Paige Tyler's DEAD SEXY Blog Tour

Behind the Scenes Look and an Excerpt from DEAD SEXY.

Thanks so much for having me on your blog!

This scene is after the evil Voodoo priestess curses Drake and turns him into a zombie. Unable to get help from the doctors he’s seen, he turns to alternative medicine for answers. Unfortunately, he’s not having much luck with Indian Ayurveda balancing acupuncture or healing stones, either, so he goes into a Voodoo shop in Little Haiti in Brooklyn.

Excerpt:

Drake was walking along Flatbush Avenue through Little Haiti in Brooklyn when an unusual storefront caught his attention. He couldn’t help stopping to gawk at the macabre collection of skulls, candles and eerie looking dolls in the window. The sign over the door read simply Madam Bijou’s.

He stood there a moment, debating whether to go in. What the hell? He had tried everything else. Voodoo spells couldn’t be any crazier than holding healing crystals to his forehead.

Dimly lit, the shop smelled of burning incense inside and had just enough of a creepy vibe to make him rethink his decision. But then he remembered how desperate he was.

There wasn’t anyone at the front counter, so he wandered around looking at the various items for sale. Never having been in a Voodoo shop before, he didn’t know what to expect, but he was a little weirded out by what he saw. Damn, there was some strange shit in here. In addition to the statues and candles lining the shelves, there were colorful little bags filled with stuff that smelled dreadful, bottles of potions and oils, more incense than a drug den, rolled-up pieces of parchment claiming to bring a person their every desire, and of course the requisite Voodoo dolls.

Drake had just picked up one of the cloth dolls to take a closer look at it when a young, black girl came out from behind a curtain at the back of the shop. No more than eighteen, she had long, wavy hair and eyes so gold in color they were almost mesmerizing.

“Can I help you?” she asked.

Before Drake could answer, the curtain behind her parted again and an old woman stepped out. Tall and reed thin, she reminded him of the ancient crone who had stormed into his office so many weeks ago, except her face was less lined with wrinkles and her dark eyes were a hell of a lot more kind. Around her neck, she wore an open-work pendant shaped like a heart with one crystal in the middle of it and another dangling below.

The old woman gazed at him for so long in silence he wondered if his skin had suddenly started to turn that sickly gray color again. After a moment, she leaned close to the younger girl to whisper something in her ear. Whatever the old woman said must have taken the girl by surprise because her gold eyes widened in amazement. The old woman whispered something else to the girl then. She frowned and shook her head vigorously, but the older woman simply pointed at the curtain with a bony finger. The girl opened her mouth to argue, but snapped it shut again when the old woman gave her a stern look. Glaring at the older woman, she turned on her heel and disappeared through the curtain into the back of the shop.

Abruptly realizing he still had the Voodoo doll in his hand, Drake quickly set it down on the table. He didn’t want the woman thinking he was interested in buying it.

The old woman turned to regard him with shrewd eyes. “Someone done be puttin’ a bad hate on you, boy. What di’ you be doin’ to earn tha’ hate?”

The knowing look in her dark eyes chilled him almost as much as her words and he couldn’t suppress a shiver. “This was a mistake,” he mumbled.

Eager to get out of there as fast as he could, he turned to go, but her next words stopped him in his tracks.

“Where you be goin’, dead boy? You got someplace you dyin’ to be?”

She laughed as if she found her own words hilarious. Her cackle made him think she might be insane, but after what she said, it was impossible for him to simply walk out. His heart pounded at the possibility someone might actually know what was happening to him.

He walked back over to where she stood. “You know what’s wrong with me, don’t you?”

She inclined her head, but said nothing.

“Can you help me?” he asked.

She regarded him in silence for what seemed like ages before slowly circling him. When she came to a stop in front of him again, her eyes were filled with sadness.

“I can’t help you, boy,” she said. “Only you can do tha’. Who you wronged so bad, anyway?”

Drake was taken aback by the question. “I haven’t wronged anyone.”

The old shopkeeper lifted a brow. “No?” Grabbing a shiny, black box from the counter beside her, she opened it and shoved it under his nose. “You ever smell tha’ before, dead boy?”

He started to push her hand away, only to stop when an odor caught his nose. The powder smelled exactly like the dirt that crazy old bat had thrown at him in his office. That was one smell he would never forget.

“No need to be sayin’ yes, boy. Old Bijou be seein’ it in your eyes.”

She didn’t wait for him to confirm or deny it, but shambled over to the door and flipped the sign on it from Come In, We’re Open! to Sorry, We’re Closed, then slowly made her way to the far side of the shop.

“Come with me, boy. Come with me.”

Drake hesitated, but in the end, his need for answers outweighed his trepidation and he followed her into a small room off the main part of the shop. There was a tiny table with two chairs inside and she gestured for him to sit. As she closed the door behind them, he looked around the room and saw that it was lined floor to ceiling with shelves filled with hundreds of boxes similar to the one she held.

Once seated across from him, the old woman set down the small box on the table between them.

“I’ve smelled that powder before,” he said. “What is it, poison of some kind?”

The old woman shook her head. “No, boy, tha’ no be poison. Though there be poison in it. Tha’ be the ashes from a dead man’s grave. And not just any man—a man hung by the neck until dead. Tha’ be powerful Voodoo magic, dead boy.”

He stiffened. “Voodoo magic? You’re kidding, right? And why do you keep calling me ‘dead boy’?”

She shrugged. “It’s wha’ you be, boy. Dead, black and rotting. Not everyone can see it right now, but old Bijou can see it. Can’t nobody hide nothin’ from me.”

Drake felt as if he’d just been punched in the gut. Dead, black and rotting. Some of the doctors at the hospital had used those same words to describe him when they’d thought he couldn’t hear them. Even though his skin wasn’t that sickly grayish black color at that precise moment, somehow the old shopkeeper knew.

“What’s happening to me?” he asked.

“You be cursed, boy. A bokor put a powerful strong curse on you, stronger than even old Bijou could be puttin’ on ya.”

“A bokor?”

“A Voodoo priest who practices both good and dark magic.”

Drake almost laughed at how insane it sounded. A curse. Voodoo magic. It had to be a joke. But then the old shopkeeper went into great detail about what had been happening to him and she was correct about all of it, right down to the decaying skin. Though he wasn’t sure whether to believe her about the curse or not, he found himself telling her about the crazy woman who had come to his office.

When he was finished, the old shopkeeper nodded. “Female bokors are few, but this one gotcha good, didn’t she, boy? You must have done somethin’ dreadful bad.”

He clenched his jaw. The bitch had gotten him good, all right. “Can you make it stop? Can you cure me?”

The old woman shook her head. “A curse like the one put on you is a punishment for wha’ you did, boy. Only the bokor who pu’ it on you can take it off. You will have to find her if you want to be normal again. Perhaps she will remove the curse for the right price.”

Drake let out a snort. If the old bat had gone to all the trouble to punish him for what he had done to Cia, he seriously doubted she would remove the curse just because he gave her some money. Even if he could find her.

Thanking the old woman for her help, Drake got up to leave. At the door, however, he stopped to give the shopkeeper a curious look.

“Is there a name for what she turned me into?”

“Does it matter what the name is, boy?”

He had his suspicions since she told him about the curse the bokor had put on him, but he needed her to confirm it. He needed to be sure. “Yes. I don’t know why, but it does. What am I?”

The old woman regarded him in silence before letting out a heavy sigh. “In my home of Haiti, you would be called les morts qui marchent, the dead tha’ walk.”

His brow furrowed. “You mean like a…zombie?”

She nodded sadly. “Yes, I think tha’ is what they would call you here.”

Drake swallowed hard, suddenly unable to take a breath. A zombie. How the hell was he supposed to live the rest of his life as a zombie?

DEAD SEXY

Can her love save him from a curse worse than death?

Romance author Simone Kent thinks she might just have found the most perfect guy in all of New York City - in bed and out. But Drake Parrish is about as far from perfect as any man can get. Eight years ago, he was cursed by an evil Voodoo priestess to live part of his life as a zombie. Since then, he has lived like a recluse on New York’s Upper East Side, afraid to go out for fear he’ll suddenly turn into one of the walking dead.
The sex is the hottest either of them has ever experienced and Simone discovers just how naughty she can be with Drake, while he finds himself feeling things for Simone he hasn’t felt in a very long time. When the Voodoo priestess learns of their relationship, however, she comes after him again. She's determined he won't have a future with Simone, even if that means killing both him and the woman he loves.

Read another Excerpt!  HERE

Cover Quotes:

"Move over vamp heroes. The zombies are coming to town and they're DEAD SEXY."  - Cynthia Eden, USA Today Bestselling Author

"Loved this book. Paige Tyler has a real flair for combining hot romance with the paranormal."  - Desiree Holt, Bestselling Author

Award and Reviews:

EPIC Award Finalist

Winner of the Gold Star Award at JERR
“You will find yourself reading until well beyond the witching hour. Thrilling, suspenseful and passionate Dead Sexy is a wicked read and very deserving of a Gold Star Award!” – JERR

Reviewer Top Pick at Night Owl Romance Reviews
“Dead Sexy is everything you want in a paranormal romance. Action, plot, hot sex, great characters and a realistic romance you won't forget. I highly recommend this book and look forward to more by Ms. Tyler!” – Night Owl Romance

 5 Cherries from Whipped Cream Reviews
“Ms. Tyler has weaved a complex and original story full of action that will keep you flipping pages. This book is full of twists, turns and an ending that will leave you blown away!” – Whipped Cream Reviews

 5 Siren Stones from Siren Book Reviews
“When the two words ‘romance’ and ‘zombies’ are used to describe a book, what is one to think? For me, after reading Dead Sexy, my thoughts were a whirlwind of ‘wow’. Paige Tyler made this work. With a great blend of mystery, intrigue, suspense, and action, and not to forget the love scenes, Dead Sexy kept me going long into the late hours of the night.”  – Siren Book Reviews

Paranormal Romance Junkies Says, "Read This!"
“This story is such a fun combination of sweet romance, hot sex, realistic relationship issues, and truly exciting zombie action all in one tightly-woven, well-plotted story. Read this! – Paranormal Romance Reviews

5 Nymphs from Literary Nymphs
“I just could not put Dead Sexy down!” – Literary Nymphs

Buy it at Amazon / B&N / ARe

Paige graduated from The University of West Florida with a degree in  education in 2000, but decided to pursue a full-time career as a writer in 2004. Since then, she’s written over fifty books in several genres, including paranormal, contemporary, western, sci-fi and erotica. She loves writing about strong, sexy, alpha males and the feisty,  independent women who fall for them. From verbal foreplay to sexual heat, her stories of romance, adventure, suspense, passion and true love will leave you breathlessly panting for more.

She and her very own military hero (also known as her husband) live on the beautiful Florida coast with their adorable fur baby (also known as their dog). Paige graduated with a degree in education, but decided to pursue her passion and write books about hunky alpha males and the kickbutt heroines who fall in love with them.

When not working on her latest book, Paige enjoys reading, jogging, P90X, Yoga, Pilates, going to the beach, watching NFL football, watching movies and hanging out with her husband (not necessarily in that order!)

Contact with Paige: Website/ Blog / Facebook / Author Facebook Page / Twitter / Pinterest / Goodreads/ Street Team / Newsletter

TOUR GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

Paige is giving away the following prizes at the end of her tour:

Grand Prize: signed print copy of DEAD SEXY (US only)

2nd Prize: $10 Amazon Gift Card (US only)

3rd Prize: eBook copy of DEAD SEXY

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Paige Tyler’s DEAD SEXY 

Blog Tour Schedule - 8/05 - 8/18

8/05- Book Monster Reviews

8/06- Celestial Reviews

8/06- Vampires, Werewolves & Fairies Oh My!

8/07- Regina Mary Ross

8/07- Smoldering Heat

8/08- Book Lovin' Mamas

8/08- Reading Between the Wines

8/09- Swept Away by Romance

8/09- Froggarita's Bookcase

 8/10- Book Pages & Dripping Ink

8/11- Books, Books & More Books

8/12- Mad Hatter Reads

8/12- My Secret Romance

8/13- Close Encounters of the Night Kind

8/13- United by Books

8/13 - Mythical Books

 8/14- Miscellaneous Thoughts of a Bookaholic

 8/14- Kristina's Book & More

8/15- Literal Hotties Naughty Book Reviews

 8/15- Larissa's Book Life

8/16- Jocelyn Dex's Blog

8/16- Intoxicated by Books

8/17- Inner Goddess

8/17- Sassy Book Lovers

8/18- Wicked Readings by Tawania

 8/18- Dalene's Book Reviews

8/18- I Smell Sheep