Pledged by Gwynneth White--Book Review

PLEDGED by Gwynneth White. I had mixed feelings about this book. The main characters seemed fun and I wanted to get to know them, but I felt like this was a story about their friends. I learned about Seth and Erin through them watching other people. I don't feel like the story really ended, but I'm curious where it is going. It was an interesting read that I would like to read all at once, when the saga is complete. A giveaway will be coming soon. Stay tuned for more info. Check out an excerpt from the book, here, and an interview with Gwynneth below.

:) :) :)

Everyone has a soul mate. But what do you do when your soul mate would rather give his soul to the demons than be with you? 

Seventeen-year-old Erin has a problem. Seth has been hers forever, but now an ancient promise is tearing him away. And Reuel, the demon to whom the promise was made, will stop at nothing to force Seth to forsake Erin and to worship him.

How can Erin win against a pledge so binding that it has damned countless others to the same fate she and Seth will face if Reuel wins – an eternity alone?

The answer lies in the past. To find it, Erin and Seth must risk all, travelling back in time to a dangerous world where love is forbidden, and life – and death – hang on a promise. 

Follow Erin and Seth as they travel to ancient Shenaya to break the pledge that has plagued their families for millennia. Caught in a war between the Angelic Guardians and the Gefallen, the disembodied dead, they must fight to keep their souls in tact and their love untainted.

Hello, Bonnie, thank you for inviting me onto your blog. I really appreciate it.

1. What made you decide to become a writer?

You know, it wasn’t really a decision. It was more like . . . it just happened. When I first started working, life thrust me into jobs where they needed someone with writing skills. I seemed to be it. Then my husband – he’s a writer/publisher/film-maker – needed a travel guide written in a hurry, so I did that too. It became a best-seller. No one was more surprised than me. A second travel guide followed. Then I had a loooooong hiatus while I raised my children. But all through that drought, I had a story brewing in my head. When it refused to go away, I decided to give it voice. And I cannot tell you how happy I am to be out of the wilderness and back in the writing world. It is truly my first professional love.

2. Who inspires you?

This is actually a very personal question, but I will give you a glimpse into that private world. I draw a great deal of inspiration from my understanding of good and evil, and what happens to us before we are born and after we die. But, in case you are worrying, Pledged is not a religious book – it’s a time-travel adventure, filled with romance, action, and the meddling of the dead in the affairs of the living. Like all writers, I suppose, I just reflect my inner beliefs in my work. My other great motivators are my family. My mother was dying with cancer when I started Pledged, and did I ever need a distraction! After she died, I still sensed her presence – strongly – as if she was telling me to get over my grief and finish the book. My other drivers are my children . . . I want them to know that you have to follow your dreams, even if it means hard work and masses of effort.  

3. What would you like your readers to get out of your writing?

Pleasure! And an escape! A break from reality . . . I want them to lose themselves in a magical world where almost anything is possible.

4. Where did this idea come from?

I wish I knew! One day, a bunch of strangers took up residence in my head, complete with story. I didn’t invite them in, they just pitched up. Sometimes I think they’re real people, living in a parallel universe, who found a willing victim – me - to channel their life stories through. Continuing that crazy thought, It’s even possible that somewhere in Andromeda, some poor person is being plagued with our stories  . . . forced to sit, day in and day out, writing about our lives! Well, this is what I tell myself to keep myself sane. I don’t expect anyone else to buy into it.

5. Who was your favorite character to develop?

Jared. I’m in love with him. He is, in my mind, the perfect blend of a bad-good guy. Warlord of Shenaya, he’s one of the people Seth and Erin meet when they travel back in time to that ancient world. Jared is not uber good-looking, but he’s got a strong, commanding face, which pretty much tells the world what he’s about. When you first meet him, you’ll find him sardonic and egotistical. But if you win his heart, he will be loyal to you unto death. 

6. Any advice for aspiring authors?

Writing is hard, but the rewards are worth the fight. Tell yourself that every day until you believe it, so when the challenges and self-doubt come – as they will – you will be strong enough to believe in yourself and not give up. 

7. What can we expect next from you?

Pledged is the first book in the Soul Wars Saga trilogy. The next in the series, Sacrificed, will be released in January 2013. And the final book is due out in June 2013.

8. Where can we purchase your book?

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Pledged-Soul-Wars-Saga-ebook/dp/B0088PEEYC/ref=la_B0089TDV8C_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341914118&sr=1-1

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/171570

Hope you enjoy them!

Bonnie, thanks for having me on my blog. 

Pledged by Gweynneth White--Book Buzzin'--Excerpt

PLEDGED by Gweynneth White. Here is one of the excerpts talked about in my earlier book buzz.

EXCERPT ONE: Meet Seth and Erin . . . 

Despite the heat, Seth felt icy. Dread could do that to him. Or so he had recently discovered. Deep breathing usually calmed him, so he sucked in a lungful of desert air and told himself to relax. It didn’t help. By the time he’d walked from the aircraft to the immigration hall he’d ripped off a jagged piece of thumbnail, already bitten raw. He handed his US passport to the Botswanan border official, and, after a frown, and a stamp, he joined the crowd at the baggage carousel. Botswana in southern Africa was the last place on earth he’d ever have picked for a holiday destination. But he wasn’t here on holiday. Not even close.

His backpack was slow in coming. Tired from his long-haul flight from New York, he leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. Almost as if to mock him, the hated vision that had brought him to Botswana burst into his mind. In an instant he was back in ancient times, watching a man he knew only as Gideon. As usual, Gideon was huddled on a windswept hill with his band of hopeless soldiers, waiting to be slaughtered by a huge army gathered in the valley below.

Seth snapped his eyes open to stop the battle from waging in his mind. It wasn’t that he was particularly squeamish; he’d watched enough movies to iron clad his stomach against gory visuals. But no movie had ever left him icy with dread the way Gideon’s battle did. And the reason for that was simple. The moment the visions had started, he had known that the war, fought so long ago in a place he’d never heard of, was far from over. And, as reluctant as he was, he too was being enlisted to fight in a cause he didn’t understand or want. 

He forced himself to focus on the present: Erin, who waited for him in the arrivals hall; his brother Kyle, whom he’d come to Botswana to visit; Kyle’s expedition to find the Lost City of the Kalahari . . .

He ripped off another piece of fingernail. Thinking about the search for the Lost City was almost as bad as the war-vision. I hope Kyle never finds the damned place. He slapped his hand on his thigh. Enough! Grabbing his backpack off the carousel, he set his face into a smile and strode into the arrivals hall.

The first hurdle was finding Erin. She was due to arrive an hour earlier on a flight from Cape Town in South Africa, one of Botswana’s neighbours. He’d never met her, although they had spoken over the phone once. Then she’d described herself as “a short, seventeen-year-old (a year younger than him) with a mass of ginger hair.” She’d sounded nice. Meeting her was the one ray of brightness in this otherwise dark picture.

He stopped to scan the crowd. A petite girl with shoulder length, reddish-blonde curls, dressed in skinny jeans and a purple blouse, immediately caught his eye. It had to be Erin. Nice legs. What’s it with girls that they always under-sell themselves? He studied her face with his artist’s eye. Vermeer would’ve killed to paint her. Suddenly wishing he didn’t look so grimy after his three plane-changes, he walked over to join her. “Hi, I’m Seth. You’ve got to be Erin. My brother’s just married your sister Izzy.”

“And after only knowing each other for about a week.”

Her dimpled grin was infectious, making him crack his trademark crooked smile. “Madness.”

“Mysterious.” Erin cocked her head to one side, seemingly appraising him. He knew he had been accurate when he’d told her he was tall and dark-haired. But what he had failed to mention was what girls had often said they liked about him: his strong, angular face, softened by expressive brown eyes. He watched her eyes rove over his grey Muse: Resistance t-shirt, taking in his broad shoulders and chest. From there they darted down his black camo-pants to his boots. Amused by her blatant assessment, he cocked his head to one side, watching her. Suddenly Erin giggled – was she embarrassed? – and picked up her bag. 

“We’ve yet another plane to catch. My fourth in the last twenty-four hours,” Seth said, hoping to explain away his rumpled appearance. “To a place called Maun.” 

“So we do. Let the adventure begin.” 

Pledged by Gweynneth White--Book Buzzin

PLEDGED by Gweynneth White. This one looks fantastic. The cover alone has me very intrigued. Stay tuned for the trailer, an interview, excerpts, and a giveaway that will be coming soon!

Everyone has a soul mate. But what do you do when your soul mate would rather give his soul to the demons than be with you? 

Seventeen-year-old Erin has a problem. Seth has been hers forever, but now an ancient promise is tearing him away. And Reuel, the demon to whom the promise was made, will stop at nothing to force Seth to forsake Erin and to worship him.

How can Erin win against a pledge so binding that it has damned countless others to the same fate she and Seth will face if Reuel wins – an eternity alone?

The answer lies in the past. To find it, Erin and Seth must risk all, travelling back in time to a dangerous world where love is forbidden, and life – and death – hang on a promise. 

Follow Erin and Seth as they travel to ancient Shenaya to break the pledge that has plagued their families for millennia. Caught in a war between the Angelic Guardians and the Gefallen, the disembodied dead, they must fight to keep their souls in tact and their love untainted.