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"I half-turned to her and shrugged, still processing what I'd seen, or at least what I thought I'd seen, in Ms. Neal's eyes—like they weren't hers. Obviously, they were her eyes, but it looked like she'd plucked them from someone else's head. A dead someone else's head."
In the fight between good and evil, Light is your only weapon.
Crystal Scott finally feels like a normal teenager. She has a lead in the high school play, a best friend, and a gorgeous boyfriend. With prom only a few days away, Crystal’s ordinary life seems perfect.
Endowed with great Light because of her virtuous choices and her inherent gifts, Crystal’s aura has become visible to those with the ability to see auras. Unfortunately, her power has also attracted the attention of demons intent on destroying all Light.
When Vincent Crandall, the human host for a powerful demon, discovers that Crystal’s Light is strong enough to disrupt the connection between demons and their hosts, he realizes she may be able to sever the connection altogether. Determined to stop her from interfering with his plans to rule the world, he sends operatives to neutralize her Light.
After the operatives fail to disable Crystal, Vincent decides he must harness her power for himself. He kidnaps her parents, and Crystal is thrust into battle against a demon army she didn’t even know existed. With the help of a mysterious young man and his mother, Crystal must learn to use the power within her before Vincent kills her parents and exploits her Light.
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Excerpt #6
Erin walked down the hall so
I strolled over to the parking lot only to find the reporter guy waiting by my
car. As I got closer, my pulse quickened. I’d never been interviewed before,
and the idea terrified me—I didn’t want to sound like a loser.
He stood straighter when he
noticed me. “Hi.” His voice was like warm honey.
“Hi.”
“I’m Alec.”
I gave a slight nod.
“Crystal.”
We stood in silence for a
few moments. I tried to persuade my nerves to settle down, but they sizzled
throughout my body. I mentally yelled at myself for noticing how attractive he
was in his dark jeans and gray t-shirt. A t-shirt that hugged his biceps. And
his pecs.
I tilted my head to the
right. “This is my car.”
He smiled and my stomach
flipped. “I know. I wanted to meet you.”
I cleared my throat. “For
your article on the play? You’re a reporter for the school paper, right?”
“Um, yeah.” He jerked his
head to the side and knocked his wavy, black hair away from his forehead.
“Is that why you’ve been
following me?” I didn’t want to stare, but I’d never seen such blue eyes
before. Cobalt blue. And there was more. His eyes were so clear, so full of
depth. Mesmerizing.
“I wondered if we could talk
for a little while.”
I tore my gaze from his and
glanced at my watch. “Right now?” I told my heart to calm down—after all, he
was a reporter. That was all. Whatever I felt was nerves, nothing else. Definitely
not attraction. At. All.
“If now works for you.”
He peered at me, as if
searching my soul. His eyes were hypnotic. So much so that I didn’t notice when
someone walked up.
“What’s going on here?” Nate
demanded.
I took a few steps back,
trying to distance myself from Alec and his eyes, dark lashes, strong jaw, and
full lips. Especially the full lips. His
lips? What am I thinking? Why am I
noticing this guy at all? Focus on Nate—my boyfriend. My. Boyfriend. I turned to face Nate.
“Nothing.” My voice sounded
weak.
Nate moved toward Alec.
“Doesn’t look like nothing.” Alec didn’t step back, even though Nate was a few
inches taller and more intimidating with his narrowed eyes and clenched jaw.
I pulled at Nate’s arm.
“It’s nothing. He’s a reporter from the school paper. He wants to interview me
about the play.” Nate’s jealousy fascinated me. I’d never seen him, or any
other guy, act this way over me. Of course, it wasn’t like guys had ever
flocked to me. A gangly, awkward, invisible girl wasn’t exactly a guy magnet.
And yet, here were two guys arguing about talking to me. Me. So weird.
Nate looked Alec up and
down. “The school paper? Is that right?”
Alec nodded, keeping his
gaze fixed on Nate. Unflinching. “I wanted to talk to her for a few minutes, if
you don’t mind.” Sarcasm lingered over his words.
Nate frowned. “We have
plans.”
“We do?” I asked.
“Yeah.” He didn’t even
glance at me.
“I must’ve forgotten.” I
gave a faint smile. We had no plans, but I didn’t want to embarrass Nate in
front of Alec by saying so. I felt like a useless ragdoll tossed between two
snarling dogs, unable to do anything but watch.
Nate stepped next to me and
glued himself to my side. “She’ll have to talk to you later.”
“Is that what you want to do?” Alec asked me.
I swallowed hard, trying to
keep my gaze away from his eyes. “Yeah.”
“You got a problem with your
hearing?” Nate snapped. I could see a vein starting to bulge in his neck, and I
was scared he might punch Alec. And for no good reason. What was going on? With
Nate? With the Alec guy? Was I in an alternate reality?
Alec glared at Nate without
blinking.
“I can answer your questions
later,” I said, hoping Nate would back down and we could leave. I hated
scenes—especially when I didn’t even understand why there was a scene at all.
“When?” Alec’s gaze captured
mine, and time stopped for a moment. My cheeks throbbed. I wanted to look away,
but I was powerless to do anything but stare at him.
“Crystal?” Nate said, breaking
the spell.
I shifted my attention back
to him. “It’s only an interview, Nate. No big deal. Right?” I said, refusing to
chance interlocking my eyes with Alec’s again.
“Right.” Alec’s voice slid
into my ears, warming them.
I yanked at Nate’s arm. “Come
on.”
“I don’t like this,” Nate
said as we walked toward his truck
“You’re overreacting.” I
noted the irony of our reversed roles—I was
the reigning queen of overreactions.
“And you actually believe
everyone only has good intentions. That guy’s after you.”
I reached up and touched
Nate’s cheek. “He’s doing an article. Nothing else. No need to worry.” I tried
to convince myself of the same thing, but the crackling at the edge of my mind
told me there was much more.
I followed Nate toward his
truck, but couldn’t help glancing over my shoulder. Alec was still watching us.
Rebecca Lynn Talley grew up in the gorgeous seaside city of Santa Barbara, CA. She met, and married, her husband, Del, while attending Brigham Young University. She graduated from BYU with a degree in Communications. She currently lives in rural Colorado on a small ranch with a dog, too many cats to count, and a herd of goats. She and Del are the proud parents of ten wildly-creative, multi-talented children.
Rebecca is the author of a children's picture book, Grasshopper Pie (WindRiver 2003), a children's chapter book, Gabby's Secret (DuBon Publishing 2011), four novels, Heaven Scent (CFI 2008), Altared Plans (CFI 2009), The Upside of Down (CFI 2011), and Aura (DuBon Publishing 2012). She has also authored numerous children's stories and articles for both print and online magazines.
When she isn’t writing, Rebecca loves to date her husband, play with her kids, swim in the ocean, and dance to disco music while she cleans the house. She has folded at least one million loads of laundry, baked hundreds of batches of chocolate chip cookies, and eaten 5,478 gallons of ice cream.
Reviews
This YA urban fantasy is fantastic! The story grabbed me from the start and kept me enthralled until the end! I love books that keep me thinking about the characters and events and possibilities even after putting them down...Aura is one of those books! Rebecca Lynn Talley has created characters you care about in a world begging for the special gifts they possess. I love the premise of Aura and imagine I'll be enjoying many more Light vs. Demon novels in the future....at least I hope there are more to come!
~KindleQueen
I loved the clasic good VS evil in Aura. I loved that Crystal made the conscious choice to be good inspite of feelings and doubts. I also loved the idea of demons posessing somone who had made dark choices, or greedy bargains. The book is clean and well handled inspite of the serious subject matter.Well done.
~C. Michelle Jefferies
This is one of those books that you hope will become widespread enough to make a positive impact in this world. Personally, I think this is a book every teenager should read and I will definitely be passing it along to my own kids. Thank you, Rebecca, for writing a beautiful story with a wonderful message! I hope you keep at it because now I want a sequel!
~Rachael Anderson
Aura sucked me in from the first page. The book is intense and well-written. I loved that Crystal is innocent and makes a conscious choice to stay that way in the face of intense pressure. I would recommend Aura to young adults on up.
~Cami Checketts
Wonderful, wonderful message. Probably the most solid moral message I’ve ever read in contemporary literature, but without being too heavy or feeling like a lecture. You could almost look at it like an allegory, I think, representing real life with fictional symbols. I’m trying to explain without giving anything away, and I think I’m doing a bad job. Anyway, I have four boys, but if I had a girl, I would definitely have her read it. The story is imaginative and creative, Crystal is a strong but believable heroine, caught up in high school cares and not realizing her own potential or the battle that is waged around and for her. I thought at times it was a bit predictable, and that the first half of the book drug a little. It probably could have been told quicker or perhaps made a little more interesting. But all in all, I enjoyed it. The story kept me going and the characters were sweet and compelling.
~May Abbey
Wow! I got this book for free and LOVED it! I can't wait to read any follow up books! (There WILL be follow up books, right?) In this story Crystal is full of light, thanks to making good choices, and she has to figure out how to keep the light in the midst of high school where temptation runs rampant and where she just wants to be an average girl! I like that things never went too far, and I felt like it was very well-written, with rounded out characters!
~Tamera Westhoff
Blog Tour Giveaway
$25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash
Ends 3.21.13
Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer http://iamareader.com and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.
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Thanks so much for hosting my book tour. I appreciate it! I hope you have a fabulous time in NY. Senior year is very busy. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteGreat review and I enjoyed the excerpt. I'll have to check this book out.
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