Sentinel Blog Tour

Title: Daimon: The Prequel to Half-Blood

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Publisher: Spencer Hill Press

Publish Date:  10 May 2011

Pages: 62

ISBN:  9780983157267

Genre:  YA, fantasy, mythology

Series:  Covenant

Other books in series:  Half-Blood, Pure, Deity, Elixir, Apollyon, Sentinel (02 November 2013)

Other books by author:  Lux series, Wait For You series, Gamble Brothers series, Frigid, Obsession, Cursed, Nephilim Rising series, Don’t Look Back, The Dark Elements series

"Love in my world usually ended up with someone hearing 'I smite thee ' as she was cursed to be some lame flower for the rest of her life." For three years, Alexandria has lived among mortals--pretending to be like them and trying to forget the duty she'd been trained to fulfill as a child of a mortal and a demigod. At seventeen, she's pretty much accepted that she's a freak by mortal standards... and that she'll never be prepared for that duty. According to her mother, that's a good thing.But as every descendant of the gods knows, Fate has a way of rearing her ugly head. A horrifying attack forces Alex to flee Miami and try to find her way back to the very place her mother had warned her she should never return-the Covenant. Every step that brings her closer to safety is one more step toward death... because she's being hunted by the very creatures she'd once trained to kill. The daimons have found her.

I have been included as part of the Sentinel blog tour.  Since Sentinel is the last of the Covenant series, we are reviewing all of the previous books on the tour before Sentinel comes out on 02 November 2013.  I have been asked to cover Daimon.  I have previously reviewed this book and interviewed Armentrout and thought I would post some snippets of that review and interview here on this tour.  Daimon is an e-book that is free to download from the Spencer Hill website and is only 62 pages.  Because it is so short, there is not a lot that you can say about it.

You first get introduced to Alex in this book.  You also learn what Daimon's are.  "Daimons feed on aether, the essence of the gods or the life force running through pure-bloods and less concentrated in half-bloods.  What happens when she [Alex] encounters the Daimon is where this story really starts."

# 1 New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Jennifer L. Armentrout Lives in West Virginia.

All the rumors you heard about her state aren’t true.

Well, mostly. When she's not hard at work writing, she spends her time, reading, working out, watching zombie movies, and pretending to write.

She is the author of the Covenant Series (Spencer Hill Press), the Lux Series (Entangled Teen), Don't Look Back (Disney/Hyperion) and a yet untitled novel (Disney/Hyperion), and new YA paranormal series with Harlequin Teen.

Jennifer also writes New Adult and Adult romance under the pen name J. Lynn. The Gamble Brothers Series (Tempting the Best Man/Tempting the Player) and Wait for You. Under her pen name, she is published with Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins.

This interview was conducted on 07 January 2012

♦You have a few different series out.  Which one is your favorite to work on and why? Do you have a favorite character?  If so, who is it and why?

Whatever series I'm working on is usually my favorite. It has to be for me to do my best. So one moment I'm totally in love with the Covenant Series and the next I'm all about the Lux series. I think my two favorite characters are Alex from the Covenant Series and Daemon from the Lux Series. Both of those characters bring the snark and I love me some snark!

♦Cursed is coming out in September 2012.  Is this book going to be a
stand-alone book or a series?  Can you tell us a little about this book and
where you got the inspiration for it?

Cursed is currently a standalone and is about a girl who dies and comes back (thanks to her little sister) with a toxic touch. Anything she touches basically withers up and dies. Beside trying to discover how her sister brought her back and what the means, Ember has to learn how to control her ability plus discover who caused the accident in the first place and why. Of course, she has some help from an uber hot guy with his own secrets and abilities. My inspiration for Cursed was kind of weird. It all started with the opening scene, which is Ember waking up with a dead hamster sitting on her chest. Yeah, I know, bizarre. But the hamster was her little sister's pet that had died and was brought back. So it was a weird Pet Cemetery moment., kind of creepy, kind of fun. It just spawned from there.

♦What inspires you when you write?

It's pretty simple. Telling stories inspries me. 

♦Do you base your characters off of real people?  Do you have a process for coming up with characters?

Some secondary characters are based loosely on people I know, but the main characters almost never. The characters are usually the first thing I come up and the plot develops around them. 

♦Do you ever experience writer’s block and how do you get over it?

Oh, God, yes. Scary moments there. Usually I try to power through them with a sledgehammer, but if the block is real big, then I moved ahead in the story, write a scene I want and then come back to the area that's tripping me up. 

♦What type/genre of books do you like to read?  What are you currently reading?

I'm a fan of paranormal and fantasy mostly. Right now I'm reading a billion novels it seems: Immortal Rider, Hallowed, Goddess Interrupted, Legend, and Enclave.

♦Favorite color: Red. 

♦Favorite holiday/season: Halloween and Christmas are tied.  

♦Word that best describes you and why: Random. I'm pretty random.

♦Optimist or pessimist: Realist. 

♦Favorite author/book/series: Right now? Rachel Vincent Soul Screamers.

♦Favorite food/drink: Red meat and coffee (healthy, right?)

♦Favorite place to read/write: Living room. 

Spencer Hill Press is giving away a $200 gift card to Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Book Depository or any indie bookstore of the winner's choice to not only stock up on amazing books, but to perhaps buy a Nook HD or Kindle Fire.

a Spencer Hill Press giveaway

Spencer Hill Press FREE eBook copy of Daimon

Daimon: The Prequel to Half-Blood

Publisher: Spencer Hill Press

Publish Date: already out

Version: e-book

Series: Covenant

 For three years, Alexandria has lived among mortals—pretending to be like them and trying to forget the duty she'd been trained to fulfill as a child of a mortal and a demigod. At seventeen, she's pretty much accepted that she's a freak by mortal standards... and that she'll never be prepared for that duty.

According to her mother, that’s a good thing.

But as every descendant of the gods knows, Fate has a way of rearing her ugly head. A horrifying attack forces Alex to flee Miami and try to find her way back to the very place her mother had warned her she should never return—the Covenant. Every step that brings her closer to safety is one more step toward death… because she's being hunted by the very creatures she'd once trained to kill.

The daimons have found her.

Daimon is the prequel to Half Blood.  In the description of it, it says that it is Covenant 0.5.  The story starts out with Alexandria Andros remembering when she was examined by Hematoi ministers.  They do this because Alex is a half-blood and they determine what she will be in life.  Then Alex is pulled out of her memory by Matt Richardson, the boy that she is out with at the time.   While they were on the beach, a few guys came over to them and started some trouble.  Alex, having been trained, defended her and Matt from the guys only to have Matt get mad at her for it because he didn’t condone violence.

When Alex gets home, she is greeted by her mother who talks to her about sneaking out at night in Miami.  She relates the events of the evening and gets that off her chest before going to bed.  The next morning, she was supposed to be up “bright and early” cleaning up the balcony.  After waking up at noon, she quickly got dressed and then proceeded to go out to the balcony to begin cleaning it.  What she discovered when she was out there, was alarming.  She saw the very thing she was trained at the Covenant to fight – a Daimon.  Daimons feed on aether, the essence of the gods or the life force running through pure-bloods and less concentrated in half-bloods.  What happens when she encounters the Daimon is where this story really starts.

This is the second book by Jennifer L. Arementrout that I have read and I really like it.   She is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors.  I liked this book because it gave you a good background into the Covenant series.  Daimon leaves a lot of questions and I hope that they will be answered as the series progresses.

• Alex.  She has a good personality that is easily likeable.  She doesn’t know the reasoning behind her mom and her leaving the Covenant but doesn’t question this decision outright.  I also like the fact that she is a take charge kind of girl.


• Alex’s mom.  You can tell that she has given up a lot for Alex.  Being a pure blood, they believe that half-bloods, such as Alex, are beneath them.  Alex’s mom doesn’t show this belief.  She genuinely cares about Alex.

• Matt.  The guy that she is out with on the beach.  He doesn’t like it when Alex defends her and him.  He seems like a nice guy, but he makes Alex feel like a freak afterwards.


• Daimons.  They are aether-loving, evil, weird looking people with bad teeth.   

On the cover it shows a green tulip.  This picture reminds me of pictures that I have seen before where they took x-rays of flowers.  Only this particular flower has a green smoke-like substance rising out of it.  The cover is very pretty, although it doesn’t tell me anything about the story.

Release Date: already out

This is book one in the Covenant series.  After reading Daimon, I'm eager to read this book.
Buy Half-Blood: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, The Book Depository

The Hematoi descend from the unions of gods and mortals, and the children of two Hematoi-pure-bloods-have godlike powers. Children of Hematoi and mortals-well, not so much. Half-bloods only have two options: become trained Sentinels who hunt and kill daimons or become servants in the homes of the pures. Seventeen-year-old Alexandria would rather risk her life fighting than waste it scrubbing toilets, but she may end up slumming it anyway. There are several rules that students at the Covenant must follow. Alex has problems with them all, but especially rule #1:Relationships between pures and halfs are forbidden. Unfortunately, she's crushing hard on the totally hot pure-blood Aiden. But falling for Aiden isn't her biggest problem--staying alive long enough to graduate the Covenant and become a Sentinel is. If she fails in her duty, she faces a future worse than death or slavery: being turned into a daimon, and being hunted by Aiden. And that would kind of suck.

Tentative release date: April 3, 2012

Book 2 in the Covenant series.
Pre-order Pure: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, The Book Depository

There is need. And then there is Fate...

Being destined to become some kind of supernatural electrical outlet isn't exactly awesome--especially when Alexandria's "other half" is everywhere she goes. Seth's in her training room, outside her classes, and keeps showing up in her bedroom--so not cool. Their connection does have some benefits, like staving off her nightmares of the tragic showdown with her mother, but it has no effect on what Alex feels for the forbidden, pure-blooded Aiden. Or what he will do--and sacrifice--for her.

When daimons infiltrate the Covenants and attack students, the gods send furies--lesser gods determined to eradicate any threat to the Covenants and to the gods, and that includes the Apollyon... and Alex. And if that and hordes of aether-sucking monsters didn't blow bad enough, a mysterious threat seems willing to do anything to neutralize Seth, even if that means forcing Alex into servitude... or killing her.

When the gods are involved, some decisions can never, ever be undone.

Find Jennifer

Buy Daimon