Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Interview with K.S. Haigwood and reviews of "Save my Soul" and "Hell's Gift"

K.S. Haigwood, author of the totally awesome 'Save my Soul' series was kind enough to give us an interview for the release of "Good Side of Sin" (watch for our review on it here in the near future). So without further ado, here is our interview.

Is there a message in your novels that you want readers to grasp?
Love conquers all.

Are any of the experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?
No. Unfortunately my life isn't nearly as exciting as anything I write about :)

Do you believe in soul mates?
I believe God has a plan for everyone, so yes, I do. Maybe not to the extent I put into my novels, but I believe there is one person out there for everyone.

What book are you reading now?
Reflections - Book 2 in the 'Whisper Cape' series by Susan Griscom. (Buy links: Amazon , Barnes & Noble)

If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in Save my Soul or Hell's Gift?
No. I couldn't imagine changing anything that happened in either of those stories. I'd be too afraid Kendra or Rhyan would hurt me in my sleep if I did. LOL.

Who designed the covers?
Patti Roberts from Australia is the cover designer for the 'Save my Soul' series.

Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?
Ha! Yes. That my imagination is a lot bigger than I ever thought it could be. I also learned that my grammar and punctuation was really poor when I first started writing. I have learned a lot from Ella Medler over the last 18 months.

Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
I would write my stories regardless of whether or not anyone ever read them, but my readers have made my dreams come true. They are the ones that make what I love to do that much more enjoyable.

What books/authors have influenced your writing?
J. R. Ward, Laurell K. Hamilton, Charlaine Harris, Stephenie Meyer and countless Independent (Indie) Authors.

Which actor/actress would you like to see playing the lead character from your most recent book?
Teresa Palmer to play the part of Josselyn, and Raffaello Balzo to play Thoros.

When did you decide to become a writer?
I was 29 years old before the passion to write took over me. I finally feel like I have found my purpose in life.

What was the hardest thing about writing Good Side of Sin?
Oh, wow...um, nothing really. I'm a pantser. I don't plot or plan or do much research for anything. I sit down at my laptop and the words just flow out.

If you could have been the original author of any book, what would it have been and why?
Green Eggs and Ham because Dr. Seuss is awesome!

Is there anything else you would like to add that I haven't included?
Save my Soul is free everywhere. Hell's Gift - Book 2 is $2.99 and Good Side of Sin - Book 3 is $3.99.

And that concludes the interview portion of this post. Now onto the really good stuff, my opinions of her first two books! (That is the good stuff, right?)

Save my Soul

So here's the situation, this chick, Kendra, is into some extreme sports, particularly mountain climbing which she can do a lot of near her hometown, and one day while out climbing with a group of friends she has a terrible accident and is rushed to the ER on the brink of death, seriously, only a miracle could save her. That's where a guardian angel comes in, just not hers. She makes a deal with this angel to try to save the soul of the surgeon who is currently trying to save her life, in exchange for a new lease on life, but she only has until Friday to convince this doctor to believe in God again, and she has to do this in spite of the influence of his guardian devil. Will she succeed before time runs out?

This story was great. It had romance, and suspense, and religion without being preachy. I couldn't help but root for Kendra to complete her mission and actually came away from the book with a renewed sense of faith. While Kendra is on her mission, she gets to meet her guardian angel Rhyan, who has kind of had a thing for her since she was born, and gets his assistance because she really got a raw deal from Coen, the angel she made a deal with. I'm just going to say that there were some sparks flying in a couple different directions in this book.

I did not feel a deep enough connection with any of these characters to become them in my dreams, but that's quite possibly because I am pretty much the complete opposite of an extreme sports enthusiast, so stepping into Kendra's shoes just doesn't even appeal to me. That being said, while reading the descriptions were so vivid that I had a nice little movie going on in my head.

Overall I give this book 5 stars for being well-written, descriptive and restoring my flagging faith.

Courtney says: Wow. I loved this book. It had an amazing story line and I fell in love with the characters. I actually read this book in just one day because I couldn't put it down. I think I read it for 6 hours straight, up until almost 3 AM. Kendra played a wonderful character and I loved that this romance book had a little paranormal and religion in it. The religion isn't very strong in the book but it begs my mind to contact the author and ask her a million questions about herself. Most of the time throughout the book, I felt the characters emotions. For the last ten or so chapters of the book, I had a smile on my face. Everything was going how I wanted it to and I love that about a book. I'm very excited to start the second book of the series, which focuses around Kendra's guardian angel.

Thanks again for writing an amazing book!!

And seriously, get this book. What's better than free? I promise, you will love it as much as I have!


Hell's Gift

So this is Rhyan's story. After the events in Save my Soul, it is clear that Rhyan has no chance with Kendra anymore and he becomes quite depressed. So depressed that the Guardians in charge decide the only way to fix him is to make him find his soul-mate and bring her back to Heaven. And there's the catch. Not only is she in hell, but she's freakin' royalty down there. In a desperate attempt to save her soul, Rhyan strikes a bargain with Lucifer. All he has to do is go through Hell for his woman, but can he survive without going insane?

The second installment of the 'Save my Soul' series is much darker than the first, but it mostly takes place in Hell, so that's kind of to be expected I think. After his temporary banishment to Hell, it doesn't take Rhyan long to meet his soul-mate, although it does take him quite a while to learn who she is to him, but once he does, he wants nothing more than to get her out of Hell, in spite of the crime she committed to land herself there in the first place. 

This book was much more violently graphic than the first (again, it takes place in Hell so that's to be expected). This book also resonated much more deeply with me, so much so that I spent a few sleeping periods during the three days I was reading it, running through Hell in my dreams. I woke up exhausted! The descriptions were so vivid that I was there in Hell, right alongside Ryhan. 

This book gets 5 stars from me as well, because I laughed and cried and yelled at my Kindle like a crazy person. 

Courtney says: Would you make a deal with the devil himself for your soulmate?

That's what Rhyan did.

I was completely blown away with this book. I loved what K.S. Haigwood did when describing Hell. A little about this book, Rhyan was cast out from Heaven with reasons I won't explain, to end up in Hell with the purpose of saving his soulmate and bringing her and her soul to Heaven with him. Rhyan is such a strong character and the things he has to go through only show how strong of a man/angel he is. I'm not sure I would have been able to endure the things that he had too. While reading this book, it was all I could think about. I wanted to do nothing but read it and when I had even 10 minutes to spare, the kindle was in my hand. I would absolutely LOVE to see this book made into a movie. The best part about this book, is you can read it as a stand alone but reading Save My Soul first gives you so much to the other story of how Rhyan came into play and why he is feeling the way he is in the beginning of Hell's Gift.

At the time of posting this, Save My Soul is free!

But seriously, if you're looking for a good book to read that will keep you on the edge of your seat and begging to find out what happens next, grab it! You will love it, just like I did.


And here come the inevitable buy links, because you know you want to one click these books!

Save my Soul

Hell's Gift

Good Side of Sin

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