Day After (Book 2)

Day After by Me!

Day After
The 19th Year #2
by Emi Gayle
Release Date: May 6, 2013
Target Reader: Young Adult
Keywords: Paranormal Romance
Paperback 978-1-937744-24-3
EPUB 978-1-937744-25-0

Description

Demon crypts. Vampire lairs. Glowing angels. Sexy sirens. The stuff of fiction.

Or so Winn Thomas always thought.

Since being accepted into the fold of the supernatural, he knows better. None of what he imagined is true, but everything he feared is, and binding himself to his Changeling girlfriend until her nineteenth birthday will give him an education far beyond what he’d get at his human high school.

Luckily, Winn’s not giving up, he won’t back down, and he definitely isn’t going to run away with his tail between his legs. After all, only werewolves have tails. Right?

In this, the second of the 19th Year trilogy, Winn’s facing the challenge of one lifetime. If he doesn’t learn the truth about mythological creatures, his girlfriend Mac Thorne won’t either. That means, in six months, when she chooses her final form, she won’t know what to pick.

Winn, though, has his own ideas about Mac’s final selection—plans she knows nothing of.

He intends to have her pick human.

Whether she can or not.

Reviews

  • “Gayle has such a talent for pulling you into her world and keeping you there, no matter how crazy the story gets.” — Basia’s Bookshelf
  • “If you are searching for an escape, and want a book with awesome world-building and characters to root for than the Day After and the 19th Year series is something you will enjoy.” — Caffeinated Book Review
  • “I got sucked into the story on the first page and didn’t stop reading until I was finished. There’s something for everyone in this book – paranormal, action, mystery, adventure, and romance. ” — A Dream Within A Dream
  • “THIS BOOK IS AWESOME. AWE. SOME. That is all.” — Girls *Heart* Books
  • “As always with Emi’s writing, the plot is as intricately revealed as it woven, leaving the reader constantly guessing and anticipating, and very often surprised. ” — Bookaroo-Ju
  • “There are twists and turns when you least expect them and at times there is quite a lot of information to take in, but it all adds to the story development and moves the story along at a steady pace.” — YA Book Addict
  • “With an alert action, a fantasy world rich in universal mythological characters, with well dosed and placed humor, Day After will be a very pleasant reading that will surely win many fans.” — Mythical Books
  • “… there is no telling where the story will go. Gayle keeps you guessing. I love that. I don’t want to know. I want to be surprised. I want to be left to WANT to know the characters. And Gayle does this!” — The Cover Contessa
  • “Everything about Day After is a complete perfection in my eyes. I just soooooo love this book!!!” — Known to Read
  • “Superbly written with characters of depth, this book is one YA you’ll want to read. It’s fascinating and mysterious. ” — Have you Heard My Book Review

 Excerpt
Sitting in front of the twelve most powerful non-humans on the earth would have shaken a lesser guy. In my case, I’d almost thrown up. Twice.

‘Don’t worry,’ Mackenzie Thorne, my girlfriend, had said. ’‘It’s just a formality.

She hadn’t known I’d have to go alone.

Only the intake and exhalation of air in the room made any sound. Eerie light flickered from the tips of candles mounted along dark, oak-paneled walls.

I refused to look anywhere but ahead of me. To the long, wooden, medieval-length table.

Waiting.

Watching.

Holding my own breath.

For a moment, it seemed the walls began to close in on me.

At almost midnight on the first day of the year, I prepared to accept a fate no other human had ever taken on, been given or even offered. In response, sweat pooled under my armpits as alternating cold and hot ran through me.

The scratch of wood against wood had heads turning. Mine included.

Nahir, the oldest of the twelve, rose from his chair. “Winford Richmond Thomas, please rise.” His voice had a gravelly, hoarse sound.

I did as requested, my knees pressing against each other.

Nahir moved closer to me, his grandfatherly, human form disappearing under protruding scales of deep green. His arms lengthened into dinosaur-like paws and hit the rock floor, making the room around us shake. Thick wings extended from his body, and a tail lashed out against the wall behind him, rattling the candles.

A dragon, in the color of tropical ocean water, stood before me, huffing air from horse-sized nostrils.

Oh. God. I’m going to die.

Not going to die. It’s part of the test. Remember, you have to see them all. Mac’s words flowed through my mind. 

Keep breathing.

“Master Thomas.” Josie, a siren and one of the most beautiful women I’d ever met, rose, her long flowing gown matching the color of her reddish-gold hair. I couldn’t help but stare at her. “You’ve been asked by our current changeling, Miss Maya Mackenzie Thorne, to be her teacher. Have you willingly agreed to take on this duty?” As Josie talked, she stalked forward, shimmering, shifting, the already-pretty woman becoming deadly man-hunting female—according to the legends I’d read.

Vibes ebbed from her like the rocking tide. If she sang, throwing up would be the least of my worries. I’d be dead by sexual self-implosion.

With a rough cough, I gathered my wits. “Yes. I have accepted. Willingly.” Every nerve ending in my body urged me to go to Josie, to let her take me and do with me whatever she wanted. A groan built in my throat, tension straining my limbs, most particularly, my crotch. Not now! The need to shift what grew sent heat to my cheeks even as Mac’s words played through again. Force yourself not to react to any of them. They’ll think you’re stronger than you are since you’re only human.

Only human. Problem number one.

[…]