A Beautiful Evil Blog Tour: Guest Post & Giveaway

Hi everyone! Thanks so much to Mundie Moms for having me stop by and share a deleted scene from A BEAUTIFUL EVIL. The scene I chose features a character, which didn’t make it into the book, but whom I absolutely adore. He will be making an appearance in another book, and I can’t wait for you guys to truly meet him and discover just who and what he is.

To set the stage: Ari has gotten a mysterious invitation to meet a visitor just arrived in New 2. Bran Ramsey, the Novem’s Head of Security and Ari’s combat instructor at Presby, takes her to meet with the newcomer. The meeting takes place on the riverboat, Creole Queen, during Bran’s Annual Black & Gold Masque…

Hope you enjoy!~ Kelly

“Come. Your visitor awaits. And the sooner you see him, the sooner he can get the hell off my boat.” Bran glanced around, eyes scanning the surroundings. It was pretty clear whoever was on his boat made the Big Guy edgy, and that was saying something.

I followed Bran onto the riverboat, weaving through a throng of masked revelers dressed in elaborate costumes of black and gold. This was the Ramsey’s Black and Gold Masque, and the riverboat was filled with guests and entertainers of all sorts: jugglers, contortionists, sword eaters, and fire wielders … Brassy music from the live jazz band drifted down from the third story.

On the second level, Bran left me, telling me to wait. I settled against the balcony railing, and gazed out at the wide Mississippi. It glittered like a diamond with a million facets, the lights decorating the riverboat reflecting off its black surface. After a while, I turned my attention to a performer as he began to juggle fire batons.

Ten minutes passed. I started to worry. Bran hadn’t come back.

I’d decided to give it another minute when a dark shadow caught my attention. It weaved around the legs of the crowd as they ooh’d and ahh’d at the juggler. A sleek cat emerged from the satin and sequins, and sauntered toward me. Light bounced off its glossy coat, and I saw that it wasn’t entirely black like I thought. The tips of its hairs were black, but the color faded downward from black to a light brown. It had long legs and a wedged-shaped face. Its ears were larger than the average cat and it stared at me with strange yellow eyes. It looked foreign and feral, yet sophisticated and graceful.

It leapt onto the railing next to me, and I went very still, not wanting to shake the railing, not wanting the dare-devil thing to fall into the river. But the cat balanced easily and sashayed away from me along the gentle curve of the railing. As it went, a figure separated from the crowd, intent on the cat.

I realized immediately, he didn’t fit. Didn’t belong here. Every muscle in my body went tight as some intuitive sense, some primal instinct said: No, this is wrong. He is wrong.

His skin was bronze and smooth. Head shaved. He wore a loose linen shirt, the sleeves rolled to his elbows, and linen pants of the same natural color. His toes peeked out from sandals. His arms were strong and tan, devoid of hair and inked with faded black tattoos.

The cat stopped on the railing, arched its back for the stroke of the man’s hand. Then it leapt onto his shoulders, where it draped itself around the back of his neck, its tail curling around to twitch under his chin. Its tiny nose lifted and rubbed the man’s jaw.

Then he turned toward me and met my stare.

All the breath left my lungs. I couldn’t look away, too stunned by the eyes. Holy hell. The eyes… And then it hit me like a thunderbolt. My knees went weak. I knew who and what this was.

He moved closer and smiled slowly. “You know who I am.”

My heart leapt wildly. I nodded, unable to speak. I had no idea how I remained standing—standing there . . . with a supreme deity.

I was so screwed.

By: Kelly Keaton

Published by: Simon & Pulse

To Be Released on: February 21st, 2012

Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Myth and mayhem inhabit a richly reimagined New Orleans in this sequel to Darkness Becomes Her.After the epic graveyard battle at the end of Darkness Becomes Her, Ari and her friends know what they’re up against: Ari is facing the Medusa curse and is haunted by the image of what she will become. To make matters worse, the heinous goddess Athena has kidnapped young Violet and is threatening to destroy Ari.

Ari, along with the superhot Sebastian, is doing everything she can to learn more about Athena and to get Violet back. But the battle of good and evil is bigger than she realizes, and she’s about to be pulled into a world more horrific than she could ever imagine...

The Giveaway: Through out the blog tour each blog will be giving away a SIGNED SET of Darkness Becomes Her & A Beautiful Evil. Each of these giveaways is open internationally.

To enter the set of books I'm giving away today, please fill out the form below.

- 1 entry per person

- You must 13 yrs & older to enter

- Open internationally

- This giveaway ends on 3.5.12

Thank you to Kelly Keaton for stopping by today! Please be sure to follow Kelly on her: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads