Monday 7 January 2013

Tour Stop {Book Excerpt/ Guest Post/Giveaway}: Gilded Wings by Amy Lignor


Gilded Wings (The Angel Chronicles, #2)

Gilded Wings 
by Amy Lignor 
Published November 1st 2012 by Tribute Books
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The Beloved Angel-Warrior Team from Until Next Time Returns!When Matt and Emily are sent on their second mission they have no idea how truly dark human nature can become...
Emily never wanted to face humans again. With the heartache that went on down below, she’s still trying to figure out how to save souls that don’t deserve saving. The only one she wants to see again is Jason - the young man she fell in love with who became the soulmate she simply can’t forget...
Matt was trained to protect and defend the souls down below. Longing to feel the heartfelt emotions that come from being human, Matt wants nothing more than to have just one life - one chance - to live and love the girl of his dreams...
The powerful team find themselves in a brand new century, living in the Gilded Age of New York City. Emily takes over the body of Anya, a young Russian girl who arrives on Ellis Island after a hideous tragedy. There she meets up with a strangely familiar young man by the name of Drew Parrish, who helps Anya survive in an unknown world of luxury, snobbery and…obsession.
What Anya’s inner angel doesn’t know is that the soul she loves is also back. This time around Jason goes by the name of Max Carrow. Once a quiet and kind boy, he’s now part of the ‘Four Hundred Club,’ and wants nothing more than to be among the most admired as he climbs the shaky ladder of society’s elite.
As two worlds merge, Emily and Matt struggle under the weight of their “Gilded Wings.” Not only will they have to figure out who they should fight to save, but they must also face a romantic choice that could destroy them both. 


Anya woke with a start. Her dreams were horrible, even though the peaceful luxury surrounding her should have completely calmed her anxiety.

Rolling over on the finely-pressed sheets, Anya stared at the dying embers in the small hearth. A scream stuck in her throat when she noticed a pair of unfamiliar blue eyes peering over the foot of her bed. When Gregori’s face popped up beside the stranger, Anya immediately relaxed.

A blond-headed boy stood beside him; his angelic face was an exact match to the cherubs in the glass window that had greeted her on her arrival to the Carrow household. The young boy had a mass of curly hair that framed his gleaming sapphire eyes; his small nose was underlined by a pair of full lips sitting above a finely shaped chin. And when he smiled, two deeply cut dimples appeared in his soft pink cheeks. “Good morning, lady.”

Gregori giggled beside him. 

“You must be Myles.” Anya smiled. “I see that you’ve already met Gregori.” 

The children pounced on the bed. “I call him Greg.” The little boy grinned. 

Gregori explained quickly, “It sounds tougher—like Wyatt.” 

“Ah, a sheriff’s name.” 

Gregori nodded. “I told Myles about the West and that I’m going to wear a silver star someday. He wants to go with us.” 

Anya laughed. “I think his father may have something to say about that.”





Authors & America

When I began Book II of The Angel Chronicles, I knew I wanted Emily and Matthew to
be a part of the U.S. of A. this time around. I wanted them to come from other countries
and learn how amazing it is to live here. Back in the late 1800’s when they both arrived on Ellis Island, they were arriving in a land that was said to be prosperous and thrilling and give everyone the chance to be a success. Now, yes, America certainly had its moments (and still does) where poverty and pain come into play on a daily basis - BUT, America is still the one land that offers a great deal of hope.

I love history, and when I began my study of Ellis Island and learned what it was like to
work there (in Matthew’s case), and to arrive there (in Emily’s case), I was more than
touched by the stories that people told. I was intrigued by the very famous names on
those manifests - from Chaplin to Roosevelt - people who had a huge hand in shaping our
history. But the one thing that stood out - and will always stand out for me - is the first
thing the immigrants saw when they headed into the harbor.

The Statue of Liberty is far more than a monument. She is that symbol of freedom to
millions around the world, and the ideals she represents should never be forgotten or
diminished. In Gilded Wings, Matthew goes to work and sees her every day. He believes
in the chance and the inspiration that she gives. In fact, even when he and Emily go up
against greed versus poverty, love versus gilded romance - America is the one place that
Matthew understands and respects.

It is also the one place that, despite all the problems we have (and I’m not trying to have a
political debate here whatsoever), still offers the chance. The option that if we work hard
and believe, then we can become anything we want to become.

Writers are in need of freedom and that chance. And with the age of technology growing
rapidly each and every day, there are more chances for authors than ever before. It used
to be that there were ONLY the ‘Big Houses’ and that without them, you were nothing.
You wouldn’t make it. No one would read your stories ever. Well…not so anymore.
EBooks, online publishers, indies, small presses - we have millions of paths we can take
that will help the author bring their tales to the rest of the world. And it’s an amazing
inspiration to know that we - like the people who descended on that Island - have the shot at being a published author.

When those planes went through the Twin Towers on September 11th, I remember what
Jon Stewart said that evening. He was going off the air for two weeks, but he wanted to
make sure that all the ‘horrific’ people out there who were somewhere celebrating what
they had accomplished, knew they hadn’t accomplished anything. We were still America.
We will always be America - whether you like us or not - and that right outside his
window he could see The Statue of Liberty in the harbor. She IS us. She IS the symbol of
inspiration, class and the will and determination resting in our souls people to rise above
anything.

So when you take Matthew and Emily’s second journey (and I hope you will), and you
see the ‘underbelly’ of the time period…I hope you also take away the fact that a writer
by the name of Emma Lazarus once penned a sonnet that read:

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

And they are still the best words ever written!

Until Next Time, Everybody,
Amy

About The Author:
Amy Lignor began her career at Grey House Publishing in northwest Connecticut where she was the Editor-in-Chief of numerous educational and business directories.
Now she is a published author of several works of fiction. The Billy the Kid historical The Heart of a Legend; the thriller,Mind Made; and the adventure novel, Tallent & Lowery 13.
She is also the owner of The Write Companion, a company that offers help and support to writers through a full range of editorial services from proofreading and copyediting to ghostwriting and research. As the daughter of a research librarian, she is also an active book reviewer.
Currently, she lives with her daughter, mother and a rambunctious German Shepherd named Reuben, in the beautiful state of New Mexico.










This Tour Stop was courtesy of Tribute Books !




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