dark. She fights alongside her brothers and comrades. But when the dreams start coming, she can't bear to confess them to the Immortal Guardians' command. Dreams of a dark-haired man with soft eyes and brutal wounds, a man her heart aches for--and a man she knows has been declared a traitor.

Zach is an exile, a loner. He won't defend himself against false accusations or grovel to those who should have faith in him. But he'll damn sure defend the woman who kept him sane against a plague of super-vamps that seems to have appeared from nowhere. The Guardians will blame him, and that will make Lisette suspect, too. With life, death and eternity on the line, who can they really trust?

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Dianne Duvall earned a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of St. Thomas, where she studied fiction writing, playwriting, and poetry writing. Darkness Dawns, the first book in her Immortal Guardians paranormal romance series, was nominated for the RT Reviewers' Choice Award for Best Vampire Romance by RT Book Reviews and for Best Paranormal Romance - Vampire by The Romance Reviews. It was also deemed a Top Pick by The Romance Reviews and a Best Book by Long and Short Reviews. Night Reigns, the second book in the series, was nominated for Best Best Book of 2011 - Paranormal Romance by The Romance Reviews and declared an “utterly addictive” Top Pick by RT Book Reviews. Phantom Shadows, the third book in the series, has been declared a Top Pick by both The Romance Reviews and Night Owl Reviews. Her Immortal Guardians novella In Still Darkness was released in the Predatory anthology on May 7, 2013, and has received many fabulous reviews. Darkness Rises, the fourth book in the series, hit the USA Today Bestseller list, has been nominated for the RT Reviewers' Choice Award for Best Vampire Romance by RT Book Reviews and was deemed a Night Owl Reviews Top Pick.

Dianne has also completed two not-yet-published paranormal romance novels that are prequels to Darkness Dawns. A Sorceress of His Own is a medieval romance with paranormal elements that won awards in the Lone Star, Where the Magic Begins, Southern Heat, Picture This, Book of Your Heart and Suzannah national writing competitions. Rendezvous With Yesterday is a time travel romance and won second place in the Picture This writing contest.

In addition to writing romance, Dianne has completed a one-act play (comedy) and teamed up with an award-wining screenwriter to write a spec script for a new situation comedy. Several of her poems have also been published in anthologies.

When she isn’t writing, Dianne is very active in the independent film industry and once even appeared on screen as a machete-weilding maniac not unlike the vampires she so loves to create in her novels.