Today's guest on "Authors Top 10 Favourites" is paranormal romance author, Heather Killough-Walden. Heather was born in California and started writing at the age of five. She has written more than a dozen novels, short stories and poems and is the bestselling author of the Big Bad Wolf series. Her award-winning paranormal romance novels have achieved huge online success and record-breaking eBook sales.

'Always Angel' is the prequel to 'Avenger's Angel' the first in Heather's brand new paranormal romance series 'The Lost Angels'.

Heather loves to travel and has been all over the world. She currently lives in San Francisco with her husband and daughter.

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'Always Angel' Kindle | 'Avenger's Angel' Kindle | 'Avenger's Angel' Paperback

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Top Ten Songs 
(I listen to in order to get into the mood to write)

By Heather Killough-Walden

Music is crucial. 

I hate getting into my car and starting the engine and then remembering that I haven’t changed the CD’s in two months. I need my good music! Why? It touches my soul.

Music has been shown to cure diseases medicine couldn’t touch. It can make us feel better when we’re blue – and depress the hell out of us when we’re otherwise fine. It brings back memories and makes us plan for the future. It pumps us up during a difficult work-out and eases stress when blasted from our car stereos while we’re riding at a cool and comfortable 90 miles per hour (so long as we’ve changed the CD’s recently).

I can’t imagine an existence without music. One might go so far as to say that music dictates our lives. How long can you go without listening to it to some degree? Without tapping out your fingers on your lap or the steering wheel? Without slamming your pencils on your desk? Without humming a tune? How long has that song been stuck in your head?

A movie isn’t a movie without it. Have you ever tried to watch a scary scene in a horror show with the volume off? You don’t know when to be scared if the music doesn’t tell you when to be scared. Without the rise and fall, the foreboding crescendo, a frightening scene becomes a parody and, quite frankly, funny.

So it is with the scenes in my head. I’ve never heard a song that I didn’t mentally create a video for. And when I write? I hear music playing alongside the scenes I pen. It works in reverse as well, of course. More often than not, when I hear a song, it brings to mind specific characters from my writings, which is why I wind up creating a mental video of sorts for the music.

And like any artist with a go-to paint brush or lucky pair of skates or tried and true camera, I have songs I listen to more than others to get me into the mood to write. I’ve been asked to narrow it down to ten, and quite frankly, that was difficult. There are SO many songs I adore, I could fill pages. 

But here are the ones that came to me off of the top of my head, which probably means that they play more of a role than the others anyway. I’ve pasted the URL’s for the songs on YouTube in case you’d like to have a listen yourselves. ☺ 

1. Bad Romance – Lady Gaga (YouTube Link)

This song just says it all to me. “I want your love. I want your revenge.” Right there, you have the makings of Angel of Vengeance. Throw in the bit about a bad romance, and you’ve hit the nail on the head.  

2. Caledonia – Celtic Woman (YouTube Link)

And we have Gabriel’s book. Caledonia is, of course, Scotland. I visited for a month in order to write Messenger’s Angel. During that month, I became smitten with Caledonia. Now I listen to these words and feel them echo inside. It’s easy to see how an angel could fall in love with a land.

3. Hallelujah – Jeff Buckley (YouTube Link)

This song is Azrael; the depth, the pain, the loneliness. The guitar notes speak of loss, the voice, of  death. There is a longing in this song so strong, it makes you ache inside. It’s the one I listened to most of all for Azrael’s book, Death’s Angel.

4. Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) – Journey (YouTube Link)

Ah. So we come to Samael’s song – one as decidedly epic as is the Fallen One himself. I won’t tell you who the words are meant for. You’ll have to figure that out for yourself.

5. Vampire Heart – HIM (YouTube Link)

This is a nearly painfully obvious one, and to be honest, not one I listen to as often as the others. But when I do, I can’t help but think of Roman D’Angelo (my Big Bad Wolf readers will know of whom I speak) and of course, of Azrael.

6. Moon Over Bourbon Street – Sting (YouTube Link) 

This is the song sung by the souls of my Third Kiss vampires. Some of my readers may remember The Third Kiss series; vampire nations and their kings. The first book takes place in Louisiana, fittingly.

  

7. Stripped – Shiny Toy Guns (YouTube Link) 

Again, Azrael. And a little bit Samael. It’s just a damn good song.

8. Forever – Live (YouTube Link)

Hell Bent. This is Jack Thane’s song to Annabelle. The man is walking, breathing danger. He’s a Hell’s Angel. He’s an assassin, for crying out loud. And he’s so head over heels in love with Annabelle, he would die for her. If he had a thousand lives to live by her side, it wouldn’t be long enough.

9. Next Contestant – Nickelback (YouTube Link)

Poor Drake. I’d hate to have to go anywhere with Raven. The entire world wants to eat her.

10. Blinded by the Light – Manfred Mann (YouTube Link)

Maybe it’s the “blinded” bit, or maybe it’s the agent bit, but this song makes me think of my entire life and career as a writer. “Mama always told me not to look into the eyes of the sun.” You have to make sacrifices to reach your goals. Because even though it hurts like a bugger, “That’s where the fun is.”

11. BONUS (and one to grow on): It’s My Life – Bon Jovi (YouTube Link)

This is just me. It’s what I listen to when I’ve had enough BS. It’s what I turn on after a bad review. It’s what I scream the lyrics to when I need to remind myself that no one knows my stories or my characters like I do. It helps me to be strong, to not back down, to go with my gut. This is my pump-up song. Yes, I admit it. I love Bon Jovi. Hell, the first cassette tape I ever owned was Bon Jovi. Or was it Mr. Mister….

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An exclusive ebook novella introducing THE LOST ANGELS. For two thousand years, the four archangels have searched for their destined mates on earth. Now they are beginning to unite, but for Angel, it is a time of danger and fear. For with the Culmination these unions will bring about, her true nature will finally be revealed - opening her to an impossible desire, and exposing her to the one man she desperately craves... (Goodreads)

It is no secret that I loved 'Avenger's Angel' and because of that I purchased "Always Angel" the day it was released. It has many of the aspects I loved about 'Avenger's Angel' from the great writing to intriguing, sexy characters.

"Always Angel" is very short, too short in my opinion, and because of this there's not much plot. It's not a self-contained story as there's no real beginning, middle and end. It's more of a prologue to the main series. In the summary above it states that it 'introduces' the reader to The Lost Angels, well I'm not sure it does. None of the four Archangel's who are in the main series feature and the protagonist is one we never meet at all in the first book in the series.

We do get to see a little more of the naughty Samuel though, which I really enjoyed as I love Samuel. And we see the Archesses but from afar and only from the view point of Angel.

Angel is the main character and I liked her a lot. She's interesting and has cool abilities such as being able to change her appearance and transport to different parts of the world. I didn't really get to know who she is or what her role is with regards to The Lost Angels, but what we do know is that she's keeping an eye on the Archesses and she has a relationship or connection with Samuel that is never fully explained... 

"Always Angel" gives me the feeling that there's a much bigger story to be told, which is very exciting and I hope Angel's story is developed further and all the questions about the Culmination and Samuel will be answered. *Oh I do hope Samuel gets his own book!*

We are also introduced to a few more supernatural characters such as Hesperos or 'The Nightmare' as he's known, an incubus king who wishes to know what Angel is hiding *so would I* and tries to seduce it out of her with overwhelming feelings of lust and sex, but so far she's resisting...

Although there are many questions left unanswered and mysterious characters you meet but never really get to know, "Always Angel" definitely creates a feeling of "I want the next book NOW!"

I'm not sure if readers who haven't read 'Avenger's Angel' will benefit from reading this first as it may leave them confused and frustrated more than anything, but I would definitely recommend reading it, especially to those who have already delved into the world of The Lost Angels with 'Avenger's Angel'.

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SUMMARY:

Being near-fatally poisoned by a con-artist psychic and then trapping a homicidal ghost is just another day on the job for Chess Putnam. Her magical and non-magical talents are used to expose those looking to profit from the world's unpleasant little poltergeist problem, as well as banish the real undead.

But Chess has been extra busy these days, coping with a tiring new celebrity assignment on top of her own investigation: someone is murdering the prostitutes in Downside, and Chess is sure that it's not the work of a ghost. But to prove it, she must hunt down and confront a mania, and walk a careful line between the two men in her life just as they - along with their ruthless gang-land employers - are moving closer to a catastrophic showdown.

Someone is dealing in murder, sex, and the supernatural, and once again Chess finds herself right in the crossfire. (Goodreads)

REVIEW:

Book two in this great urban fantasy series and the writing has definitely got better in this instalment. This book focusses on the two faces of Chess as she bridges two worlds. The junkie with connections to the drug underworld of Downside, and the respectable church debunker who has been commended for her investigations.

For a lot of the book it feels as though Chess is life is becoming unravelled, life without drugs an impossibility, but at the same her addictions could very well lead her to lose the job that sits at the core of her existence. This does at times makes for painful reading, you begin to realise just how deep Chess is in with her drug addiction, and the messes it leads her into left me with a mixture of feeling the need to shake or weep for her.

In her addition her relationships in particular with Terrible and Lex become more complex. There are some truly lovely scenes with Terrible and some absolutely heart-breaking ones. What was just the hint of an unusual romance is 'Unholy Ghosts' began to sweep me away in 'Unholy Magic'. We learn more about Terrible, the good as well as the violently ugly. And as the reader just like Chess, I fell for him and began see the man beneath the dark and tough veneer.

Lex is a character I have failed to connect with as much as Terrible and Chess. But he is also exceedingly important to the story. But I am so far struggling to see the motive behind his actions, are they driven because he genuinely cares or is there a more sinister ulterior motive?

The ghosts in this book are as nasty as before. But I also find myself becoming more and more uncomfortable with the church's role in society. There are so many stark comparisons in this book between the seemingly respectable life and rule of the church and the bloody and unpredictable life of the poor in Downside. I couldn't help but notice that both are equally ruthless in their own way. The boundaries just different. Who needs hell when the church can torture your ghost in the afterlife? Which then makes me wonder which society is in fact worse?

VERDICT:

As with book one, I take my hat off to Stacia Kane for her excellent characterisation. Her excellent written, dark and complex characters are what makes this story. Couple this with a vividly drawn urban fantasy world and you have a book you'll struggle to put down.

RATING: 8/10 ~ brilliant, couldn't put it down.

Urban Fantasy & Paranormal Romance

I have been perusing Amazon's Kindle store again and found these amazing urban fantasy and paranormal romance deals, which I thought I would share. I'm not sure of the time limit of each book deal, so apologies if they are not free, cheap or available anymore, but they were at the time I wrote this post :)