The Ceruleans: mere mortals infused with power over life and death.
Five books; one question: If the might of the heavens were in your hands, would you be sinner or saint?
Title: Devil and the Deep
Series: Ceruleans Bk4
Author: Megan Tayte
Genre: YA, Paranormal, Fantasy
Release Date: 7th February 2015
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STORM CLOUDS ARE GATHERING, AND THEY WILL RAIN
BLOOD.
Scarlett is living her happy-ever-after, back in the real
world. Only the ‘happy’ part is proving problematic.
For starters, there’s the isolation. Being a Cerulean
among humans is fraught with risk, so her time with people can only be
fleeting. Which means being with Luke but not being with Luke.
Then there’s her Cerulean light, her power over life and
death. Less awesome talent, as it turns out, and more overwhelming
responsibility. And it comes with rules – rules that are increasingly difficult
to obey.
But what’s really pushing Scarlett to the precipice is
something much bigger than herself, than her life in the cove. A force to be
reckoned with:
Blood.
When long-buried truths are exposed, will Scarlett keep
her head above water – or will she drown in the blood-dimmed tide that is
unleashed?
PURCHASE LINKS
EXCERPT
It began with screaming. Shrill, ear-piercing, horrified
screaming.
A girl shrieked, ‘Blood! Look, look – it’s everywhere!’
and pressed her hand to her mouth.
A man shouted, ‘Good grief!’ and another, ‘Great Scott!’
An old lady swooned gracefully and would have tipped over
the balustrade of the riverboat had a lanky lad not caught her.
The cause of the excitement – a woman lying slumped on
the long table on deck, cheek on her bread plate, headdress in the butter dish
– twitched a little.
‘She’s alive!’ cried a lad beside her delightedly. ‘She
moved!’
‘Did not,’ argued another.
‘Did too!’
‘Gentlemen,’ interjected a short, portly man with a
twirly black moustache, ‘if you will forgive my intrusion, it must be noted
that this woman has a bullet hole in her head and is logically, therefore,
quite definitely deceased.’
Another old dear folded to the deck with a prolonged
‘Ohhhhhh’ and her husband grabbed a feathered fan and began wafting cool
evening air in her face while calling, ‘Smelling salts – does anyone have any?’
I tried to keep a straight face. Really I did. I bit my
bottom lip until I tasted my cherry-red lipstick. I pinched my leg through the
cream satin of my gown. I dug my long cigarette holder into the sensitive flesh
of my arm.
But it was no good.
The ‘What ho, chaps’ posh accents.
The buxom woman sagging in the arms of an elephant hunter
wearing Converse All Stars.
The production of smelling salts in a bottle whose label
read Pepto-Bismol.
The corners of the little round man’s moustache coming
looser with his every word.
The fast-pooling puddle of pinkish blood on the bread
plate, buffeted by the steady in-and-out breaths of the corpse.
Take it from a girl who’s really died – death on the
River Dart, Devon, is hilarious.
‘Dear me, Ms Robson here appears to be quite overcome
with shock,’ said the guy at my side suddenly, and he slipped an arm around me
and turned me away. ‘Come, madam. Let us get some air.’
I smiled at him. Then grinned. Then choked back a guffaw.
Thankfully, by the time full-scale hilarity hit me I’d been led to the rear of
the boat, away from the rest of our party, and could bury my face in the
bloke’s chest and shake mutely with laughter.
The gallant gentleman rubbed my back soothingly as I let
it all out and said loudly, for the benefit of any onlookers, ‘There there,
pignsey, there there.’
‘Pigsney?’ It was the final straw. My high-heeled sandals
gave way and I melted into a puddle of mirth on the deck.
‘I’ll have you know, Scarlett Blake,’ hissed Luke, my
boyfriend a.k.a. gallant gent, hoiking up his too-tight corduroy trousers so he
could squat down beside me, ‘I Googled “old-fashioned terms of endearment” and
pigsney’s a classic.’
I wiped tears from my eyes, dislodging a false eyelash in
the process, and tried to catch my hiccupping breath as Luke went on.
‘Means pig’s eye. No idea why that’s appealing, but
apparently in the seventeenth century, calling a lady pigsney was the very
height of courting.’
Through his fake specs Luke’s blue eyes fixed me with a
stare so earnest I almost managed to stop laughing.
‘But this is a Death
on the Nile-Stroke-Dart murder mystery night, Luke,’ I managed to get out.
‘Set in the nineteen thirties, not the seventeen thirties.’
‘Ah,’ he said, ‘but my character tonight, Mr Fijawaddle,
is a historical fiction writer, isn’t he? So as well as dressing like a brainy
recluse – and I’m warning you now, I won’t hear another slur against this tweed
jacket – he’d know all kinds of obscure terms. Like ginglyform and jargogle and
nudiustertian and bromopnea and farctate and quagswag and philosophunculist.’
His showing off sobered me just enough to control the
giggles. ‘You made those words up,’ I accused, poking a crimson talon into his
mustard-yellow shirtfront.
He blinked at me innocently. ‘Did not. I told you before
we left the house, I did my homework.’
I narrowed my eyes. ‘All right then, Mr Fijawaddle, what
does that last word you said mean?’
‘Philosophunculist?’
‘Yes, that.’
‘Er…’ Luke gave me a sheepish grin.
‘Spill it,’ I said menacingly. As menacingly as a girl
dressed up as a vintage Hollywood starlet with cute little pin curls and rouge
aplenty can be, that is.
‘Philosophunculist,’ recited Luke. ‘Noun. A person who
pretends to know more than they do in order to impress others.’
I threw my head back and laughed. ‘Busted!’
Luke slipped an arm around me and pulled me close. Really
close.
‘Bet you like it when I use long words,’ he said huskily,
eyes fixed on my too-red lips.
‘Bet you like it when I wear a clingy nightgown as a
dress,’ I replied, eyes fixed on his too-kissable lips.
‘Brazen hussy,’ he growled at me.
‘Randy boffin,’ I murmured back.
Then neither of us said another word for quite some time.
REST OF THE SERIES
Title: Death Wish
Series: Ceruleans Bk#1
Author: Megan Tayte
Genre: YA, Paranormal, Romance
Release Date: 7th February 2015
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IN SEARCH OF THE MEANING OF DEATH, SHE’LL FIND THE MEANING OF LIFE.
Seventeen-year-old Scarlett Blake is haunted by death. Her estranged sister has made the ultimate dramatic exit. Running away from school, joining a surfing fraternity, partying hard: that sounds like Sienna. Butsuicide? It makes no sense.
Following in her sister’s footsteps, Scarlett comes to an isolated English cove with grand plans to uncover the truth. Alone. But she hasn’t reckoned on meeting two boys who are determined to help her. Luke: the blue-eyed surfer who’ll see the real Scarlett, who’ll challenge her, who’ll save her. And Jude: the elusive drifter with a knack for turning up whenever Scarlett’s in need.
As Scarlett’s quest for the truth unravels, so too does her grip on reality as she’s always known it. Because there’s something strange going on in this little cove. A dead magpie circles the skies. A dead deer watches from the undergrowth. Hands glow with light. Warmth. Power.
What transpires is a summer of discovery. Of what it means to conquer fear. To fall in love. To choose life. To choose death.
To believe the impossible.
Following in her sister’s footsteps, Scarlett comes to an isolated English cove with grand plans to uncover the truth. Alone. But she hasn’t reckoned on meeting two boys who are determined to help her. Luke: the blue-eyed surfer who’ll see the real Scarlett, who’ll challenge her, who’ll save her. And Jude: the elusive drifter with a knack for turning up whenever Scarlett’s in need.
As Scarlett’s quest for the truth unravels, so too does her grip on reality as she’s always known it. Because there’s something strange going on in this little cove. A dead magpie circles the skies. A dead deer watches from the undergrowth. Hands glow with light. Warmth. Power.
What transpires is a summer of discovery. Of what it means to conquer fear. To fall in love. To choose life. To choose death.
To believe the impossible.
PURCHASE LINKS
Title: Forget Me Not
Series: Ceruleans Bk#2
Author: Megan Tayte
Genre: YA, Paranormal, Romance
Release Date: 1st April 2015
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IN THE FACE OF DEATH, SHE MUST PROTECT THOSE SHE LOVES.
Death is stalking Scarlett Blake. As if the encroaching darkness in her head wasn’t enough, she’s become disturbingly accident prone. Falling off a cliff isn’t ideal when all you want is as much time as possible to live, to love.
Her fate is horrifying. Unbearable. And inescapable. No one can save Scarlett from The End that’s looming. Not Jude, the Cerulean who is intent on Claiming her. Not Luke, the boy who is intent on loving her.
The clock is ticking, louder with every heartbeat. Now Scarlett must decide how best to protect the people she loves. Will she trust in Jude and the life-after-death he promises? Will she stand against the Fallen, who have her sister captive? Will she carry the burden of her death alone – every headache, every hallucination, every wrenching, aching emotion?
And when the clock falls silent, when the darkness eclipses the light, will Scarlett fight for life? Or will she have no choice but to surrender?
Her fate is horrifying. Unbearable. And inescapable. No one can save Scarlett from The End that’s looming. Not Jude, the Cerulean who is intent on Claiming her. Not Luke, the boy who is intent on loving her.
The clock is ticking, louder with every heartbeat. Now Scarlett must decide how best to protect the people she loves. Will she trust in Jude and the life-after-death he promises? Will she stand against the Fallen, who have her sister captive? Will she carry the burden of her death alone – every headache, every hallucination, every wrenching, aching emotion?
And when the clock falls silent, when the darkness eclipses the light, will Scarlett fight for life? Or will she have no choice but to surrender?
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Title: Wild Blue Yonder
Series: Ceruleans Bk#3
Author: Megan Tayte
Genre: YA, Paranormal, Romance
Release Date: 31st May 2015
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IN A WARPED HEAVEN, SHE MUST CHOOSE HER FATE: OBEDIENCE OR REBELLION
When Scarlett Blake chose life-after-death as a Cerulean, she expected to grieve for all she left behind: her boyfriend, her best friend, her mother, her home. But at least Cerulea, her heaven, would be… well, heavenly. Right?
Wrong.
The world in which Scarlett awakens is very far from her idea of a utopia. Picturesque, sure, and serene. But there can be no paradise within the unforgiving walls of a prison, be they of cold, hard stone or beautifully blue water.
Now Scarlett faces her hardest decision yet: be a good, dutiful Cerulean, or be true to herself and fight for freedom.
And if she can find a way to escape, what then? Can she finally reunite with her lost sister? Can she save Sienna from the murderous Fallen? Can she evade her destiny with the Ceruleans?
Can Scarlett Blake ever reclaim her life-before-death… or must she let go of all she loves?
Wrong.
The world in which Scarlett awakens is very far from her idea of a utopia. Picturesque, sure, and serene. But there can be no paradise within the unforgiving walls of a prison, be they of cold, hard stone or beautifully blue water.
Now Scarlett faces her hardest decision yet: be a good, dutiful Cerulean, or be true to herself and fight for freedom.
And if she can find a way to escape, what then? Can she finally reunite with her lost sister? Can she save Sienna from the murderous Fallen? Can she evade her destiny with the Ceruleans?
Can Scarlett Blake ever reclaim her life-before-death… or must she let go of all she loves?
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Once upon a time a little girl told her grandmother that
when she grew up she wanted to be a writer. Or a lollipop lady. Or a fairy
princess fireman. ‘Write, Megan,’ her grandmother advised. So that’s what she
did.
Thirty-odd years later, Megan is a professional writer and published author by day, and an indie novelist by night. Her fiction – young adult romance with soul – recently earned her the SPR’s Independent Woman Author of the Year award.
Megan grew up in the Royal County, a hop, skip and a (very long) jump from Windsor Castle, but these days she makes her home in Robin Hood's county, Nottinghamshire. She lives with her husband, a proud Scot who occasionally kicks back in a kilt; her son, a budding artist with the soul of a palaeontologist; and her baby daughter, a keen pan-and-spoon drummer who sings in her sleep. When she's not writing, you'll find her walking someplace green, reading by the fire, or creating carnage in the kitchen as she pursues her impossible dream: of baking something edible.
Thirty-odd years later, Megan is a professional writer and published author by day, and an indie novelist by night. Her fiction – young adult romance with soul – recently earned her the SPR’s Independent Woman Author of the Year award.
Megan grew up in the Royal County, a hop, skip and a (very long) jump from Windsor Castle, but these days she makes her home in Robin Hood's county, Nottinghamshire. She lives with her husband, a proud Scot who occasionally kicks back in a kilt; her son, a budding artist with the soul of a palaeontologist; and her baby daughter, a keen pan-and-spoon drummer who sings in her sleep. When she's not writing, you'll find her walking someplace green, reading by the fire, or creating carnage in the kitchen as she pursues her impossible dream: of baking something edible.
You can find Megan online at:
