Our Book(s) of the Month, for May 2012, are The Dark Divine, The Lost Saint, and The Savage Grace by Bree Despain!  I absolutely love this werewolf series, and the characters that Bree has created.  You will love Grace Divine, the main character, who happens to be an artist, student, and preacher’s kid.  Her family and friends both make her life fantastic and frantic… Just like your friends and family, right?  The twist is that there are werewolves in her life!

The one thing I am most excited about with this selection is that you can read the ENTIRE series this month… And not be left hanging!  You can check out my review of the series HERE. (I tried not to spoil it!) I hope you enjoy it!

About the Book(s):

~The Dark Divine~

I stood back and watched his movements. Daniel had that way about him that could shut me down in an instant. . . . I kicked the gravel a couple of times and worked up my courage again. “Tell me . . . I mean . . . why did you come back? Why now, after all this time?”

Grace Divine, daughter of the local pastor, always knew something terrible happened the night Daniel Kalbi disappeared—the night she found her brother Jude collapsed on the porch, covered in blood. But she has no idea what a truly monstrous secret that night really held. And when Daniel returns three years later, Grace can no longer deny her attraction to him, despite promising Jude she’ll stay away.

As Grace gets closer to Daniel, her actions stir the ancient evil Daniel unleashed that horrific night. Grace must discover the truth behind Jude and Daniel’s dark secret . . . and the cure that can save the ones she loves. But she may have to lay down the ultimate sacrifice to do it—her soul.

~The Lost Saint~

*Spoiler Alert* – If you have not read The Dark Divine, this synopsis may contain spoilers.

Grace Divine made the ultimate sacrifice to cure Daniel Kalbi. She was infected with the werewolf curse while trying to save him, and lost her beloved brother in the process. When Grace receives a haunting phone call from Jude, she knows what she must do. She must become a Hound of Heaven.

Desperate to find Jude, Grace befriends Talbot—a newcomer to town who promises her that he can help her be a hero. But as the two grow closer, the wolf grows in Grace, and her relationship with Daniel is put in danger—in more ways than one.

Unaware of the dark path she is walking, Grace begins to give into the wolf inside of her—not realizing that an enemy has returned and a deadly trap is about to be sprung.

~The Savage Grace~

Grace’s life is a mess. Daniel is still a werewolf, Talbot can’t be trusted, and Caleb is still out there. With Sirhan’s impending death, war seems imminent. Will Grace give in to the wolf to save her family? What will happen to Daniel . . . and can their love survive one last test?

Meet Bree Despain:

Bree rediscovered her childhood love for creating stories when she took a semester off college to write and direct plays for at-risk, inner-city teens from Philadelphia and New York. She currently lives in Salt Lake City, Utah with her husband, two young sons, and her beloved TiVo. The Dark Divineis Bree’s debut novel.

Question and Answer:

What is The Dark Divine about?
The Dark Divine is a modern exploration of the Prodigal Son with a paranormal romance twist. To find out more, click here.

Where did you get the idea for The Dark Divine?
I like to say that The Dark Divine was born out of a perfect storm of ideas, thoughts, and memories that had been brewing over a few weeks time.

It all came together while I was riding in the car on a dark January night in 2005. It was shortly after I’d read the

book Speak, watched the showBuffy the Vampire Slayer for the first time, listened to the song Such Great Heights by the Postal Service over and over again, and was asked to teach a lesson about the concept of grace at my church. I was thinking about all of these things, along with a random memory from the 9th grade, when we stopped at red light and I looked up at a billboard in the dark and suddenly this conversation between a brother and a sister popped into my head. The brother was warning his sister to stay away from their former best friend. “He’s dangerous. He isn’t the person he used to be. You have to promise to stay away from him.” And that was when it all started. . .

What was that random 9th grade memory?
Let’s just say that one of the scenes in the first chapter of The Dark Divine is partially autobiographical. Ask me at a signing sometime, and I might tell you the story.