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Book
Title: Eternal Curse: Giovanni’s Angel
Series:
The Eternal Curse Series Book One
Tagline:
Curses can be broken
Author:
Toi Thomas
Publisher:
Tate Publishing and Enterprises, LLC
Release
Date:
February 18, 2014
Reading
Level: Adult
Genre:
Paranormal Romance, Spiritual Urban Fantasy
Available
Formats: paperback and ebook (current review format PDF,
paperbacks by request)
Number
of Pages: 274
Purchase
Links: I’m currently offering pre-orders, but since this
may not happen until February or later, I’ll update purchasing information
then.
Themes:
dreams, curses, family, adoption, faith, fear, love, death, wealth, intimacy,
war, struggle, race, diversity, angels, demons, good and bad, purpose, and
hope.
Author
Recognition: Sponsored by TheAuthorShow.com, I have
been named one of their, 2013, 50 Great Writers You Should Be Reading.
Social
Media:
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Toi
Thomas Full Bio:
Toinette “Toi” Thomas was born and raised in Texas
where she learned to appreciate the grandeur of things in life. She was raise
by her loving mother Navonia and her stepfather Dennis, along with her older
sister Tori. Early in her life, Toi could understand and appreciate things that
other kids her age couldn’t. She understood that her family wasn’t perfect, but
that it was perfect for her.
Toi’s mother always encouraged her to be the best
she could be even at things she didn’t like; which is why she was the best
cheerleader her team had in the third grade. Toi always had a special bond with
her father, which made it hard for others to image that she wasn’t his natural
born child. It was her father who helped her appreciate the growing technology
of the time and introduced her to her love of science fiction. Toi always
looked up to her sister, even though as children they seldom got along. Her
sister helped Toi figure out who she was on the inside and helped her create
her own sense of style.
Growing up, Toi was a bit of a tomboy, but was not
without poise and grace. She loved to play outside, to build and break things,
to dance and write, and to read. Some of her favorite books as a youngster were
Horton Hears a Who, The Little Engine that Could, and anything Curios George.
Toi also studied dance as a child and began her love of cooking at the age of
five. By the time she was in third grade, Toi could prepare a full hot
breakfast on her own. It was also during these early years that her love of
movies and music developed. She would scan the radio for hours trying to get a
glimpse at all the different types of expression that traveled the airwaves.
Her favorite movies growing up were The Wizard of Oz, The Adventures of Winnie
the Pooh, and anything with Shirley Temple.
When Toi’s family moved to Virginia, she was just
eleven years old; soon, she would be a pre-teen and then a teenager. The next
few years were a great time of change for Toi. Life was much different in
Virginia and adjusting to the changes allowed Toi to develop herself more
creatively. By the time Toi entered high school, everyone knew how smart and
mature she was. While her sister was a very public person, Toi kept to herself,
but managed to make her mark in other ways. Toi would often make acquaintances
by helping students with their homework or by writing poems for students who
wanted to impress someone. Toi was active in a few social clubs, but maintained
a low-key persona. During her high school career, Toi developed a special
relationship with two girls who would become her closest friends at the time,
and who remain a part of her life now.
Toi always seemed to be very mature for her age and
sometimes a little too serious for her peers, but when she wanted to, Toi could
really be a lot of fun. She was known for her dancing skills whenever she would
let loose at a party and as always, she was a great conversationalist,
especially if the topic was movies, music, or TV. During high school, Toi’s
literary interest began to expand. She started reading many classic stories such
as the original stories and plays of Peter Pan, novels such as To Kill a
Mocking Bird, many works of Shakespeare and Edgar Allan Poe. Also during her
brief high school career, Toi ventured out and explored other interest as she
worked towards an early graduation. She became involved in math and science
related after school activities and took technology-based electives. She also
began to feed an interest in foreign languages, taking Spanish courses and
being involved in multicultural activities.
When it was time for Toi to go off to college, she
and her mother managed to find an in-state school that was far enough away from
home, for her to have the true college experience. She attended what is now
called The University of Virginia’s College at Wise. Though it took a long time
for Toi to adjust to the cultural changes of the area, she finally grew to
appreciate and even enjoy her time spent there. During this time, Toi’s love
for reading took a back seat to the required reading of her many classes, though
she managed to dabble in the reading of comic books when she could. Majoring in
computers, minoring in Spanish, and being involved in several student
activities, Toi hardly had time to image what her life would like after
graduation.
It was also during this time at Uva-Wise that Toi
met her future husband, Eric Thomas. As if the fact that they both had the same
last name wasn’t enough to bring the two together, their mutual love of food,
music, comic books, and movies was. Though Toi and her husband shared many
common interest, they were very much opposites, an attribute that made their
union all the more special. After seven years of marriage, the adoption of a
turtle named Betty, and a handful of career changes, Toi now works as a special
education teacher’s assistant in Virginia Beach. While Toi finds her job to be
very rewarding, she never seems to let up on the other things she finds of
interest in her life. Toi constantly bakes goodies and treats for friends and
family, and makes an extra effort to assist with computer issues whenever she
can. While Toi’s love of movies will never fade, she also makes time to read a
good book from time to time.
It was in the fall of 2009 that Toi got the
inspiration to write her first book. She was having a reoccurring dream about a
gray man who wanted to be an angel. She began to write down bits and pieces of
her dreams, whenever she could remember them. Soon Toi had pages and pages of
notes that she decided to turn into a story. Her first novel is just one part
of the whole story she plans to someday share with the world as, The Eternal
Curse Series.
Toi is also working on other stories outside of the
EC series and has been actively blogging, interviewing, and reviewing for three
years and sees no point in stopping any time soon.
Eternal
Curse: Giovanni’s Angel, blurb
“You have plenty of time to change your mind. You
have not yet seen the monster I can be.”
Giovanni has been waiting his whole life to meet
someone like Mira, someone from the outside world who might be able to help
him. He wonders if there really is help for him as he continues to hold tightly
onto dark secrets and even darker memories. Giovanni wants to be hopeful and he
wants to accept Mira’s help, but first he has to look himself in the mirror and
face what he truly is- and that is a reality no one is quite ready to accept.
Searching for new purpose and meaning in her life,
Mira meets Giovanni online and an exciting and, in some ways, scary friendship
is developed. Mira decides one day to meet Giovanni in person, at his secluded
country home, in order to aid him on his journey of self-discovery. What these
two are able to discover will not only test their strength and will, but it
will stretch the limits of their minds and catapult them into a world where earth,
Heaven, and Hell collide.
Eternal Curse is the story of a man who may just be
the answer to a spiritual war swiftly heading his way- but for now, he just
wants to be a man.
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Eternal
Curse: Giovanni’s Angel, excerpt
He looked down toward the ground and saw an
attractive young woman carrying a large pail into a barn. Her skin was freckled
and pale, and she had rosy cheeks. Her hair was long and straight, and it was
black like the night. She seemed so familiar to him, but he didn’t know her.
Giovanni watched as the young woman filled feeding troughs with water to be
cleaned. As she reached for a scrubbing brush, Giovanni could see that someone
or something was following her. He sensed that trouble was on the way. He tried
to call out to her, but she could not hear him. His voice made no sound.
Giovanni left the tree and swooped down to the ground to get a closer look.
There he saw
a creeping perpetrator bouncing from beam to beam in the rafters of the barn.
Drool slipped from the monster’s mouth while it hovered over the unknowing
young woman. Giovanni tried to fly up to see this fiendish stalker, but he
couldn’t get his feet off the ground, and his wings would not flap. Giovanni
knew something bad would happen, he could feel it in his heart, but it seemed
he could do nothing to stop it. He did not understand. Why was this happening?
How could he appear to be so powerful, be so angelic, and not be able to help
someone in need?
Giovanni refused to give up his pursuit. He pushed
his body forward and went from door to door, and window to window, trying to
get in to warn and protect the young woman. Looking through a window, Giovanni
finally saw the villain’s full horror. He got a clear vision of the attacker as
it was leaping down from the ceiling toward the woman. It was the most hideous
monster he’d ever seen, much worse than his own reflection.
It was a twisted and mangled troll with charcoal for
skin on its hairless body. It had empty holes carved out of its skull where
eyes once were. There were two large dull spikes protruding from its hunched
back, where it looked as though wings had been violently ripped from its body.
Its hands were made of jagged bones held together with rotting ligaments, and
its feet crackled as it moved along the floor.
In the troll’s
hands were two long golden rods that whipped back and forth like lassos. Each
rod was attached to the end of a large iron spike that punched through the
shoulders of a young man’s dying body. They were holding up the young man’s
body as though he were a puppet. To the young woman, the troll simply appeared
as a shadowy figure lingering around the painfully disturbed and ailing young
man.
The troll maneuvered the young man’s body around the
girl, delivering blow after blow. The
monster had taken this young man’s life; he was using his body as a weapon to
attack this poor girl for what seemed to be the sheer enjoyment of it. It
laughed a loud cackle as it threw the girl down to the ground, tearing her
raggedy dress. Giovanni could see the girl’s anguish and could hear her
screams, and he could even feel her pain, but Giovanni could do nothing to stop
it.
My Review:
This story reminded me of Beauty and the Beast. Only instead of a disfigured beast, we got a sexy, tall and paranormal man. Who is also very caring because his best friend is handicapped. Giovanni treats his friend like a person, rather than basing their relationship on their downfalls. I really liked the description of their house and felt as though I was taking a tour with them. This is a series that I can not wait to read the rest of. I want to see if Mira faints again. I am giving this book a 4/5. I was given a copy t review, however all opinions are my own.
Thanks for supporting Toi and reviewing her book. :)
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