Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Helen Hamilton Guest Post


Helen Hamilton

What was one of the most surprising things you learned in meeting Lucas?

Where to start? I guess the most glaringly obvious thing that I learned when I met Lucas was that I’m not entirely human. I always sort of knew that I wasn’t. Not many teenaged girls can pick up a car, or outrun…well, anything really. When I met Lucas I learned that I was a Scion—the half human, half divine children of the Greek gods.

But, funny enough, that wasn’t the most surprising thing I learned.

The most surprising thing I learned was that I’m a mushy, lovelorn, wuss who can’t seem to stop thinking about a guy that she can’t have. I really wasn’t expecting that one. All my life my best friend Claire has teased me for not swooning over every hot guy that came to the island on vacation, or that lived on Nantucket with us year round. I just didn’t get the appeal. Sure, I’ve seen plenty of good-looking guys and thought that they were attractive, but I’d never really felt attraction. That certainly changed when I met Lucas.

At first it was more of a murderous rage sort of attraction, but that’s pretty normal I’ve come to learn.  Half of Jane Austin’s lovers in her books start off wanting to strangle each other, although Lucas and I are the only two I’ve ever heard of that actually tried to do it. Nearly got him, too.

Then it all changed. And it was like everything was so pretty all of a sudden. The sky, the water, the smell of the air, the feel of the clothes on my back—all the everyday stuff that you normally brush past without noticing became beautiful. Lucas Delos lived in the world so the whole world was precious to me.

It was wonderful. For about two days. Then it all went to hell.

The most surprising thing I’ve learned since meeting Lucas is that love absolutely blows, and that I—me, the girl who never had a crush on anyone before—am a lovesick sap.


Book Nerd Guest Post

I was supposed to be a boy.

At least, my mother was convinced I was going to be a boy when she was pregnant with me. She claimed that I "carried" like a boy, but since I'm the youngest of eight, and I have six sisters and only one beloved brother, it is reasonable to assume that my mother was simply suffering from a massive case of wishful thinking. Whatever the reasons, my parents were so convinced I was going to be a boy they had even decided on a boy name for me—Joseph.

But I'm a girl.

My mother, always a frugal woman, figured, why throw out a perfectly good name just because the gender's wrong? She put a handy "ine" on the end of Joseph, and I'm rather glad she did. I like my name, or at least I realize it could have been much worse. They could have been planning on calling me Ralph or something. Not much you can do with Ralph.

I grew up surrounded by women.

And not just normal, average women, either. My sisters are, without exaggeration, a pack of Amazons. They are all tall. They have masses of thick hair, gigantic smiles, ringing laughs, and unfortunately for me, they all have fiery tempers. You see—I'm not only the youngest, but the smallest as well. I also happen to be a natural wiseass. Not a healthy combination.

Lucky for me, I'm fast.

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Can true love be forgotten?

As the only scion who can descend into the Underworld, Helen Hamilton has been given a nearly impossible task. By night she wanders through Hades, trying to stop the endless cycle of revenge that has cursed her family. By day she struggles to overcome the fatigue that is rapidly eroding her sanity. Without Lucas by her side, Helen is not sure she has the strength to go on.

Just as Helen is pushed to her breaking point, a mysterious new Scion comes to her rescue. Funny and brave, Orion shields her from the dangers of the Underworld. But time is running out—a ruthless foe plots against them, and the Furies' cry for blood is growing louder.

As the ancient Greek world collides with the mortal one, Helen's sheltered life on Nantucket descends into chaos. But the hardest task of all will be forgetting Lucas Delos.

Josephine Angelini's compelling saga becomes ever more intricate and spellbinding as an unforgettable love triangle emerges and the eternal cycle of revenge intensifies. Eagerly awaited, this sequel to the internationally bestselling Starcrossed delivers a gritty, action-packed love story that exceeds all expectations.



Josephine Angelini’s Starcrossed was placed amongst my favorites of 2011. The sequel, Dreamless, continues the remarkable story of Helen Hamilton, a Descender who can go into the Underworld and the Scions’ only hope to defeat the Furies. But every time she descends, a piece of her is left behind in the Underworld. Helen feels hopeless in her mission as she’s in the Underworld searching and destroying Furies. Her hope is restored once she meets Orion. The highly interesting Orion added depth to the story and easily became one of my favorite characters in the book.

Josephine is such an incredible writer. Starcrossed was beautifully written but Dreamless manages to take it a step further. It is amazing how she crafts a story that feeds readers’ desires to want more. The character development is simply brilliant. Although they are fictional characters, the life she brings into each of them made them feel real with real personalities and real problems. The vivid descriptions of Helen’s emotions felt so genuinely real that just thinking about her pain was excruciating. Helen has grown a lot since Starcrossed as she’s more open to fighting and defending without using her abilities.

Sequels tend to be fillers or just a bridge to the final third book. However, Dreamless delivered powerful and important events that enriched the story. Equipped with Josephine’s masterful writing etiquette, it has all the perfect ingredients for an awesome book. The retelling of Greek Mythology is nothing new. It is quite difficult to twist and bend stories already been told but Josephine manages to create her own amazing story using heroic mythological characters. The writing is so incredible that it felt like the story came to Josephine naturally. If Dreamless is what it is, an amazing sequel that fully satisfies, book three will deliver the knockout punch that will crown the Starcrossed series as a beautifully written piece of literature.


You can purchase Dreamless at the following Retailers:
    


And now, The Giveaways.
Thank you Josie & James for making this giveaway possible.
1 Winner will receive 1 Helen Poster & Bookmark by James Vallesteros.
10 Winners will receive one Helen Hamilton Bookmark by James Vallesteros.
1 Winner will receive a complete Dreamless Swag by Josephine Angelini.
(Dreamless Book, Signed Bookmark & Helen Art Bookmark).
5 Winners will receive one Signed Dreamless Bookmark by Josephine Angelini.

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73 comments:

  1. Haha, lovesick sap. Yes, Helen is one. :)

    ANYWAY, I'd prefer trust over love because I feel that it's so difficult to trust someone and I'd just love to find people I trust- I only have few that I can count on one hand. IMO, trust shouldn't be given on a whim which is why I treasure it so much more than love.

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  2. trust for me too. true love can't work without it anyway ^^

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  3. Trust....its hard to trust these days. Too many people take advantage of it!
    Thank you Jean, James and Josie for this awesome giveaway!!!

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  4. I think I would have to say love, because trust is such a big part of love.

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  5. Definitely trust. Agreed that love doesn't work without trust.

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  6. Can you love without trust? I really do not think so. So love, because to truly love someone and be loved by them, you need to already trust them.

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  7. Love doesn't work all that great without trust, so I guess I would prefer trust if I could only have one :(

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  8. Hi! Wow, that's a hard question. I'd probably would have trust. People can lie and it's hard to earn someone's trust these days.

    Thank you for the awesome giveaway! (:

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  9. That's hard, because I'm a hopeless romantic. But I guess I'd have to go with trust.

    Thanks for the giveaway :)

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  10. Trust. I need to be able to trust in love, trust someone with my fragile heart.

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  11. Trust because in the end, without trust there is no real love.

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  12. trust! if I couldn't trust anyone I'd be pretty miserable

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  13. That is hard, I would have to pick love, my souls is full of it for others, it would eat me inside If there was no love. So love, for the sanity of my untrusting but loving soul.

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  14. oh, hard question :)
    true love would not exist without trust to each other. so yes, i'd prefer trust ^^

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  15. Love, because if he loved me. He would have to trust me ;)

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  16. I'd have to say Love if it was all consuming because love doesnt come without trust anyway

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  17. trust because without that you can not love

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  18. Trust

    You have to be able to trust before you can have a fulfilling and loving relationship.

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  19. I'd say trust because trust comes into play even before love even starts

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  20. Love... I think love is everything!

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  21. Thanks for this amazing giveaway, Jean!! I'm so excited about this one!

    Love James' artwork of Helen, he captured her beautifully <3

    I think trust is very important. Without it how can you have true love! Broken trust very often ends with broken love!!

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  22. love and trust go hand in hand. you can't love someone with trust :)

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  23. i would say trust because you can't have love without trust

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  24. Trust because love can be destroyed without it.

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  25. Trust because I won't believe in love without trust.

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  26. Trust.. Then Love will come. Without trust you don't have love!

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  27. Trust, because how can you love someone you don't trust?

    Thanks for the giveaway!

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  28. Trust!! (ileana-rafflecopter)

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  29. Trust. There is no love for me without trust.

    Stefanie McMullen

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  30. Id say trust is needed when your in a loving relationship. But trust should always come first in anything.

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  31. you can't have a good relationship without trust and it's hard to find someone who you can trust any way, so my choice is trust

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  32. Trust, because, as lots of other people have said, you can't really have love without trust. Otherwise it just ends in a world of hurt..

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  33. With love comes trust so love.

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  34. I think trust is harder to find! And it can lead to love :)

    --Markella

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  35. trust...you can't truly love someone if you can't trust them

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  36. Thats a hard question since I've recently had to deal with an ultimate betrayal by my supposed bff of 11 yrs! Ive always wanted love so badly but now I think I would choice trust because after what I've gon through, I now have no trust in anyone!! :(

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  37. Trust..because what is love without trust?

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  38. Trust you can't have love or any kind of relationship without it.

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  39. if it is a matter of time and also depending on the person with which this trust and love go hand in hand if there is a real love has absolute confidence in the other person, but if you can get both

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  40. Trust of course!
    Thank's for the giveaway ^_^

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  41. I will go with love. You can not trust someone who you do not love.:D
    thanks for the giveaway..♥

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  42. Can't i have both. i think that they go hand in hand for the most part. this is a hard one, one one hand i would pick trust but on other love.

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  43. Out of trust and love, I'd go for trust. c:

    Thank you for this.

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  44. I would chose trust. You can't have love without it but you can have it without love. Great post and giveaway. Thanks so much!

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  45. I'd choose trust. What is love without trust?

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