Title: Cloven
Author: Georgeann Swiger
Series: Trinity of Souls
Published by: Georgeann Swiger
Date published: Oct. 21, 2014
Genres: NA Fantasy
Book Length: 267 pg
Steam Rating: Steamy
Main Characters: Anya & Micah
Between Heaven and Hell, lies forbidden love…
“Swiger has a little bit of ‘dark’ in her writing, her visual interpretations are vivid, and I feel the gloom and doom underneath the sticky sweet moments that show her ability to juxtapose emotions.”
~Dylan Quinn
What would you do if the only things standing between you and the angel you love were another angel and the fiery pits of Hell?
When Anya and Micah declare their love for each other, the battle for the souls of the star-crossed angels stretches across the heavens. With Heaven forbidding their love, Micah vows to protect Anya by sentencing himself to Hell.
But Anya won’t let him go without a fight. She goes into Hell after him, only to discover an angel from Micah’s past is willing to do anything to keep Micah in Hell.
With love and lies blinding Micah, Anya fights to get him to face his demons and return to Heaven, even if it means hearts will be broken.
The battle for the angels begins where it left off. Between Heaven and Hell is forbidden love.
Cloven by Georgeann Swiger is the second book in the Trinity of Souls Series and a follow-up to Adorned, released earlier this year. While the series began as an upper YA novel, it’s crossed over into New Adult.
Cloven begins when Anya is dumped off in hell—yes, dumped. She’s just had her becoming, though nowhere near as glorious as everybody had promised it to be, and she is officially an angel trying to make her way into the Kingdom. Naked and completely clueless, Anya is in ‘no man’s land’ outside of the Kingdom and meets a few new characters, who immediately take advantage of her trusting nature and intentionally mislead her—an unfortunate means to an end.
Sometime later, we FINALLY meet Micah when Anya has made her way into the Kingdom. There was much alluding to Micah’s feelings for Anya in Adorned, but I never saw a lot from either. Swiger definitely remedied that problem in Cloven, though Micah and Anya’s reunion is short-lived. So much drama these two! Still reeling from consequences of actions taken during Anya’s human life, the two are separated again, leaving Anya once again on her own, trying to navigate her world, which now is focused solely on saving Micah from himself.
Cloven felt much more like a love story to me. Adorned established Anya’s role as a human while this follow-up showed her learning to be an angel along with the complexities of the forbidden love between her and Micah. I felt the angst of their separation, which propelled me to read Cloven in one afternoon sitting. I wasn’t even halfway done when Swiger brought me to tears. No exaggeration.
The remainder of the story had Anya chasing after Micah to save him from demons of his past. Micah is a beautiful character who has such a story of his own. I’ve implored Ms. Swiger to write a story from his POV, and I’m hoping she does… seriously girl, throw me a bone here.
The characters in Cloven were well developed. Anya grew tremendously since the first story. The whiny teenager from Adorned is gone and replaced by a brave girl on a mission to save her man. She surprised me tremendously, and I was truly impressed at how much she grew up. I guess being dumped in hell will do that to a girl.
And Micah. I was so happy to see him unafraid to show his feelings for Anya. He kissed her, did sweet things for her and didn’t seem to care if anybody saw, knew, or cared—which surprised me after the chaste kiss on earth threw him. Micah was clearly developing too, though again…girl. I want Micah’s story!
And then we have the supporting characters. Whew. Swiger added a few new faces and brought back a few faves from Adorned. We meet Cole, Dahlia and her entourage and of course, Lucifer. Oh, Dahlia—how I LOVE to hate this woman. She’s the classic bully. Swiger also had me guessing which team the players were on, even in the Kingdom. This alone kept a sense of urgency and ‘who done it,’ propelling me quickly through the story.
Finally—in true Georgeann Swiger fashion, she left me hanging. Okay, not literally—it’s NOT a cliffhanger ending but if you read Adorned, you’ll suspect the subtle whispers will keep us guessing once the final story to this series is released. Why is my stomach in knots?
I completely enjoyed Cloven. Swiger has a little bit of ‘dark’ in her writing, her visual interpretations are vivid, and I feel the gloom and doom underneath the sticky sweet moments that shows her ability to juxtapose emotions. And advice when you read Swiger… look for her dropping hints about her story—characters, clues here and there. She weaves all these in, which is a true mark of an expert storyteller. Bravo.
I predicted from Adorned that once Swiger got her feet wet with writing, she would take off and I believe she has. Cloven was an impressive follow up to her debut and once again, Swiger has left me on the edge, waiting to see how tortured she will leave poor Anya and Micah when they finally get their Happily Ever After.
And for Georgeann, I beg of you… Micah. That is all.
Georgeann Swiger earned her degree in journalism from West Virginia University, and then spent five years as an anchor/reporter at WBOY-TV in Clarksburg, WV. After having children, she left television news to be a stay at home mom. During that time, she discovered creative writing was more fun than writing about real life tragedy. Imagining interesting character and having them come to life on the page is now her passion. When she’s not writing, she works as a substitute teacher. She lives in Reedsville, West Virginia with her husband, two kids, a beagle dog and a temperamental cat who tries to rule the house
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“What are you two doing?” The deep voice coming from the hallway sends a happy
tremor through my body. I jump to my feet to run to Micah, but I’m stopped by the
piercing pain of glass going through my foot. I look down to see blood trickling on the
floor. When I sit on the couch to pull out the shard, Kieran and Emory hover around me.
“Why are you in my room?” Micah asks, angrily.
Kieran and Emory move to the side to give Micah a direct line to me. I look up and his gaze grabs mine. We stare at one another, caught in a wordless hello. Small expressions run over his face, telling me he’s relieved, happy, confused.
“Leave us,” he says quietly without looking away from me.
Kieran and Emory hurry out of the room, shutting the door behind them. Micah closes his eyes. He takes a deep breath, bows his head and mutters something under his breath. When he looks up, he stares at me in disbelief. He doesn’t seem to notice the glass crunching under his feet as he steps toward me. His lips quiver, trying to form words that won’t come.
The fire crackles and pops behind him. Micah’s eyes glisten while he studies my shaking hand, reaching for him. My hand finds his, linking our fingers together. The strong beat of his pulse thumps in his trembling fingers. I step cautiously to the floor, avoiding the glass. When I’m eye level with him, his pupils flicker. As soon as I open my mouth to tell him how much I missed him, he pulls me to his body and covers my mouth with his. Every pent up emotion is released the second he kisses me. I don’t know where this Micah came from. His mouth claims mine without reservation or fear of repercussions. I fall into his embrace, enjoying every bit of the intensity of the kiss that tells me he missed me as much as I missed him. The tension in his body falls away as his hands travel through my hair and down my back, over my hips and up my sides like he’s making sure I’m real. I’m real, Micah, I want to say but I don’t want to stop kissing him. The taste of his lips brings to life the forbidden feelings I’m done hiding. I can’t get enough of him.
Giveaway There’s a tour-wide giveaway during the tour too. Participants can win: Digital Copy of Adorned Digital Copy of Cloven $10 Amazon Gift Card a Rafflecopter giveaway
You have no idea how happy I am that you liked Cloven. All of the wonderful things you said about my characters and my writing made my day and inspired me to keep moving forward with Anya and Micah’s story.
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