Happy Release Day, Laura Kaye and South of Surrender!
I am thrilled to welcome Chrysander Notos and Laney Summerlyn to
the world today, and to welcome back the whole Anemoi family, too! Chrys and Laney are the hero and heroine of South of Surrender, Laura Kaye's third book in her Greek-mythology inspired Hearts of the Anemoi series. The Anemoi were wind gods the Greeks associated with controlling the wind, the weather, and the seasons, and as the summer god, Chrys is the hottest of them all! Passions and conflict between the Anemoi brothers heat way,
way up in South of Surrender. Need more proof? Check out this tense excerpt as well as the giveaway that follows!

Aeolus stepped forward. “We are all expendable. It is not the god, but the wind he serves, that matters. So I ask each of you now. Are you prepared to stand and fight?”
The gods offered solemn agreement.
Aeolus moved to the center of the room. Anger and determination carved hard angles into his face. Thunder and lightning split the sky. “I say again. Are you prepared to stand and fight?”
A loud, fierce cheer of approval and commitment shook the room. Teddy fussed but didn’t cry, as if even his divine energy understood the threat they faced.
“Make no mistake. We are at war. We will not all come out of it alive. Sacrifices will be made.” He held up his maimed hand. “And you must understand the full extent of what you are up against. Eurus possesses the firestone ring. He has power over the winds, over each of you. This is my fault. I fully acknowledge it. And I stand ready to sacrifice myself to set this right.” Murmurs sounded from around the room.
This…this was the resignation he’d seen on Aeolus’s face. As many grievances as Chrys could voice against his father, he would fight to the last to prevent any of his family from dying. They’d lost enough. Had enough turmoil. For several lifetimes.
Aeolus continued. “Together, we are strong. Eurus cannot take us all at once. We must fight. To avenge the death of one of our own who has fallen this night. To avenge wrongs against others of our numbers in recent days, weeks, and months. To preserve and protect the human realm, as is our duty and purpose.”
Boreas pushed off the wall and stood tall. “In the name of the North Wind, I stand ready to fight.”
Zeph nodded. “In the name of the West Wind, I, too, stand ready to fight.”
“In the name of the South Wind, and in the name of vengeance for the Southeast Wind, I stand ready to kick some ass,” Chrys said. “So what’s our plan?”

GIVEAWAY!
Win
1 of 5 $50 gift cards to winners’ choice of Amazon/B&N/iTunes!

HOW TO ENTER?
Did you have a favorite line from the excerpt? Comment with your email address to enter to win! Open to international! Giveaway runs for one day and ends at midnight PST on May 28!

Visit more participating Blitz Day sites for more excerpts and more ways to win! And look out for the South
of Surrender Blog Tour to start next week with more excerpts and giveaways! Check out the awesome early reviews
coming in for the book, too!
Thanks
for reading!
 Laura

About South of Surrender:
She's the only one who can see through his golden boy façade to the broken god within...

Chrysander Notos, Supreme God of the South Wind and Summer, is on a mission:save Eurus from his death sentence and prove his troubled brother can be redeemed. But Eurus fights back, triggering vicious storms that threaten the mortal realm and dangerously drain Chrys.

Laney Summerlyn refuses to give up her grandfather's horse farm, despite her deteriorating vision. More than ever, she needs the organized routine of her life at Summerlyn Stables, until a ferocious storm brings an impossible—and beautiful—creature crashing down from the heavens.

Injured while fighting Eurus, Chrys finds himself at the mercy of a mortal woman whose compassion and acceptance he can't resist. As they surrender to the passion flaring between them, immortal enemies close in, forcing Chrys to choose between his brother and the only woman who's ever loved the real him.

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About Laura Kaye:
Laura is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over a dozen books in contemporary and paranormal romance. Growing up, Laura’s large extended family believed in the supernatural, and family lore involving angels, ghosts, and evil-eye curses cemented in Laura a life-long fascination with storytelling and all things paranormal. She lives in Maryland with her husband, two daughters, and cute-but-bad dog, and appreciates her view of the Chesapeake Bay every day.

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This week's Snippet is from LIFE AFTER DEATH, the sequel to my recent release, DEATH BENEFITS.

Here is the snippet:

I’d never shared my life after death after life experience with anyone; not even Roger. First of all, even I wasn’t completely convinced the entire episode was real after the fact. In the first place, my black Italian marble shower with the Chastings Corque Corian Square Ceiling Mount Showerhead and I came together quite dramatically in a completely involuntary manner that cracked my skull hard enough to scramble my brain into a convincing three dimensional hallucination that could be misinterpreted as a near death experience. Secondly, who in their right mind would believe me? Sure, I’d emerged from the experience a kinder and gentler Max Logan, filled with insight and forgiveness, ready to own up to my own part in
the misery that had become my everyday existence, but those who knew me best were far more likely to attribute it to a temporary psychotic break than any supernatural intervention.


And here is the blurb :)

After artfully arbitrating her return from the dead, Max Logan considers her experience with the afterlife a thing of the past. But Max’s success as a temporary Superintendent of Spiritual Impediment was no accident as she discovers when the permanent SSI shows up in the middle of the night to reveal that Max has a genetic predisposition to a supernatural calling. When Max’s 
ex-husband and current boyfriend, Roger-the-Proctologist is lost in a plane crash due to an inept Reaper gone rogue, Max has no choice but to venture back into the sweet hereafter in an attempt to rescue him. Throw in a freak blizzard,  a hot Grim Reaper, and the last person on Earth Max would choose to save, and  Max will be lucky to escape before her time runs out and she becomes a permanent  guest.

LIFE AFTER DEATH available 2014, DEATH BENEFITS

In honor of my book baby's upcoming one month birthday, I'm offering 3 winners an ebook copy of DEATH BENEFITS in the winner's choice of Kindle or Nook formats. The question may be answered in the comments section below this post! Please pass it on!

Max Logan’s insecurities have consumed her to the point that she has allowed them to skew her perceptions of people and circumstances. She has grown progressively more bitter, sarcastic, and solitary since her divorce and feels as though she has spent a lifetime getting the short end of the stick through no fault of her own; still she trudges on. Things can always get better, right? Of course, it’s hard to cultivate optimism when she finds herself dead; the victim of a D.I.E (Death in Error) caused by an overeager Grim Reaper in Training. She brokers a deal to be sent back to Earth as a temporary substitute for the Superintendent of Spiritual Impediment. Can a girl who can’t recognize her own problems rectify the issues of the living impaired? Or will she discover that concentrating on their issues gives her a new perspective on her own?

DEATH BENEFITS released on Wednesday May  first! :) I'm posting one last snippet and then will be moving on to another piece. I hope you'll take the time to check it out, and leave a review on Amazon or Barnes and Noble if you like it. Thanks so much for considering, and enjoy today's snippet!

     
There were no celestial choirs, no clouds, and not a single angel in sight; but there was a strange looking little man hunched over the gray metal desk that occupied the space between the gates. Small and wiry, in an ill-fitting brown flannel suit, he looked grim and harried, tapping away on a computer keyboard, his frown deepening with every stroke. His eyes were glued to
the screen and his head was bent to look over, instead of through, his gold wire bifocals. Poor guy, I had the same problem with mine no matter what prescription they gave me. It was so frustrating. Light from some unseen overhead source reflected on the bits of his bald scalp that peeked out boldly between the strands of his oh-so-sexy comb-over. He paid no attention to me whatsoever, bolstering my hope that this was all a dream.


DEATH BENEFITS
Sometimes you have to die to figure out how to live!

Max’s Logan's insecurities have consumed her to the point that they have skewed her perceptions of people and circumstances. She has grown progressively more bitter, sarcastic, and solitary since her divorce and feels as though she has spent a lifetime getting the short end of the stick through no fault of her own; still she trudges on. Things can always get better, right? Of course, it’s hard to cultivate optimism when she finds herself dead; the victim of a D.I.E (Death in Error) caused by an overeager Grim Reaper in Training. She brokers a deal to be sent back to Earth as a temporary substitute for the Superintendent of Spiritual Impediment. Can a girl who can’t recognize her own problems rectify the issues of the living impaired? Or will concentrating on their issues give her a new perspective on her own?

DEATH BENEFITS is now available from Whiskey Creek Press, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.