Blog Tour Our Souls to Keep
Title: Our Souls to Keep
Author: Gary Caruso
Genre: Dark YA, Romantic Thriller 15+
Tour Host: Lady
Amber's Tours
Synopsis:
After seventeen-year-old Wake Reynolds agrees to sacrifice his soul
to protect his suicidal mother from the fiery tortures of Hell, Satan
strips him of his humanity and forces him to become a demonic
collector of souls. With no memory of his human existence, Wake
spends years in loyal service—but something within him is changing.
His stolen human emotions are beginning to return.
As Wake struggles to
keep his new sensations hidden, Satan orders him to corrupt the soul
of a pregnant girl, Annemarie. Beautiful, gentle Annemarie. From the
moment Wake sees her, she brings lightness to his blackened heart,
dampening his loneliness, fueling his passion. If he chooses to defy
Satan and spare the lives of Annemarie and her unborn child, his
mother’s soul will writhe in Hell’s deepest pit for eternity.
Annemarie or his mother? It’s a choice no one should have to make.
Author Bio:
Gary Caruso lives in northern Virginia
with his wife Jill, but their favorite place is in Ohio with their
three beautiful grandchildren. Although Gary is exhilarated when he
sits down to write, teaching middle school science is his first love.
He’s passionate about empowering students to make thoughtful
decisions and positive choices in life. Gary enjoys reading,
especially fiction that blurs the line between what’s real and
what’s fantasy. He never imagined becoming a writer until an
ordinary car ride on a spring day jolted an unlikely thought into his
head. Gary’s early experience writing is a reminder that no matter
how intimidating the challenge, action and determination are the
foundations for fulfilling any dream. Gary has an insatiable love for
writing, a blessing he’s excited to share with his readers.
Excerpt:
The
crowd thins, eventually leaving Annemarie and me alone in the
hallway. She gathers her books and turns, quicker than I expect. I
can’t maneuver out of her way. Our collision is mild, but jarring
enough to dislodge the books from her hands.
“I’m
so sorry,” she says as she kneels to pick up her scattered books.
I
should be helping her, but my eyes are fixed on her graceful
movements. Her long brown hair has fallen to the side, exposing the
back of her softly curved neck, and every reach for a stray book
lengthens her back and shoulders, inviting my touch. From the lowest
point, just above the waist of her jeans, the tip of my finger would
snake upward, navigating the gentle ridge of her spine until my hand
laces through the richness of her flowing hair.
She
tilts her head upward and grins at me. “Are you okay?”
Her
voice snaps me from my fantasy. “Me? Yeah, I’m…fine. Oh, god.
I’m so sorry. I should be picking up your books. You’re…you
know.” I point feeble-mindedly at her extended stomach.
“Pregnant,”
she says as she stands and straightens her blouse. “It’s all
right to say it. I already know.”
The
tip of her tongue unknowingly caresses her lower lip and the gentle
arc of her full upper lip stretches, the smallest amount, as a smile
slowly radiates across her flushed cheeks. These emotions, human, raw
and…hormonal, forgotten for so long, now my only hope for clear
thought is to suppress them. This has to be one of Satan’s sadistic
jokes.
I
laugh from embarrassment, but it’s the first time, in too long,
that the sound of untempered, unrestrained joy bubbles from my heart.
How can she have this warming effect on me? I want to say something
cute and funny, but my mind is a hornet’s nest of scrambled
thoughts.
“You
look familiar,” she says. “Do we have a class together?”
I
gaze into her hazel eyes. I must appear flustered because she tilts
her head and grins.
“No.
I mean, I don’t know. Today is my first day at this school.”
“Great.
Welcome to Roosevelt High School. My name is Annemarie.”
“I’m
Wake.”
“Wake?
That’s an interesting name.”
“Yeah,
I know. It sounds like a funeral.”
“I
like it. But I have to go. My little guy keeps pushing on my bladder.
Lately, I have to use the restroom between every class.” She covers
her mouth as if she gave too much information to someone she just
met, but her joyful eyes can’t hide the smile hidden behind her
hand.
“I
can’t believe I just told you that.” She starts to hurry away,
but looks over her shoulder. “See you later, Wake.”
I
wave like an embarrassed adolescent. What a lousy first impression. I
sounded like a bumbling, immature little boy.
I
watch as she continues down the hall. I’ve seen other pregnant
women before. They were clumsy, out of balance from carrying extra
weight in front. But not Annemarie. Her steps are graceful and
refined, like she’s gliding on a frozen pond. The gentle curves of
her hips have remained slender, and sway hypnotically side-to-side in
a rhythm that matches the drumming of my heart.
What
am I thinking? Mooning about like a lovesick teenager. I can’t let
my physical attraction for Annemarie erode the resolve I’ll need to
complete this assignment. Yet, she’s the most beautiful… Does she
even know how she makes me feel…how human? I’m stuck in a moment
reserved for young love. There’s nothing merciful about denying the
uninhibited excitement coursing through every inch of my body, but my
plan is already in motion. The fate of my mother’s soul is in my
hands. As much as I hate myself for thinking it, Annemarie’s beauty
has to be extinguished. I have to collect her. I know Satan is
convinced these human emotions will help, but right now, I wish I was
a stone-cold demon. It would make it a lot easier to incinerate her
goodness from the earth.
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