BLOG TOUR STOP~DEER IN HEADLIGHTS by Staci Hart

DIH is a light, fun read that will keep you laughing, tug at your heartstrings, and maybe make you change your panties. It's steamy and sweary, a lighthearted romance with a Greek mythology twist.

Title: Deer in Headlights

Series Name & #: Good Gods book 1

Publish Date OR Expected Publish Date:  2-13-2013

Published by: Promise Socks

Genre: Contemporary Romance, Paranormal romance

Age Group: 18+ (lol!!)

Book Synopsis:

What do the Greek gods do when they're bored? Because they're always bored, so humans are the perfect players in their games.

Aphrodite owns love; she hasn't lost a competition on her turf in over three millennia. Apollo is on a mission to win. He's counting on it to finally get the one woman he's never been able to have. The two gods will choose their human players, and if Aphrodite can't get them together before the clock runs out, Apollo will get his way. And Aphrodite couldn't have that.

Lex and Dean are perfect for each other, they just don't know it yet. Dean is a perpetual bachelor, and a brooding, beautiful rock star. Lex is always with a man, but she'll never fully give herself up. Aphrodite has her work cut out for her, but if she can't make it work, no one can.

The gods have their own drama. Apollo killed Aprhodite's mortal love - they've got beef that's been dragging on for thousands of years. Ares, the douchebag, is forever trying to pick a fight, and trying to get Aphrodite into bed. And Persephone, Aphrodite's best friend, is the one person who Aphrodite shares everything with.

Follow the gods as they fight, laugh, cry, lose love, gain power, and make a mess with humans.

Excerpt:

The elevator dinged and Dita rolled off the couch. Perfect timing, she thought as she strode toward the foyer.

“Dita?” Heff looked around cautiously as she strolled into the entryway.

“Hello, Husband,” she said, smiling.

“Hello, Wife.” Heff’s dark hair was tousled, his eyes shining clear blue from his tan face lined by his thick, dark beard. Grime smudged his white tank that stretched across his wide, hard chest. His broad shoulders glinted with sweat, likely from working in his workshop on gadgets or tinkering with his cars.

“Let me show you the problem with my closet.” She turned with a smile, swinging her arm in invitation for him to follow her. He limped after her, his mangled leg oddly weak, the contrast stark against his strong body. They walked through her bedroom and to the infinity closet that he made for her.

She strode up to a keypad mounted on the wall outside of the closet door and tapped a series of numbers. The door whirred and clicked, and when she opened it, an immense dressing room lay in front of them.

Racks of shoes lined one wall, all displayed on custom shelves that Heff built. Drawers of negligee and lingerie lined the back wall below hundreds of shirts, blouses and jackets. An ornate mirror the size of a Buick hung in the center. Dresses hung on another wall, and on the last stretched a floor-to-ceiling cabinet system that displayed her jewelry, scarves, and purses. In the center of the room sat a round, orange dupioni silk bench surrounded by thick cream carpet. From the ceiling hung a cluster of brightly colored paper lanterns that illuminated the room with perfect light.

“It looks okay now, but watch this … ” The keypad beeped and booped as she hit the numbers. “Now, it should pull up 1500 AD, but instead—”

They stepped back as the closet whirred and rooms spun around behind the portal of the doorway like a carousel on speed. It came to rest in what was obviously 1500 BC.

The room made her current closet look like a broom closet. It housed decades of her keepsakes from the time.

There were robes of deep purple, royal blue, shining gold. Sandals made of calfskin and embellished in gold were shelved next to ornate necklaces and crowns. Pottery stood on shelves throughout, as well as lyres and ancient tomes, everything created in her honor. It was an archaeologist’s wet dream.

Heff furrowed his brows as he looked at the keypad. “Seems like a problem with the algorithm. Let me see what I can do.”

“Is it safe to go in? I haven’t been in this one in forever.”

“Yup. I’ll let you know when I have it fixed.”

She stepped onto the white marble floor, feeling the cold, gold veined stone under her feet. As she made her way across the room, she walked by her robes and slowly ran her hands through them. She paused at a silk lavender robe embroidered with an intricate pattern of roses in gold thread. Most didn’t know that the thread was actual gold.

Every single piece in the room had a story. Her hand rested on the turquoise robe she wore when she gave her blessing to Pygmalion. He carved a beautiful statue and fell in love with it. He prayed to Aphrodite that she make his creation real, and she gladly agreed. His face was pure bliss when she gave the statue life. They fell into each other’s arms, the creator and his creation, perfect for one another. Dita smiled to herself. She loved love.

A palette of black cowhides lay on the floor to serve as a carpet. They were a small showing of sacrifices to Aphrodite out of the hundreds of thousands she had received in her hey-day. Blood red silk pillows were piled in the center of the room.

Dita could never throw anything away. She loved to come into her secret rooms of treasures and remember. Only two others knew her little secret.

Perry knew, since she knew everything about Dita, and didn’t think it was a big deal. “If it doesn’t have dust on it, you’re not a hoarder,” she’d say. And of course Heff knew, but she knew that he would never tell anyone.

She laid down on the pillows and propped her head on her hand as she ran her eyes over her things, coming to rest on Hephaestus as he worked. Heff had always been there for her, even when she was cruel to him.

It wasn’t his fault that he had been tapped to marry her. But that hadn’t stopped her from taking it out on him.

Dita didn’t believe in marriage. She was all about the now; she lived in the moment. Things that required long-term responsibility like marriage and motherhood didn’t interest her. Zeus was always worried that the gods would fight over her, so he forced her to marry Hephaestus.

Zeus never took anyone seriously but himself, which was his mistake.

REVIEW

First I just have to say, this story is good and highly entertaining. However, I did not care for how the book jumped around between the two stories involved. At times that made me feel a bit dizzy.

Now about Deer in Headlights! I really did enjoy this book! Aphrodite, aka Dita, is definitely full of herself, but you can see there are many facets of her that are barely touched in this story. Apollo is determined and it is brought on by love. The main focus of this story is; the competition of the gods. Since it is Dita's competition it focuses on making a love match among the humans and her opponent goal and objective is to prevent the love match from happening.

The humans, Dean and Lex, have no idea that their love lives are a huge competition of the gods. Dean is the man-whore that plays in a band and writes his own music. Lex is dating the newest band member, Travis. She is also a artist when it comes to writing poetry and sketching. The obstacles that occur make it hard for them emotionally, while making the gods have to work harder to come up with a way to out do their opponents move. It really is interesting to see the struggle between the humans, as well as, for the gods. The ultimate question is who will win and how will this affect others around them?

Staci Hart wrote Deer in Headlights in third person. We do not only get the main characters point of view, but also the supporting characters. Knowing what the main characters are feeling and thinking are great, but when  you know how it is affecting other characters it brings the book to life even more. It is really interesting, how the other really allows us to get in the characters' mind and see how they work out different situation. Overall all this book is very interesting and definitely worth reading.

4.5 stars from Alyssa

PURCHASE LINKS

 

 

Author Bio:

Staci has been a lot of things up to this point in her life -- a graphic designer, an entrepreneur, a seamstress, a clothing and handbag designer, a waitress. Can't forget that. She's also been a mom; she has three little girls who are sure to grow up to break a number of hearts. She's been a wife; even though she's certainly not the cleanest, or the best cook. She's also super, duper fun at a party, especially if she's been drinking whiskey. Her favorite word starts with f, ends with k, and there a uc in there.

From roots in Houston, to a seven year stint in Southern California, Staci and her family ended up settling somewhere in between and equally north, in Denver. They are new enough that snow is still magical. When she's not writing, she's sleeping, cleaning, or designing graphics. But let's be honest, she's mostly writing.

Author Links:

Website: http://stacihartnovels.com

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Giveaway Information:

The giveaway will consists of:

- 1 signed copy of Deer in Headlights

- 5 eCopies of Deer in Headlights 

- $25 Gift Card

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