Dark Frost: Blog tour, excerpt and giveaway

Title: Dark Frost

Author: Jennifer Estep

Publisher: Kensington Books

Publish Date: 29 May 2012

ISBN: 978-0-7582-6696-5

Genre: Young Adult, Mythology

Source: ARC from author

Series: Mythos Academy

Other Books in Series: First Frost, Touch of Frost, Kiss of Frost

I’ve seen so many freaky things since I started attending Mythos Academy last fall. I know I’m supposed to be a fearless warrior, but most of the time, I feel like I’m just waiting for the next Bad, Bad Thing to happen. Like someone trying to kill me—again.

Everyone at Mythos Academy knows me as Gwen Frost, the Gypsy girl who uses her psychometry magic to find lost objects—and who just may be dating Logan Quinn, the hottest guy in school. But I’m also the girl the Reapers of Chaos want dead in the worst way. The Reapers are the baddest of the bad, the people who murdered my mom. So why do they have it in for me?

It turns out my mom hid a powerful artifact called the Helheim Dagger before she died. Now, the Reapers will do anything to get it back. They think I know where the dagger is hidden, but this is one thing I can’t use my magic to find. All I do know is that the Reapers are coming for me—and I’m in for the fight of my life.

Can anything more happen at Mythos Academy?  Gwendolyn Frost is back at Mythos Academy as the tale continues in Dark Frost.  The story starts out in Crius Coliseum, a museum near the academy.  Every second-year student was supposed to go through the exhibit on artifacts.  Most left this until the very last day of winter break.  Gwen went with her best friend Daphne and Daphne’s boyfriend, Carson.  She ran into Logan there, who is the object of her affection.  She is sure if they have a relationship or not.

When they are talking and going over the artifacts, they hear screaming.  They soon know that the Reapers of Chaos have entered the coliseum and are looking for a certain artifact, the Helheim Dagger. This is the last artifact that they need to free Loki and have him return to Earth.  They are sure that it will be there in the exhibit.  This turns into “chaos” as the students who are attending the exhibit are trained to fight reapers.

This also makes up Gwen’s mind that she needs to find the dagger before the Reapers of Chaos do.  Since it was her mother who originally hid the dagger, this should be easy, right?  Wrong.  Will Gwen find the dagger?  Will the Reapers of Chaos free Loki?  What is happening between Gwen and Logan?

On the cover, you see Gwen Frost wearing the necklace that Logan gave her before Christmas break.  You also see Mythos Academy.  Again, I like how the “T” in “dark frost” is a dagger or sword.

 

•Gwen.  She always has the best intentions.  Even though some people think otherwise and think the she really doesn’t belong to Mythos Academy because she is a gypsy.

•Logan.  He is always there to help Gwen and this book is no different.  Gwen isn’t sure what their relationship is at the beginning of this book.  

 

•Loki’s champion.  I won’t say any more about her because I don’t want to spoil the book for you.  Gwen sees glimpses of her in a dream, but doesn’t know who she is.  She does things for Loki that you would, well expect a Champion of an evil God to do.

•The other Reapers of Chaos.  Killing people to get what you want is a surefire way to end up on my “did not like” list.

•Loki.  The evil God.  You don’t hear a lot about him in this book, but what you do, I don’t like.  He is the one who gets his “reapers” to do horrible things.  Okay, that sounded really bad, but I don’t know how else to put it.

The Crius Coliseum was shaped like a giant wheel, with one main space in the middle and the hallways and rooms branching off like spokes. The doorway we stood in opened up into the center section of the museum. When Daphne, Carson, and I had walked through it a few minutes ago, folks had been milling around the exhibits, looking at the artifacts and browsing through the expensive replica jewelry, armor, and weapons in the gift shop. Besides the staff, most of the other people here had been second-year Mythos students, trying to get their homework assignment done, just like the three of us.

Not anymore.

Now, figures wearing long, black, hooded robes stormed through the coliseum—and they all carried sharp, curved swords. The figures swarmed over everyone in their path, their blades slashing into the students who’d been staring at the artifacts just a few seconds before. More screams and shouts tore through the air, echoing as loud as gunshots, as people realized what was happening.

But it was already too late.

“Reapers,” Daphne whispered, voicing my own horrific thought.

The Reapers of Chaos ran their swords through everyone they could get their hands on, then shoved the dead and dying to the floor. The museum staff, adults, kids. It didn’t matter to the Reapers who they killed. Wax figures, statues, and display cases crashed to the floor, splintering into thousands of pieces. Blood spattered everywhere, a cascade of scarlet teardrops sliding down the white marble walls.

A sick, sick feeling filled my stomach at the bloody chaos in front of me. I’d heard about Reapers, about how vicious they were, about how they lived to kill warriors—about how they lived to kill us. I’d faced down two Reapers myself, but I’d never seen anything like this. I was so shocked by the scene in front of me that I felt stuck in place, just like my friends. I knew we should be doing something, anything, to try to help the other students, but I didn’t know what it could be.

Some of the Mythos students tried to fight back, using their fists or whatever they could get their hands on. But it didn’t work, and one by one, the Reapers swarmed over the kids. Samson Sorensen fell to the floor, screaming and clutching his stomach, blood spurting out from between his fingers. A few Mythos students tried to run, but the Reapers just grabbed them from behind, rammed their swords into the kids’ backs, and then tossed them aside like trash.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Morgan McDougall duck down and squeeze in between a tall, wide pedestal and the wall, putting her parallel to the doorway that my friends and I were next to. Green sparks of magic shot out of Morgan’s fingertips like lightning, a clear sign of her surprise and panic, and she curled her hands into tight fists and tucked them under her armpits to try to smother the colorful flashes. Morgan knew as well as I did that if the Reapers saw the sparks, they’d find her and finish her off. The pretty Valkyrie spotted me watching her and stared back at me, her hazel eyes full of fear.

“Stay there! Hide! Don’t try to run!” I shouted, although I didn’t think Morgan could hear me above the screams and the alarms that had started blaring.

In less than a minute, it was over. The Reapers regrouped in the middle of the coliseum, talking to each other, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying over the moans, groans, and whimpers of the dying kids on the bloody floor.

“Reapers,” Daphne whispered again, as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing any more than I could.

It was almost like they’d heard the Valkyrie’s low murmur because several of the black-robed figures turned and headed in our direction.

This contest is for one finished copy of Dark Frost.

Rules

• You will have 48 hours to respond or you will forfeit your prize.
•  I reserve the right to cancel the contest at any time without reason.  
•  I am not responsible for parcels lost or damaged in the postal system.  I will make every attempt to avoid this.
• You must be 13 years or older to participate.
• Contest is U.S. only.
• Names will be drawn by Random.org that is within rafflecopter.  
• Winner will be announced in this blog post at the conclusion of the contest and notified by the e-mail provided to enter the contest.  Make sure this is the e-mail that you want me to contact you! 

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