BooksChatter: ☀ Taken: Five Fates [2]

Thank you for joining us on the Virtual Book Tour for Taken, a Paranormal Romance by Amy McKinley (6 June 2016, Champagne Books, 240 pages).

This is the second book in the Five Fates series.

Don't miss our interview with author Amy McKinley.

PREVIEW: Check out the book's synopsis and excerpt below. Read the first three chapters with Amazon Look Inside.

Author Amy McKinley will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour. Please do take part: comment on our post and follow the tour where you will be able to read other excerpts (☀), interviews (ℚ), reviews (✍) and guest blog posts (✉).

Synopsis | Teaser | The Series | Author Q&A | About the Author | Giveaway & Tour Stops

Synopsis

Forged through a childhood trauma and cursed by the Fates, Layla vows never to be at another’s mercy. With determination and training she evolves into a deadly weapon and quiets her inner demons—until the prophecy activates, shattering her peace. The gods who want her dead converge and the hunt to end her life truly begins. The skills that Layla honed for protection become an unconscious tool for death and destruction, threatening not only the gods but her family.

Entrenched in clan turmoil, Thaull’s life hangs at a precipice. He’s faced with a condition known only to his kind, the soul-divide. If not dealt with, his soul will rip in half and he will turn into an unstoppable, ice-cold killing machine. As he hunts the traitor within his Phantom Warrior clan he worsens. A fragile thread of hope remains. The love of a female, freely given, can save him. Through a premonition of an alluring demigoddess, he gambles his very existence in the chance she will be his salvation.

She will go dark from her curse. He will go numb from his. To survive, Layla must risk trusting another or become another.

Teaser: Excerpt

Prologue

     The silver thread spun on Clotho’s wheel—beautiful, fragile, yet strong. She drew it out. Lachesis measured. When the time came, Atropos snipped.
     Beneath the Tree of Life, gnarled roots formed an intricate cave, encircling Destiny’s sisters. Magic was palpable. At times deadly and others good. They are past, present, and future. They are the three Fates. Sisters who decide the destiny of humans and rumored to determine that of the gods as well.
     They represent the phases of the moon: new, full, and old. Their image lies in that of the beholder. To some, they appear old, ugly, perhaps frightening. To others, luring sirens. To a select few and themselves, their true form holds. Long, flowing hair spun as fine as a silver moonbeam. Their midnight, starry eyes reflected the vastness of the cosmos.
     To anger beings such as these never bodes well. To try their patience tests fate itself. Decades ago, one god dared to push them too far and the Fates’ prophecy came into being…

~ * ~

The Fates leaned in toward each other. Atropos shook with fury. “He goes too far. It’s time we taught him a lesson. Kept him busy for a while.”
     “What do you have in mind?” Clotho asked.
     “A prophecy.” Atropos cackled, her sharp cheekbones defined.
     “Oh, I like that.” Clotho sighed contently, sitting back in her chair, steepling long fingers.
     “Five of them. Females. Born of a god and a—”
     “Demoness!” Lachesis shrieked, a flush coloring her cheeks.“We must choose those he won’t suspect.” She got up and touched a branch from the tree, contemplating.
     “Helios, god of the Sun, and…Aiesa, a demon of the night. He would never guess.” A wicked smile spread across Atropos’s lips.“They’ll have five female offspring—”
     “Five?” Clotho peered closer.
     “Yes.” Atropos smothered a laugh. “To keep him off balance.”
     “We need balance,” Lachesis said. “There must be balance, good and evil.”
     They sat huddled together whispering as they plotted, altering fates. A stray word or phrase was heard: evil unleashed…harbinger of death to the gods…must find balance…if too late...
     After some time, peace was restored under the Tree of Life as they went about their duties. The time was not right…but soon. Soon their plans would line up.
     Word of the prophecy spread.
     Night turned to day and day to night.
     Prophecies, being tricky things, are born into existence, entrapping chosen souls with limited methods of escape. Whispered on the winds, long ago, one such curse kissed the morning rays and danced among its beams.
     When darkness meets dawn, the time of the five near.
     Beware in the dreaming for they come.
     Bequeathed from the father, one common thread they’ll share.
     In three lunar phases, all is revealed.
     Fear what isn’t seen.
     Death and destruction unto the gods will rain,
     unless a balance is struck.
     Fulfilling what is longed for most.

Taken
Available NOW!

The Series: Five Fates

Click on the book cover to Look Inside the book on Amazon and read an excerpt.

Hidden [1]

Cursed since birth, hunted by gods, and desperate for love—Jade never stood a chance.

Half-demon, half-goddess, Jade’s fate makes her a pawn in an epic battle among the gods. Hidden on Earth with her sisters, she successfully avoids the Oneiroi—the dream gods—bent on her destruction until the prophecy, long dormant, awakens a dark shadow within her.

Roen, a reclusive Worr demon known for his battles against the Oneiroi, is called to protect Jade. Together they must unlock their mysterious connection and find a way to beat back destiny. Can she outsmart the prophecy, change her fate, and find love—even when she learns who is connected to her destruction?

[Published 2 November 2015, 243 pages]

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About the Author

Amy McKinley is a freelance writer and author of the Five Fates Series.

She lives in Illinois with her husband, their four talented teenagers, and three mischievous cats.

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