alwaysjoart: Blog Tour with Guest Post and Giveaway: Sons of Old Trilogy by Annabell Cadiz

Lucifer (Sons of Old Trilogy #1)

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Synopsis: Have you ever wondered what could be hiding in the shadows?

Well, for eighteen-year-old Zahara Faraday, she doesn’t have to wonder. You see she comes from a lineage of Light Witches, those who have chosen to help protect and serve between the supernatural world and the human world. The only problem is Zahara, like her father Solomon, is as human as a human being can be whereas her mother, Mia, and her Aunt Catalina, were born as Light Witches. As a family they hunt down rogue supernaturals—creatures who harm humans or who have committed an act against their kingdom.

Zahara’s hunting skills are usually kept dormant since her parents would prefer she live life as a normal human girl without knowledge of the supernatural world. She plans on doing just that—except when she finds a couple being attacked by fairies, she has no choice but to step in. Before she can return to pretending to be blissfully ignorant, Zahara encounters a problem she isn’t the least equip to handle: Bryan Hamilton, the good looking new co-worker she has to help train. In a heartbeat, her best friend, Becca King, has set her up on a double date with herself and her new crush, Rekesh Saint-Louis, who happens to be the most powerful leader of the biggest Imago Coven in South Florida –supernatural creatures with the ability to control water . . . and suck out human souls.

Zahara has no time to focus on how she’s going to explain her double date with her best friend and the enemy they have a tentative truce with to her parents because soon one of the members of Mia and Catalina’s coven is found murdered with a strange tattoo of a snake with wings carved into his arm.

Zahara is then thrown into a whirlwind battle with an angel determined to have revenge against God, an Imago coven she doesn’t think they should trust, and slew of dream-eating fairies and powerful Nephilims, hybrid children of angels and humans, more than happy to rip her to shreds.

Normal just got a deadlier definition.

Michael (Sons of Old Trilogy #2)

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Synopsis: Zahara Faraday looks like a normal eighteen-year-old and lives in a quiet neighborhood with her overprotective parents. She works at a bookstore and hangs out with her best friend Becca King on a daily basis. But underneath the normal lies a secret life filled with dangerous supernaturals. Zahara belongs to a world made of Light Witches, rogue Imagoes (supernatural creatures with super strength, speed, and silver skin when the moon is out), fallen angels, and Nephilim (hybrid children born half-human, half-angel). Where her father Solomon Faraday is human, her mother Mia and her Aunt Catalina are Light Witches. They help protect the human world by hunting down rogue supernaturals who commit heinous acts against humans. What they never expected was the possibility of having to hunt down the one rogue coven they had befriended and come to trust in their battle against Lucifer. Rekesh Saint-Louis is the leader of the most powerful Imago coven in Florida and now he’s the most suspected. Supernatural bodies are starting to pile up with an ancient ritual long forbade being used to murder them and the symbol, one large cross with four smaller crosses around it—which represents Rekesh’s coven— being left behind. Rekesh and the Elders of his coven set out to find who is behind the murders and clearing his name before a war between the covens begins. To make matters more difficult, Rekesh also has to deal with the return of someone he has been keeping a secret.

Meanwhile, Zahara and Becca are spending more time brushing up on their training, knowing an attack from Lucifer can come at any moment. Between patrolling neighborhoods and hanging at the boarding school created by Charles Stephens—a fallen angel who created the school to protect the children of rogue supernaturals—they are thrown into one battle after another. Zahara begins to develop a closer bond with Jason as they train and chase down clues to clear Rekesh’s name. What she doesn’t know is the very powerful secret Jason is keeping; a secret that will change the course of the fight with Lucifer.

But Rekesh’s coven being set up isn’t the only danger. A new powerful and lethal drug has emerged from the shadows of the supernatural world called Inferi. The drug has two deadly side effects: it leaves the supernatural hungering for blood—both human and supernatural—and grants them the elemental power they had once possessed.

Lucifer is on the move and he will stop at nothing to get his hands on Zahara and complete the first act of his plan.

A battle is about to begin.

One that may cost the Faraday family everything they hold dear.

Nephilim (Sons of Old Trilogy #3)

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Coming August 2015!

Synopsis: After the loss of Dustin, Zahara throws herself into taking care of the Howling Café—the café he left to her in his will and fights to keep a rhythm of normalcy with the others. It’s the best they can do since Lucifer has gone underground and any attempts to find him have rendered no leads.

Endymion, Prince of the Angel Kingdom, isn’t exactly helping though. Thanks to his brash and arrogant attitude, Zahara finds she would rather stab him with her dagger than hang out with him for any period of time. But she has no choice. Endymion is the only who can help her learn to control the magic threatening to take over her body thanks to his connection to the soul lying dormant inside of her. Nevaeh was once the most powerful Nephilim in the Supernatural Kingdoms and engaged to the Prince himself. She also happened to be Lucifer’s daughter who was killed in the first Supernatural War. Her soul is key to Lucifer creating war again—not just with the Supernatural Kingdoms but with Heaven itself. Endymion is determined to keep that from happening, even if that means destroying the soul of the only woman he’s ever loved so Zahara can live.

Complicating things even more—as if they could get any more complicated—is the revelation of an ancient Grimoire once held by Margaret. The Grimorie contains powerful spells passed down through the generations of coven members within the Light Witch community. But Margaret hid it away before she helped take Lucifer down the first time. The Grimoire not only holds the two dark spells Lucifer needs to complete the final phase of his plan and but a secret Lucifer never knew about.

Zahara and company are in a race to find the Grimoire before Lucifer can but Margaret didn’t exactly make it easy. Seven keys have to be found in order to discover the location where the Grimoire had been hidden. Making matters worse is a new coven that has suddenly appeared in town. A coven made of a variety of supernaturals, all under Lucifer’s command.

The clock is ticking.

Battles will be waged.

Life changing secrets will be revealed.

The stage for the epic battle is set and not everyone will make it out alive.

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Guest Post:

What’s in a Name?

Choosing a name for a child is IMMENSELY important and when you’re to become soon-to-be parent you discover very quickly how overwhelming that decision feels. There is power in a person’s name. It helps to shape a person’s personality in a way and is the first introduction to how a person is defined in the world.

For the authors, choosing names for our characters is just as important. We spent countless hours browsing through websites with baby names. Discovering their meanings and origins and tasting the way the name feels when it’s said out loud. A name can be chosen just for the way it sounds when spoken or because of the origin or because of the meaning. A character can be built from one of those reasons, too.

Take the main players from Sons of Old Trilogy:

Zahara—Origin: Hebrew; Swahili; Arabic/Meaning “to shine; flower; most exquisite”

I chose Zahara’s name because it meant “to shine” and reminded me of her flaming red-orange hair which always made me think of the sun. She’s a beacon of light in the dark.

Becca—Origin: Hebrew/Meaning: “Captivating; knotted cord.”

Becca’s name is derived from the name Rebecca. I shortened and kept it that way on purpose because I liked the way it sounded. I also liked the “knotted cord” meaning; it fit the tight bond Zahara and Becca share as best friends.

Jason—Origin: Greek; a man who helped shelter Paul and Silas in the New Testament carried the name/Meaning: “healer; to heal; he that cures.”

I’ve always liked the name Jason, even before I learned what the name actually meant. It just always seemed like a sexy name to me which fit Jason’s character well because he’s a good-looking Nephilim. He begins his journey in Sons of Old Trilogy on the wrong side and finds healing by joining Zahara and her family.

Rekesh—Origin: Indian/Meaning: “lord of the full-moon day”

Once I decided to create the Imagoes, I knew I would need a leader with a strong name that fit what type of supernatural creature he was born into. Imagoes hold the power to control water, their elemental magic strengthened by the power of the moon. Rekesh’s name fit perfectly, both because of his supernatural birth and because he is a powerful leader of an Imago coven.

Amos—Origin: Hebrew; a prophet from the Old Testament was named Amos/Meaning: “strong; carried; brave; loading; weighty.”

Amos was a name I fell in love with as soon as I found it. It fits his character so well. Not because he’s a powerful Imago but more so because Amos has been through a lot and has remained both strong and brave. He has carried a great weight of loss and he was lost for a while because of it but he found a way to keep living.

Leanian—Origin: Anglo-Saxon Meaning: “Reward”

I loved the way Leanian’s name sounds when said and I also read that people given his name are ones who enjoy searching for deeper truths and like the quiet. I built Leanian’s character as soon as I discovered his name. He is quiet but sees all and hears all. He’s the best one to be Rekesh’s second-in-command.

Solomon—Origin: Hebrew; King Solomon was a king to Israel and the son of King David/Meaning: “peaceable; perfect; one who recompenses.”

Solomon is another name I’ve always loved. Probably due to its connection to King David of Israel, a figure I have also always loved. I chose Solomon’s name because of its symbolic nature. He is the head of his household as father and husband. He leads his family with wisdom and strength (and a good sense of humor) even without having magical gifts as many of the other characters do. He is steady and secure and as such offers a sense of peace to the others around him.

Mia—Origin: Scandinavian/ Meaning: “wished for child rebellion.”

I chose Mia’s name because I liked the way it sounded and because it seemed a cute name for a young mom. I had also read that people given the name Mia had deep leadership skills and liked to focus on the big, important issues at hand. That fits Mia perfectly. She is steadfast and strong. She can be trusted to see something through to the end, especially if it means protecting her husband (Solomon) and daughter (Zahara).

So you see, writers take choosing a name for a character VERY serious because names carry so much strength and power and depth in them. They can shape essential parts of characters who in turn shape essential parts of stories.

Definitely make sure to dig a little deeper when picking a name for a character, you never what fun tidbits you’ll up learning which can create a whole mess of inspiration and ideas to help bring not just the character but story to life *wink*

About the Author

Born and raised in the sweltering suburbs of South Florida, Annabell Cadiz grew up fine-tuned to the cuisine of various Spanish cultures, learned to master the art of Puerto Rican cooking thanks to her parents, and learned to converse crazy thanks to her band of siblings. She is now working toward attaining a B.A. in Psychology at Trinity International University to better understand how to converse with the weirdoes and crazies of the world. (After all, she is one of them.) A self-proclaimed nerd and a book-a-holic (her room holds dozens of shelves with much evidence to prove that her claims are indeed true), she created TeamNerd Reviews along with her best friend, Bridget Strahin, to showcase their EXTREME love for all things book related.

She published her debut novel, Lucifer (Sons of Old Trilogy #1), in January 2013. The second novel, Michael (Sons of Old Trilogy #2) will be released on May 28, 2014. And the final installment in the Sons of Old Trilogy, Nephilim, will be out in Summer 2015.

Find Annabell: Website/Goodreads/Pinterest/Twitter/Facebook