Welcome to the Party! (Amazon Gift Card, Ahoy!) Back to Blog
Update: Thank you for all the wonderful comments!! I randomly picked the gift card winner and that commenter is…Patty C.! Congrats, Patty!
Thanks so much for coming to my ANGEL OF DARKNESS release party. Lots of great guests will be checking in today with fun posts, excerpt, and, of course, giveaways. To get things started…
I’ve got a $20 Amazon.com gift card up for grabs. I’ll email this card directly to the winner, so the lucky commenter can get started spending on Amazon right away. To enter this giveaway, just tell me…why do you think bad boy heroes are so appealing?
Because the her of my new novel, ANGEL OF DARKNESS, definitely falls into that bad boy category. Sure, he’s an angel, but he’s an angel with one very dark side (um, yeah, there’s a reason he’s called the ANGEL OF DARKNESS–the guy isn’t full of goodness and light). He’s not about guarding and protecting people. He’s about death. Destruction. Or at least he was about those things…
Until the day Keenan fell for a vampire.
EXCERPT FROM ANGEL OF DARKNESS
Darkness.
Keenan blinked and found himself on his knees. He’d been tossed onto a gleaming marble floor. Keenan knew who would stand before him even before he allowed his gaze to lift.
Azrael. The leader of the angels of death.
“What have you done?” Azrael—Az— demanded.
Keenan closed his eyes and saw a woman bleeding out in an empty alley. Shivering with cold. “She still lives.” He rose to his feet, letting his wings spread behind his back.
Az shook his head. “No.”
Fear gripped him. “What? I didn’t touch her, I didn’t—”
“You confess to disobeying your orders.” Az’s face tensed. “You disobey—”
She was dead? Determined to get back to Nicole, Keenan spun away from Az. No one else would take her over, not after what he’d risked.
“You knew the penalty for such an act.” Az’s words froze him.
Yes, he knew he had to answer for taking the vampire’s soul, but—
“I’m sorry, Keenan. You… you were a good angel.”
Were. Keenan whirled back around to face the blond angel. “I didn’t—”
“No, you did not. That’s the problem.” And there was sadness cloaking the words, when there was never any emotion in the angel’s voice. Never much emotion in any of them.
No love. No fear. No hate. Only duty. That was the way it should have been.
Except when I looked at her, I …felt.
“Temptation can destroy us all.” Az’s all- seeing bright blue gaze raked him. “You had the chance to obey. You knew when the moment of her death was at hand, but you killed one not on your list.”
“He was a vampire!” The rage was new—something that had developed only when he saw the pain Nicole suffered. “He was torturing, killing, he deserved—”
“We all get what we deserve.” Az’s chin lifted. “Beware, my friend, this will hurt.”
What?
“I’ve heard it’s the fire that makes you scream the loudest.”
There was no fire—
The wind hit Keenan again, wrapping around him, but this time, its grasp felt like the edge of a hundred blades.
Az watched him with a hard stare. No more emotion. Maybe it had never been there. “Did you think we did not know the lust you held in your heart?”
What would angels know of lust? What would they know of anything but following orders, protecting the weak, living in that vast, blank world of nothing?
“Why do you think she was given to you?” Az asked.
And he finally understood. A test. One he’d failed because he hadn’t been able to watch Nicole slip away.
“You broke our rules. You took a life not yours to extinguish.” Az’s cold voice floated to him. “And you failed in your duty.”
To take Nicole’s life. But, no, Az had told him that she didn’t live; he’d said—“Where is she?” He’d had to shout to be heard over the fury of the wind.
But there was no answer. Nothing but the wind howling. And then the fire came.
The fire ripped through his body, starting at his feet, burning up, up, even as Keenan fell, plummeting from the sky.
Expelled from my home.
He flapped his wings as he tried to fight that controlling wind, but—
He cried out in agony as the fire spread to his wings. This was no phantom fire—real flames ate at his skin and burned his flesh. Burned his wings, his wings— No!
He’d never known pain, but after this day, he would never forget it.
The wind stopped. His body hovered in the air, his shoulders hunched and his wings burning. He tried to move his wings, tried—
He dropped, falling straight for the earth below, and he burned as he fell. Burned and burned.
Az had been right. The fire made him scream the loudest as he became the one thing he’d always dreaded.
A Fallen.
I think they’re so appealing because every woman wants to be the one to save him.
Good point!
I don’t think there is just one thing that makes a bad boy so appealing. I think it’s the amazing confidence in themselves, the take charge attitude, the knowledge that they can and will take care of those lucky enough to be cared by them.
Thanks Cynthia for the loads of fun we will have today. Happy Release Day!!!!!
Thank you, Michelle! So glad you came to the party!
Well, bad boys are just so naturally hot, y’know? They’re always exclusive (excluding those play boys, which I don’t think are included in the “hot” category) and mysterious. And the unattainables are always the ones who are in demand. LOL. K anyway, and it’s very cool when they fall in love and that one female is the only one who can “unlock” those mysteries and open them up.
Congrats on reaching this huge milestone, and thanks for the giveaway!
LOL, I think they’re naturally hot, too! 🙂 And thank you!
I think what makes a bad boy appealing to me is that he is some times mysterious, has an certain aura about him, confidence, sex appeal, and when it comes to women, he knows what he wants and goes for it.
Congrats on the release of Angel of Darkness! Going to have to pick me up a copy.
Thanks for the congrats! And when it comes to those bad boys, I do love the element of mystery they can possess.
Because they are dark and dangerous and who could resist that
Happy Release Day 😉
I couldn’t resist it!!
Thank you!
The feeling of danger & of breaking rules is very exciting & makes any bad boy appealing.
Bad boys think they are in charge, but really it’s the girl they fall in love with that holds the power.
The confidence in the walk, talk & act of a bad boy is so SEXY, makes any girl want to capture their heart. 😉
Oh, Jewel, I love your comment–and the ladies do hold the power!
Because you never know what they are going to do, they have that element of surprise that makes people love them and are drawn to them.
Congrats on your new release!!!
Thank you, Savannah! And can’t surprise be a wonderful thing?
Congratulations Cynthia on the release of Angel of Darkness!! 🙂
I think bad boy heroes are so popular and attractive to us readers is for 2 reasons:
1) we wouldn’t really start anything with them in real life as we are either too shy or sensible, but thanks to stories we can still imagine what it would be like.. 🙂
2) the other reason is that when a bad boy becomes tame and forsakes his old rakish ways because he wants monogamy, love and a home with a woman is even more heartwarming than when a good boy wants that. Witha bad boy it seems a much bigger deal.
+1 And their dangerous dark vibes are sexy and we can’t resist the temptation ;-p lol
Thank you for the giveaway!
stella.exlibris (at) gmail (dot) com
Hey, Stella!! Thank you! And thanks for such great bad boy reasoning! 🙂
I think a bad boy hero is so cool because that is the guy that everyone wants but will or can’t ever have…LOL I love the bad boys because they have to usually overcome so many more obstacles and issues. I love your books! Keep them coming!
Thank you, Kathy! I’m so happy to hear that you enjoy my stories.
I think bad boys are sexy because they know that they are attractive and women who date bad boys think that they’ll be the one to change their naughty ways.
Tanya
rockchick531 at gmail dot com
Those naughty ways…bad boys sure do have ’em!
Bad boy heroes? They’re great because of the naughty factor, as well as the forbidden. We’re all told to avoid the bad boys – or even logically you might think that, do it feels like you’re getting away with something. Then, there’s also the fact that they fall so hard. That’s what I love, the hero being brought to his knees by love for the heroine. And generally they give a pretty good grovel too 😉
Is it wrong that I enjoy that grovel so much?
Bad boys are appealing because they are dominating, hot, take charge men who will do whatever it takes to get what he wants!! Happy release day!! Thanks for the giveaway!!
Thank you, Krissy!!! Thanks for coming by!
There is that edge to them, you know what they are doing is bad…yet you cannot help see where it goes. It’s dangerous and exciting and a break from the goodness everyone works so hard at.
Supagurl
supagurlheather@gmail.com
That combination of dangerous & exciting gets me every time!
Congratulations on Angel of Darkness! It looks amazing!
I think the bad boys are soooooo appealing because it’s like our version of the “mysterious woman” that men love. There’s that sense of adventure attached to a bad boy. You know you’ll never be bored 🙂
Thank you!!!And I think you’re right about those bad boys, they won’t ever bore us.
I like the taming the bad boy. I don’t want him completely tamed of course.
Beckerjo at Verizon dot net
I agree! A little wildness can be a good thing!
Cuz they are always hot & even though they seem so bad & like nothing can touch them…they always have this soft side that comes out when they don’t even realize it!
They can have such great soft sides!
They are so appealing because they have that dark edge to them, never knowing what might set them off, but you are hoping you are the one to save them.
Congratulations Cynthia on the new book! I think bad boy heroes are appealing because we get to see them change and grow through the story and, hopefully, by the end of the story they are a better person but still have their wild side.
Loving the party! Congrats on release!
Many things hot about the bad boy…the gonna do it HIS way (makes us want him to do US anyway possible), the hidden heart (brings out the treasure hunter in us), the break all the rules attitude (come on..who wants to be a good girl ALL the time?) etc, etc
I think the appeal of the bad boy is because they have the sinful forbidden edge. You know they are bad for you, but the temptation play on the dark side is too strong to ignore. They may make you miserable in real life, but they make a book so much better.
Bad boys are exciting and mysterious. Who does’nt love a bad boy. Congrats on the release day.—Rachel
Bad boys seem so unattainable and forbidden, but they have a mysteriousness and exciting quality to them that just draws a person in and keeps them wondering. Not to mention, I think women (myself in particular) like the whole idea of being the one to crack (or break) the ice around a man’s heart. Even if by the end of the novel the bad boy hasn’t changed all that much from the way he is at the beginning, he still has a new life at the end and has changed even a tiny bit.
Honestly because I think we all have a little bad girl in us and we think they will bring this out of us in delicious ways.
They just ooze sexiness….and to be the one lady who grabs his attention is what it’s all about. 🙂
Happy Release Day! Can’t wait to read it
they’re hot and who doesn’t want to be the one to reform them.
Love bad boys!! They are so much fun to tame. Congrats on the release!
love that excerpt and I think personally bad boys are so appealing cause who doesn’t want to be the woman that tames them rofl. ooh makes me shiver just thinking about that sexy badness focusing on just one woman.
We love bad boys because we all believe that we will be “THE ONE” to tame his bad ways, the one to put him on the straight and narrow, so to speak. Women just love to “fix” broken people 😉 We also believe that all bad boys are inherently “good” and that they don’t really enjoy being bad. If women accepted that someone is truly bad and enjoy being bad then we would have to say they are beyond being “saved” and we have a hard time accepting that. Bad boys are like a drug to us, we almost can’t help ourselves in falling for them.
I think bad boys are so appealing because every girl wants to tame that bad boy. She wants to make him good, and be careful. She wants to be the one that wins him away from the bad. I love bad boys. I found one and tamed him to an extent. He was 19 years old and I was 22 years old. He hung out with the wrong crowd, not bad kids, just liked to party a lot. I liked to party then, but was careful.
Congrats on the new release and would love to win the gift certificate. I want this book, I love the cover(guy is so gorgeous), and want to read it badly. Thanks for the chance to win.
Your book sounds really good.
I think women are drawn to the bad boy types because they want something they can “remake” or do over and save them from themselves. We all want something we know we can’t have. It’s all in the challenge for the women, not so much the prize.
I was just thnking about this earlier. I think it’s the slight thrill of danger. It gets the adrenaline flowing.
There are lots of things appealing about the bad boy. They’re usually big, strong and ruggedly good looking. They’re also very intense and as I’ve said before how they LOVE their female once they realize she is theirs is so yummy:).
Most of us follow the rules and find someone who doesn’t interesting and exciting.
Great excerpt!
I think bad boys are so appealing because I think at heart most of them are big teddy bears and most women see that underneath the dangerously delicious exterior:)
yadkny@hotmail.com
I think bad boys are so appealing because they have an aura about them that if anything happens,they are up to the challange of dealing with the situation.
Bad Boys are so appealing because they don’t take crap from anyone! And they will do almost anything to protect the one they love
Bad boys are appealing b/c they get to do things I’ve always wanted to do myself but never had the courage heh…oh…and they are generally HOT 😉 Well, at least in books…and movies…and not real life.
They’re so appealing because they are mysterious,they take no shit from nobody.They do what they want when they want.They take charge.And they’re hot! 🙂
Thanks for the giveaways today.
Bad Boys are hot. They are bad but at the same time so good they just dont want anyone to know. and it is a challenge to find out why a bad boy is a bad boy. everyone has their reasons
I think bad boys appeal because sub consciously we think we can reform them, make them good, at least to us!
Women love a challenge. We want to reform the bad boy and help him open up emotionally. We want to save them.
I have all your books and will add this one. My plan is to start reading this series by the weekend. I have them sitting on my nightstand all in order, including the anthologies. I cannot wait!!!!
Sorry i forgot the question. There is just something about Bad Boys that draws you in.
it is that whole forbidden love thing I think. I’ve heard such great things about this book! Can’t wait to read it 🙂
Bad boy heroes are appealing because you know they can give you an adventure and knowing he’s someone you shouldn’t want.
I just find them fascinating. I guess they appeal to me, because they are the opposite of what I am
I think they are so appealing because they have a dangerous edge that makes you want to walk on the wild side. 🙂
I think that they are appealing because they have a softer side in there somewhere. As a woman you want to find it and bring it out of them. Bad boys fight for the woman they care about when others run away scared. You know that if you are with them there will never be a boring day.
I think we love bad boy heroes because in order to be bad they actually have to be pretty dang passionate, so they love with all their heart and they are sexy and have an edge. Who can resist that?
Congratulations on the release of Angel Of Darkness! I think bad boy heroes are so appealing because there is some bad girl in each of us, that finds the darkness and danger surrounding them, so exciting.