Monday, April 7, 2014

Blog Tour: Spotlight/Giveaway!! Raven's Blood, by Cassandra Lawson (Bewitching Book Tours)





Welcome to this stop in the
Raven's Blood blog tour,
sponsored by
Bewitching Book Tours!!





About the Book


Raven's Blood
(Moon Virus, #1)
Cassandra Lawson
Trade Paperback, 300 pages
CreateSpace, March 17, 2014
Dystopian Fictin, Paranormal Romance, Science Fiction, Urban Fantasy



Book Synopsis Following the death of her wood nymph mother at the hands of vampires, Raven worked hard to build a life for herself in one of the few remaining human settlements. Her life takes a frightening turn when she finds herself an unwilling guest in a vampire settlement, but things are not anything like she expected them to be. Still, she cannot help but feel that her attraction to the vampire leader is a betrayal to her mother’s memory and her human friends.

From the moment Connor first laid eyes on Raven she has thrown his entire world off-balance. In order to prove his strength as a leader, he has no choice but to take her up on her offer to trade her freedom for that of her human friends. Having begun his life as a slave, he has no interest in keeping the wood nymph captive. As a man, he has no desire to feel this overwhelming attraction to a woman who hates him and his kind.

As Raven spends more time with the vampires, her feelings for Connor grow even stronger and Connor finds that she may be the one thing he cannot live without. Unfortunately, a new danger emerges that could threaten the survival of vampires and humans alike. As Connor struggles to unravel the mystery of the attacks from a new species of vampire, a madman will go to any lengths to get Raven’s blood.







https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20827735-raven-s-blood?ac=1
 





About the Author

Cassandra Lawson is an author and homeschooling mother of three from the San Francisco Bay area.  She has always had a very active imagination, and loves making up stories.  When she is not writing, she enjoys baking, spending time with her family, listening to music, or curling up with a good book.


Online Links









Raven’s Blood Cookies


I love to bake and I am always experimenting with new cookie recipes. Okay, I also love eating cookies. As a busy mom and author, some days I need a simple recipe to satisfy my cookie cravings. This recipe requires very little effort but results in a cookie that is chewy on the outside with a moist cakey center.

Prep time: 15 minutes
Bake time: 18-20 minutes
Makes: 22-24 cookies
Preheat oven: 350ºF (175ºC).

Chocolate Cookie Base Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 box of chocolate cake mix
1 egg and 1 egg yolk
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
1 cup min chocolate chips

Directions
Mix butter until it has a nice, creamy consistency (around 5 minutes).  Add cake mix, egg, egg yolk, oil, and vanilla extract.  Mix until well blended.  Fold in chocolate chips.  Form balls of dough and drop on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Place about 1 inch apart.  Press down on center of balls with a spoon to make an indentation.

Red Velvet Center Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 box of red velvet cake mix
2 eggs
1 tbsp. vegetable oil

Directions
Mix butter until it has a nice, creamy consistency (around 5 minutes).  Add cake mix, eggs, and oil.  Mix until well blended.  Form smaller balls of dough and then drop them in the indentations on the chocolate base.  There will be extra red velvet dough.  I recommend forming balls of dough, dropping them on the cookie sheet, and sprinkling powdered sugar on top of each.

Bake cookies for 18 - 20 minutes.  Allow them to cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.




Music Playlist

I have always been a bit of a rocker.  For that reason, I wanted to share some of the songs that I listened to while writing Raven's Blood.  Since Raven's Blood is set in Oakland, Alameda, and San Ramon, I decided to limit my playlist to San Francisco Bay area musicians.

    
Raven's Blood Playlist by CASSANDRA LAWSON on Grooveshark




Bewitching Book Tours 
is sponsoring a terrific giveaway,
so be sure to enter below!
 



  For the complete schedule 
of participating blogs,
please click on the banner  below!

http://bewitchingbooktours.blogspot.com/2014/04/now-on-tour-ravens-blood-by-cassandra.html


 

11 comments:

  1. What a great post! Thank you for bringing this author and her work to my attention. Love the recipe and the music playlist! Such a fun stop on the tour. Have a fabulous Monday :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Michelle!

      Oh, thank you!! You're so sweet! You're very welcome for this post! I signed up right away when Bewitching Book Tours notified me, since I love vamps!

      You know, this is the first time I've actually had an author want to include a recipe in a book spotlight. And what a YUMMY recipe, right? I like the playlist, too!

      I love the sound of this love story, and can't wait to get the book and read it!! (As a printed book, of course. As you know, I thoroughly dislike ebooks!)

      Thanks again for stopping by! Hope you have a fabulous Monday, too!! : )

      Delete
  2. Thank you for hosting this stop on my blog tour today. I'm glad that my recipe and music playlist are popular so far. I do love music and cookies. I will stop by throughout the day in case anyone has any questions that I can answer.

    As a side note for Maria, I only started reading ebooks because my vision was getting too bad to read most of the book fonts on paper. I much prefer the experience of reading a "real" book.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Cassandra!

      You're more than welcome for the hosting! I love vamps -- the romantic type, NOT the Dracula type -- so I can't wait to read this book!! And I've never heard of a vampire/wood nymph pairing before, so that has really piqued my interest.

      Oh, those cookies sure look SCRUMPTIOUS! I'm definitely going to be using this recipe! As for the music, I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet, but I'm sure I'll like it -- I'm a rocker myself!

      It's very nice of you to stop by throughout the day for Q & A! Now that you've mentioned that, I'd love to do an interview post on you later on -- like maybe in a month or so, so you can have time to answer my questions. I know how busy authors are! Let me know if this would be possible.

      I really appreciate your side note! Yes, I LOVE printed books!! In fact, I live inside my own personal library. Lol. They're all over the house! My husband is sort of resigned to this by now.....I'm very glad your books are available in print as well, because I want to read them all!

      I'm so sorry that your vision has gotten bad.... So, in your particular case, ebooks are actually a Godsend. I sure hope and pray that something can be done to improve your vision!

      Thank you so much for stopping by and taking the time to leave such a nice comment!! : )

      Delete
  3. Maria,

    I would love to do can interview for you. Just email me any details at booksbycassandralawson@gmail.com. I did get many raised eyebrows when I first mentioned my vampire/wood nymph idea. It has inspired my husband to find new and creative ways to suggest adding unicorns to the mix. He always finds a way to make me laugh with his suggestions.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, again!

      Oh, COOOL!!! I'll send you the questions just as soon as I can!

      I think the idea of a vamp and a wood nymph is very original and unique. I LOVE it!! It's great that your husband is so supportive of your writing, and even finds ways to make you laugh! You're really blessed to have such a loving husband! But maybe you should consider the unicorn angle, after all.... Just kidding! Lol. : )

      Delete
  4. Ooh wood nymphs. Not a staple amongst the many other supernatural characters found in this genre and because of this though a bit bored by the whole vampire/werewolf etc thing I'm intrigued by Raven's Blood.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Tracy!

      Yes, that intrigues me, too! I've never heard of a vampire being attracted to a wood nymph, and vice versa. I find that very refreshing, indeed! However, I really don't mind the vampire/werewolf thing. I can't enough of these creatures, actually! As long as they're romantic and not evil, I say, "Keep 'em coming!"

      Thanks for commenting!! : )

      Delete
    2. Tracy,

      I will admit that even I wasn't sure it would work. Now, I can't imagine a better pairing for this story. The creations of the vampires in Raven's Blood is very sci-fi in nature. I felt that the addition of the wood nymph Raven would add a touch of magic to their world.

      Delete
  5. Those cookies sound really good!

    I love the girl on the cover, she looks fierce! I haven't read too many books about nymphs so this one looks interesting and different for me.

    Thanks for sharing it with me!

    Michelle @ Book Briefs

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Michelle!

      Oh, sorry I didn't reply right away...... I didn't see this comment until now! : (

      Yeah, those cookies look AWESOME!! I'll have to try this recipe!

      As for the girl on the cover, I agree -- she DOES look fierce! She's definitely not some meek and mild little wood nymph! Lol. And I really like the idea of pairing a vampire with a wood nymph. Never seen that type of thing before.

      You're very welcome for the share! I'm very glad you like this book as much as I do!!

      Thanks for commenting back, too!! : )

      Delete

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