Friday's Highlight: The Dark Divine, Bree Despain, & GIVEAWAY!!

     Today I'm featuring the The Dark Divine trilogy by LDS, YA author Bree Despain. There's some information on Bree, her books, and a giveaway as part of the Young Adult Fairies & Fantasy Giveaway Hop hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and vvb32reads.

     I met Bree at the awesome multi-author Extravaganza event put on by the Orem Library this past December and she gave me an ARC of The Savage Grace (the third and final book in The Dark Divine trilogy) to give away! It's even autographed and contains a Savage Grace bookmark! The finished product won't be available until March 13, 2012.

     Bree has always loved writing, but when she was younger (as many of us think as well) Bree thought that you had to be some-kind-of-wonderful to be an author. (You've got to be just amazing to be a writer for a living, right?) Well here's a clip from Bree's bio telling us what happened to change her understanding. (But yes, writers are amazing, and so are moms and janitors and CEOs):

Bree rediscovered her childhood love for creating stories when she took a semester off college to write and direct plays for at-risk, inner city teens from Philadelphia and New York. With a renewed passion for story, and the young adult audience, she returned to Brigham Young University, filled her schedule with creative writing and literature classes, and started writing stories again. But regular life kicked in, and she soon found herself married with a new baby, working full-time, and with very little writing done.
That’s when the universe threw a pick-up truck in her path. The car accident left Bree with an understanding that life was too short to not do what you absolutely love. A few days later, her husband brought home a used laptop computer, placed it by her bedside, and said, “You’d better start writing.” Her life has never been the same since.

     Hooray for life changing events that could go either way but through the support of someone special and your own gumption become simply wonderful! I imagine that time in Bree's life was a sort of "Dark Divine" in itself.

     Now, I have to confess that I have not read this series YET. I found the second book on sale in hardcover but not the first and only recently found a great deal for the first in hardcover, but it was while I was in Washington state visiting my awesome in-laws (remember Rachel?) and the book has yet to be shipped from their house to ours (whew). So I don't have any input on the series right now except that the covers are very eye-catching and Bree is very nice. Below I have included the Goodreads summaries as well as a couple of book trailers as well as Bree's book soundtracks for books 1 & 2!

A prodigal son. A dangerous love. A deadly secret.

     Grace Divine, daughter of the local pastor, always knew something terrible happened the night Daniel Kalbi disappeared--the night she found her brother Jude collapsed on the porch, covered in his own blood--but she has no idea what a truly monstrous secret that night held.

     The memories her family has tried to bury resurface when Daniel returns, three years later, and enrolls in Grace and Jude's high school. Despite promising Jude she'll stay away, Grace cannot deny her attraction to Daniel's shocking artistic abilities, his way of getting her to look at the world from new angles, and the strange, hungry glint in his eyes.

     The closer Grace gets to Daniel, the more she jeopardizes her life, as her actions stir resentment in Jude and drive him to embrace the ancient evil Daniel unleashed that horrific night. Grace must discover the truth behind the boy's dark secret...and the cure that can save the ones she loves. But she may have to lay down the ultimate sacrifice to do it--her soul.

First chapter available HERE.

A family destroyed. A love threatened. An enemy returns.

     Grace Divine made the ultimate sacrifice to cure Daniel Kalbi. She was infected with the werewolf curse while trying to save him, and lost her beloved brother in the process.

     Desperate to find Jude, Grace befriends Talbot, a newcomer to town. But as the two grow closer, Grace's relationship with Daniel is put in danger - in more ways than one.

     Unaware of the dark path she is walking, Grace begins to give into the wolf inside of her - not realizing that an enemy has returned and a deadly trap is about to be sprung.

     Bree Despain delivers sizzling romance and thrilling action in the heart-pounding sequel to the The Dark Divine.

The prologue & first chapter are available HERE.

     Brother Gabriel, Daniel’s mentor and an ancient Urbat, plays an important role in The Lost Saint as well as the upcoming conclusion to the Dark Divine trilogy, The Savage Grace. We were first introduced to Gabriel in The Dark Divine when Grace recieves a book of ancient letters that Gabriel (a young monk at the time) wrote to his sister during the Crusades, detailing his search to know more about the Urbat. The book of letters ends just before Gabriel falls to the Urbat curse, leaving us to wonder what happened to him in the following years to turn him into the man he is today.

     Most of Gabriel’s letters were written during the thirteenth century, and later translated and compiled by an Orthodox priest in the eighteenth century. For whatever reason, some of Gabriel’s letters were lost after translation and did not make it into that original book. But good news! A few of these “lost letters,” detailing Gabriel’s fall to the Urbat curse and his quest to seek revenge on the man responsible for his demise, have recently been “discovered” by the indomitable crew at Egmont USA, and are compiled here for your reading pleasure.

     I hope you enjoy The Lost Letters of Brother Gabriel. I think they give a lot more depth to Brother Gabriel’s character and the mythology of the Dark Divine trilogy.

Always,

Bree Despain

(If you buy Bree's Dark Divine series eBook, The Lost Letters of Brother Gabriel, all proceeds go to the Kids Need to Read campaign!)

A troubled soul. An impossible choice. A final battle.

   Wrestling with the werewolf curse pulsing deep inside of her, Grace Divine was finally able to find her brother, but it nearly cost her everything.

     With her boyfriend, Daniel, stuck in wolf form and Sirhan's death approaching, time is running out for Grace to stop Caleb Kalbi and his gang of demons. If she

     The final installment in The Dark Divine trilogy brings Daniel and Grace's love story to a breathtaking conclusion.

The Dark Divine Book Trailers

The Dark Divine (The Dark Divine, book 1)

The Lost Saint (The Dark Divine, book 2)

There is no trailer for The Savage Grace (The Dark Divine, book 3) --yet.
(Not that I have found anyway. If you know of one please pass the link along!)

The Dark Divine Book Soundtracks

Click below for Bree's soundtrack pages:

The Dark Divine

(The Dark Divine page even includes posts of the music and her Bree's thoughts about the songs in relation to the book.)
The Lost Saint

*Check it out! Bree has worked closely with the Infinite Jewelry Company to bring you some Dark Divine bling!

    *And something else cool? Bree has Dark Divine trilogy nail polish! She has the little bottles at her book signings and they are so cute and tiny and match the nail polish the models wear on the book covers (books 1 & 2)!  

**And you know what?
I'm going to include one of each in this giveaway along with the bookmarks for the first two books!**
EDIT (Jan. 9, 2012): Bree just posted a giveaway for the new Savage Grace nail polish!

This giveaway will include:

     1 autographed ARC of The Savage Grace (The Dark Divine, book 3)

     1 Savage Grace bookmark

     1 Dark Divine bookmark

     1 Lost Saint bookmark

     1 Dark Divine nail polish (purple)

     1 Lost Saint nail polish (blue)

To Enter:*Answer the question -
If you could make your own book swag (book related item) what would it be and for which book?
*Leave your email in the comment like this: ladyofnarnia(at)yahoo(dot)com

Giveaway is open to US residents only
One winner will be chosen using Random.org
Giveaway ends January 12, 2012 @ 11:59 PM MST