Dangerously Divine by Deborah Blake – Review, Interview & Giveaway
Dangerously Divine
Broken Riders series – Book #2
by Deborah Blake
Release Date: November 28,2017
Amazon / B&N / Kobo / BAM / Book Depository
Description:
The Riders: Three immortal brothers who kept the Baba Yagas safe, now stripped of their summons to protect. But fate is not finished with them—and their new callings are even more powerful…
Though his physical wounds have healed, Gregori Sun, the eldest of the Riders, remains in spiritual turmoil. His search for his mother, the one person able to heal his soul and save his life, is failing—until he crosses paths with a beautiful and fascinating librarian who might be the key to his salvation…
Ciera Evans’s bookish ways are just a guise. The product of a difficult past, she has dedicated her life to saving lost teens—by any means necessary. She works alone, but when a dark, brooding stranger proposes they team up to solve both their problems, she is tempted—in more ways than one…
After Ciera and Sun’s plans are derailed by dangerous enemies, they find themselves entangled in an ungodly affair—one that will force them to either find new strength together or be forever haunted by their pasts alone.
Review:
Dangerously Divine by Deborah Blake is the 2nd book in her Broken Riders spinoff (Baba Yaga) series. Having enjoyed the first book in this series (Dangerously Charming), I looked forward to reading this book, and I am happy to say I enjoyed it as much or even better.
Gregori Sun, our hero, is a broken rider, who due his torture by the hands of insane Baba Yaga witch, has lost his immortality. Gregori feels lost, unable to feel his spirit, and enters a monastery, where he feels he is now best suited to be. Gregori, at the same time, spends his spare time at the local library, trying to research clues to finding his spiritual mother, who can help heal him; and teach him how to use his new found healing powers.
Ciera Evans, our heroine, is the librarian, who helps Gregori find the books he needs. Ciera, leads a secret life outside of the library. She is hiding from Victor, a dangerous man who imprisoned her and had her on drugs. She was saved by a friend, who was murdered, and now Ciera is a vigilante, helping abused teens, fighting the dangerous men who hurt them, and revenging the man who murdered her friend.
Gregori is intrigued by Ciera, who he keeps running into, whether at the library, soup kitchen (where she works), or on the streets. He finds himself becoming attracted to her, as she is to him. But both know there can be no future. When Gregori starts getting closer to finding his mother, someone is out to stop him and a god of winter brings down havoc of ice and snow that threatens the town. Bella (one of the Baba Yaga’s) and her dragon/cat Koshki , come to help Gregori. Together they will ask Gregori’s father (God of Spring ) to help stop the horrific storm
At the same time, Ciera finds herself in terrible danger, as the person she has been hunting has found her, and now she is at his mercy. Will Gregori be able to find her and save her? What follows is an exciting adventure, which kept us glued to the book during the last half. I loved Gregori and Ciera together, as they were different, but similar in both being effected by tragedies; but I rooted for them to find their way to each other.
To tell too much more would be spoilers, which I do not want to give, as you need to read both books in this series. Dangerously Divine was an enjoyable read that was exciting, intense, a sweet romance, great couple, and fun spending time with a Baba Yaga and Koshki (very funny) . Dangerously Divine was another fun story. I can’t wait for the next book in this series.
Reviewed by Barb
Copy provided by Publisher
Hi Deborah. Welcome back to The Reading Café.
TRC: Dangerously Divine was released yesterday, which is the 2nd book in your Broken Riders series. For those of who have not read this series, can you please tell us the premise of Broken Riders?
Deborah: The Broken Riders is actually a spin-off from my Baba Yaga series. The Riders are three mysterious men who have aided the Baba Yaga witches for centuries. But something terrible happened to them in the third Baba Yaga book, Wickedly Powerful, and now they are broken men, trying to figure out who and what they are, since they can no longer be who they were. (Plus, there is romance, of course.)
TRC: Can you please give us a brief description of Dangerously Divine ?
Deborah: Though his physical wounds have healed, Gregori Sun, the eldest of the Riders, remains in spiritual turmoil. His search for his mother, the one person able to heal his soul and save his life, is failing—until he crosses paths with a beautiful and fascinating librarian who might be the key to his salvation…
Ciera Evans’s bookish ways are just a guise. The product of a difficult past, she has dedicated her life to saving lost teens—by any means necessary. She works alone, but when a dark, brooding stranger proposes they team up to solve both their problems, she is tempted—in more ways than one…
After Ciera and Sun’s plans are derailed by dangerous enemies, they find themselves entangled in an ungodly affair—one that will force them to either find new strength together or be forever haunted by their pasts alone.
TRC: How many books do you have planned for your Broken Riders series?
Deborah: Three, one for each Rider.
TRC: Broken Riders is a spin off from your Baba Yaga series. For those of our members who have not read this series, can you please give us a description of the premise of the Baba Yaga series?
Deborah: The Baba Yagas are an updated version of the Russian fairy tales about powerful witches who are tasked at maintaining the balance of nature, guarding the doorways to the mystical Otherworld, and occasionally, if they can’t avoid it, helping a worthy seeker. There are three very different women who are responsible for the United States: Barbara, Beka, and Bella. They each travel in their own moving house (the old tales say that the Baba Yaga lived in wooden huts that traveled through the forest on giant chicken legs, but Barbara prefers her Airstream trailer, which is less likely to be noticed) and travel with their companions, the Chudo-Yudo dragons, each of which is disguised as a normal, albeit huge, animal. Barbara’s Chudo-Yudo is a large white pit bull, for instance. Who doesn’t want a dragon-dog?
TRC: You have a another series, Veiled Magic, which you have written two books. Can you please give us the premise of this series, and how many books are you planning?
Deborah: These books are urban fantasy, set slightly in the future in a world much like ours, where Witches are one of six major Paranormal races, and the only ones to have revealed themselves to Humans. Donata Santori, the protagonist, works as a Witch Cop, using her ability to speak to the dead to talk to the victims of crimes. It’s a dreary job, but things get a lot more interesting when she stumbles across a dangerous secret from the depths of Paranormal history, and enlists the help of a half-dragon forger, a disgraced shapechanger, and (somewhat reluctantly) a mischievous Kobold.
The third and final book in the series will be out in March of 2018.
TRC: Can you please tell us what you working on now, and what you have upcoming in 2018?
Deborah: I’m working on a couple of things, including the third Broken Riders book, a Women’s Fiction novel, and a romantic comedy.
TRC: What is your writing process? Do you like to outline your story before you start? Do you have a specific place you like to write? Is there a special time of day that works best for you?
Deborah: I am definitely a plotter. I usually have an outline for the story that is anywhere from twelve to twenty pages, plus extensive notes on character, setting, plot, etc. I try and write up all of that before I start writing, although of course things sometimes change over the course of the writing process.
I usually sit on the recliner couch in my living room with my laptop to write (I need peace and quiet, and am always impressed by people who can write in coffee houses), most often with a cat to supervise me. I have a day job, so I usually write in the evening, pretty much seven days a week. On the days I don’t work, I often do a second stint earlier in the day. Mornings and evenings seem to be best for me, although I have had books where that oddly wasn’t true.
TRC: Would you like to add anything else?
Deborah: I’m so excited to have this book out in the world (it was delayed, so it has been thirteen months since the first one in the series came out). I hope everyone loves reading about Gregori’s adventures.
Thank you, Deborah for giving us an update on Dangerously Divine, as well as what we can look forward to 2018. It was a pleasure having you visit us again.
Deborah’s publisher is offering a paper copy of DANGEROUSLY DIVINE to ONE (1) lucky commenter at The Reading Cafe.
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