Lisa Olsen's Blog, page 20

Angel of Mercy Is Now Available In Print!

Well it only took about a month after it came out as an e-book, but Angel of Mercy is finally available in print through Amazon.com.    And seeing as how I've been meaning to post an excerpt from the book, this gives me a good excuse to get one up.

This is fairly towards the beginining of the book, Mercy has spotted her mysterious blue-eyed stranger and has followed him home.   (kids at home, never try this!)

This was crazy.  I was in a bad part of town, following a guy who may or may not be real, into an unfamiliar building… to what end?  Still, I found myself pressing the elevator button, toes tapping with impatience for it to arrive.  The car was empty when it stopped on the ground floor, and I stepped inside and pushed the button for the third floor.  The ride was short, and the elevator doors opened to reveal… nothing.  Just an empty hallway.  So what was I supposed to do now?  Start knocking on doors?  Not exactly a safe prospect in any neighborhood.

I was just about to rethink heading back to my car, when two doors down, a little boy, maybe eight years old emerged; his arms loaded down with trucks that he unceremoniously dumped onto the hallway floor.

Bingo.

I had never been one to approach strangers of any kind, remembering what my mother instilled upon me since birth.  At that moment, I was hoping this kid's mom hadn't been quite so strict.

Approaching the boy hesitantly, I gave him what I hoped was a harmless looking smile, not in any way predatory.  "Hey, can I ask you something?"

The boy didn't look up, he was too busy lining his trucks up into two meticulous lines, facing each other.

Undeterred, I forged on, nothing to lose.  "I'm looking for a friend of mine, he lives on this floor but I forgot which apartment is his."

Still no reaction from the kid; maybe he was deaf?  More likely the cars were just that much more interesting than I was.

"He's tall, with blonde curly hair and blue eyes, he wears a long brown coat most of the time, have you seen him?"

"You mean the magician?" the boy asked without looking up.

An interesting description…  I quickly tried to decide if I wanted to play dumb and hope that he would offer more details.  "Magician?  What makes you call him that?"

"Because he does tricks sometimes."

"What kind of tricks?"  This was getting curiouser and curiouser.

Now the boy looked up at me, his interest sparked.  "Once I saw him help a bird that flew into the window."  He pointed to the window at the end of the hallway that was halfway open.  Thick metal security bars stood on the outside of the casing.  "It crashed into the window and fell on the sill and its wing was all messed up.  I saw him reach through and touch it and the bird got up and flew away."  There was awe in his voice now, and from the look on his face, I could see he believed every word that he said, verbatim.

The imaged sparked a memory for me, of the man standing over my bed, his hands on my abdomen…  "That's him," I nodded absently.  At least I'd found another person who could see him, and that was a relief in and of itself.  "So which one is his apartment again?"

The boy pointed to the unit all the way at the end of the hall, near the window.

"Thanks, kid." I smiled; my stomach fluttering nervously as I walked to the door in question and knocked.  My heart was beating like a jackhammer in my chest, the butterflies in my stomach having grown into swallows as I waited in anticipation.

Nothing happened.

Chewing on my bottom lip, I knocked again, my annoyance growing when still no answer came.  I pounded stubbornly again.  "I know you're in there.  I'm not going away until you talk to me," I called out in frustration.  For a moment I thought he would completely ignore me, but then the door opened and there he was, still in his brown coat, clutching the door handle as if it was his safety line.

"Hi," I said simply, not knowing what else to say as we stared at each other across the threshold.  He stood there just looking at me, an unfathomable expression on his face.   Then, when I thought he might actually shut the door in my face, he turned and walked away, leaving the door wide open.  Taking that as the closest thing I was going to get to an invitation, I stepped inside, closing the door behind me.

To say that his apartment was sparse would be an understatement.  It was laid out as one big room that combined the kitchen, living room and dining room.  A pair of pocket doors on one side led to another room, intended to be a bedroom I assumed, but it was difficult to tell what it was being used for at the moment with the lack of furniture.  There was no couch or television, no table or chairs, no furniture of any kind, save a series of tall bookcases, filled to overflowing with books, one scarred and beat up recliner chair and a writing desk, piled high with more books and papers.

"This is your place?" I asked softly, stepping deeper into the room.  The walls were a dingy gray and I suspected they had once been painted white but had faded over time.  The wood floors were scarred and pitted, in need of refinishing, and the kitchen's appliances were dated, perhaps twenty years old or more, no sign of stainless steel or digital readouts in sight.  Still, the apartment didn't look dirty exactly, just old and in need of a coat of paint, and maybe a good dusting.

"I live here, yes," he nodded; his voice soft and low, as though he didn't speak very often at full volume.  His eyes were on everything but me, as if he was afraid to meet my gaze.

The silence stretched between us as I looked around and when I realized he wasn't going to say anything else, I took the direct approach.  "Why were you following me?"

"Why did you follow me?" he countered, his eyes finally looking up to meet mine when I spoke, curiosity written all over his face.

"I asked you first," I insisted stubbornly.

"I asked you second."  He said this very matter of factly, not being a smartass about it at all; which was the only reason why I didn't just turn on my heel and march out of there.

"I'm waiting for you to answer me," I tried again, exercising my patience.

"I felt… responsible," he answered after searching a moment for the right word.

"You were there in the hospital, weren't you?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"You were dying."  His voice held profound sadness, and I wondered how he could feel something so deeply about a complete stranger.  We were standing closer to each other now, though I don't remember either of us moving.

I swallowed, looking up into those brilliant blue eyes, the exact same shade as mine now were.  "If I was so close to dying, then how am I here now?"

"I could not let you die."

"What do you mean you couldn't let me die?"

"I used what Grace was given me to restore you, but it wasn't enough."

"I don't understand…"  Though part of me did, I just wasn't ready to accept it quite yet.

"I gave you more than I had intended, it is forbidden…"

"What is?  Are you saying you're responsible for healing me?"

"I couldn't let you die after you helped me; I don't know why…"  There was a puzzled look on his face as he reached up to brush my cheek with the back of his fingers.  The touch surprised me, but clearly disturbed him on a much deeper level; and he stared at his fingers as if the touch had burned him.

The conflicting emotions I was getting from him were confusing the hell out of me, but he looked just as troubled and walked away, turning his back on me.  "You should leave," he said in a pained voice.

He obviously didn't know me very well.

Waiting Sucks!

*Warning, this post contains spoilers

This isn't a detailed recap so much as a stream of consciousness about the ep this week.

True Blood this week was so good, I'm having a hard time waiting a whole week until it's on again! This week's ep was titled, "If You Love Me, Why Am I Dyin'?" Which pretty much refers to Jason's being tied up and used as a chew toy for panthers in the Hot Shot community's bid to expand their gene pool. This storyline pretty much reflects the way it went down in the books, only with more lurid detail (including a lot of people snacking on raw animals, ick!) leading to Jason's eventual joining with the shifters as one of their own. Only in this version, it looks like they're planning on having him mate with every female in the town, down to the seriously underaged (double ick!) This isn't my favorite storyline as I'm not a big fan of Crystal's, but she's at least nicer than she was in the books. Crazy insane, but nicer.

I am still getting a kick out of seeing Bill as the King of Louisiana. Yes, it's a thin stretch of plot to see him in that position, even with their flashback to explain it, but it's nice to see him have something to do instead of just mooning over Sookie or disapearing to South America or something. I liked watching him dole out paternal advice to Jessica over her infidelity to Hoyt. It was an interesting move when she decided to just glamour Hoyt into forgetting about her confession and their problems, I'm betting that comes back to bite her in the end. Speaking of them – how creepy is that old nasty babydoll? I can't wait til they reveal the backstory on that! And how funny is it that Jess gave it to baby Mikey to play with!

I have to say that I'm of two minds on how they're handling Eric's amnesia on the show. I kind of like how it unfolded in the books a bit more, with absolute secrecy behing Eric staying with her (Instead of her blabbing to Alcide inside of fifteen minutes – although it was a hoot to see Debbie Pelt all clean and sober playing Susie-homemaker. Does anyone actually think that'll last?) But I do like Alexander's portrayal of Eric, especially that little sheepish grin at the very, very end of the ep just after he'd drained Claudine to death. Which was another huge upset! Claudine is dead? And what's with the fae being all scary monstery? They look more like goblins than faeries to my way of thinking. But back to Eric, it's an interesting idea keeping him a little wilder and unpredictable with the memory loss, instead of as meek as he was in the book where Sook was concerned. It certainly is keeping Sookie on her toes!

Also strange is the idea of the head witch being possessed into making Eric lose his memory instead of it being her just grubbing for power. It's an interesting shift, and they're sure adding a lot of drama by bringing Lafayette and Jesus into the mix, though Tara's involvement in the storyline seems a little forced. Why isn't she going back to New Orleans? Because she wants to help Lafayette out of the jam he's in? What exactly does she think she can do against a thousand year old vampire? I'm pretty sure Pam's not gonna just forgive and forget about them invading her territory to steal Lala back. It makes me wonder how they're going to resolve all of this at season's end.

What did you guys think of the episode? Is True Blood still pumping strong or are they losing their direction?

Excerpt From The Touch

Here is a little excerpt from my new book The Touch.  The scene is between my two main characters, artist Lexi Morgan and Detective Gabriel Ryan, in her kitchen after doing a little sleuthing together into her brother in law's disppearance.

***

"Okay seriously, this has been bugging me all day; do you always wear the gloves?"

"Uh yeah, pretty much, unless I'm in my room."

"Are you a germophobe or…"

"No, not exactly.  I told you, I wear them for protection."  Lexi turned away to pour out the coffee, using the simple act as a way to buy her some time.  This was what she'd been hoping she could avoid at least a while longer until he had a chance to know her a little better.  But then again, there was a good chance she wouldn't see him again, wasn't there?

"Protection from what?"

Setting the mugs down on the counter, she went back for the milk and sugar, avoiding his eyes for the moment.  "I get… impressions from things I touch.  The gloves keep me from constantly picking up distractions every time I touch something, so I can function," she said simply.

"Impressions," he repeated.

In for a penny, in for a pound.  "I can see things when I touch them.  Sometimes it's brief images; sometimes quite a bit more depending on how much they've been handled and if there was a particular association with them.  It's just something I've always been able to do and it's more of a nuisance than anything else, trust me there are things you don't want to know about how your food has been prepared," she went for a smile, "hence the gloves."

Gabriel stood there, the mug frozen halfway between the counter and his mouth.  "You see things… like visions?"

She could tell from the way he looked at her that he was skeptical at best and seriously doubting her sanity at worst and Lexi struggled to explain it in a way that didn't make her sound completely whacko.  "It's like… I get images of things, places the object has been, who's been handling it, what they were thinking at the time.  If it's something they've held for a long time I can sometimes even see the person and what they're doing now."  Was she just digging herself a deeper hole?  "There are layers to it; once you figure out how to peel them away, then you can look farther and farther back into its history.  I'll tell you what, give me something of yours and you'll see if I can really do what I say I can or if I'm just a little balmy in the brainpan."  Sometimes that was on the only way, to give an actual demonstration.  Even then, some people assumed it was a parlor trick.

"Okay," he seemed willing to play along at least.  Pulling out his wallet, he fished out a business card and handed it over.

Accepting it with her left hand, she pulled off the right glove with her teeth revealing her pale, smooth hand.  Drawing in a long, calming breath before she touched it with bare skin, Lexi let the images wash over her for a good few minutes, taking it back as far as she could before her eyes popped open.  "So when I touched it, I could see the last time you pulled out the card next to it to give to Monica." Not that it would prove anything to him since she'd been standing right there when it happened.  "Before that, I saw when you put it in your wallet to begin with and beyond that I could see where the card was shipped from, stuff like that.  Nothing too interesting, but if you gave me something more personal I could probably pick up more."

Gabriel's head canted to one side as he studied her, obviously trying to decide if he could take her at her word.  "Where was I when I put it the card in my wallet in the first place?"

"In your bedroom, I think.  There's a blue comforter on the bed and a big brown chair in the corner of the room with a bunch of clothes hanging on the back of it.  The blinds were open, but I couldn't see much of what was out the window because you were looking at your wallet.  Oh and the bedside table, it has…two drawers and it's a dark brown, I think they call it espresso, with silver handles.  " Lexi struggled to recall every detail she could about the room.

His eyebrows climbed skyward and she could tell she'd been accurate in her description of the room.  "So you get these visions from everything you touch?  What would happen if you touched me?"  Gabriel extended his hand, palm up towards her.

Lexi withdrew her hand instinctively, cradling it to her body and then away with a little gasp as she picked up something from her jeans without being prepared for it.  "I don't…" she paused to take a calming breath, giving him an apologetic smile.  "I'm sorry, I don't touch people," she tried to explain, reaching for the coffee mug with her gloved hand before realizing that she hadn't added milk or sugar yet.  Instead she hurried to replace the cotton glove, instantly feeling more at ease once it was covered again.

"Ever?" he blinked.

"No, not for a long, long time," she replied in a subdued voice.

"Why, what happens when you touch a person?"  Gabriel frowned, dropping his own hand back to the counter again.

***

The Touch is available now through amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com

The Touch is here!

The Touch is now available as an ebook on Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com!  It'll be out in print in a couple of weeks

I just got my final proof copy for Angel of Mercy so it should be available for purchase in print in the next couple of days.

And now to decide if I want to spend my time on marketing for both books or working on the sequel to my The Fallen series, Mercy for the Wicked?

I've also been toying with the idea of writing a little bit of serial fiction to post here on the site.  Sort of like the chapter updates I do for fanfiction.net but probably with original characters.  Maybe some small spoilers for Mercy for the Wicked, I haven't decided yet.

The Touch – cover art

Okay guys, time to give me your honest opinion again. What do you think of this proposed cover for my book The Touch? It's a little simpler and more streamlined than the Angel of Mercy one, but still eye catching I think.

The basic blurb is as follows:

Lexi Morgan has always had The Touch; the ability to pick up an object and "see" its past. Doomed to wearing protective gloves at all times, she learned to accept it as equal parts gift and curse. When her brother in law Neil goes missing, she'd rather tell her sister to celebrate than try to help find the jerk. But after her young niece disappears as well, it's time to put her gift to good use and help track her down; especially when handsome Detective Gabriel Ryan takes over the case. While the Detective seems less than convinced in Lexi's ability to help him solve the case, he can't dispute her uncanny ability to pull memories out of simple items. When the investigation leads them to the restless spirits of long dead children, they must work together to keep history from repeating itself before it's too late.

BTW – how crazy was the season premiere of True Blood? I had to admit, I was a little skeptical with the little detour to fairyland, but I do think the departures they've made from the books are interesting and will keep those of us who've read them all guessing as to what the hell is coming next. I can't wait for more!

Angel of Mercy is now available online!

After lots of hard work, Angel of Mercy is now available for purchase online through Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com! It's out as an e-book for $3.99 but you don't have to have a Kindle or Nook to read it, they have free downloadable apps so you can read it on your PC, or even your phone. It'll be available in print as well in a week or two.

Now I'm off to Olympia for a few days of rest and relaxation, then I'll be hard at work on the sequel Mercy for the Wicked which picks up right at the end of the first book. And in between I'll fit in the fanfic and finish out the episode recaps and finish editing The Touch. Phew!

Vampire Diaries Recap – Episode 2.19

Episode 2.19 – "Klaus"

Okay so I know that season 2 is long gone now, but I just hate leaving things unfinished, so I thought I'd continue with the recaps at least through the end of this season. 

As we start the show, Elena has just removed the dagger from Elijah's chest and sits there, calmly waiting for him to wake up.  (I don't think I'd be quite so calm!)  When Elijah opens his eyes for the first time, he mistakes her for Katherine (or Katarina, as he calls her) and we are transported back to England 1492 with another period flashback.  Will we get to see the elusive Klaus?  I'm assuming so from the title of the episode.  Everybody gets their silly hair of course, but when Elijah sees Katarina, he's very taken with her as she reminds him of someone else.  Klaus makes a grand entrance, and proceeds to woo Katarina without any real interest in her; something she picks up on, even as she acknowledges that he's very charming.  Elijah points out that many unions have been built on less but Katarina insists that she wants more.  She makes a very pretty speech about love, saying that there's no point in living without it.  Elijah says he doesn't believe in love and might have said more but Klaus returns and spirits her away.

Back in real time, Elijah can't breathe because he hasn't been invited into the house.  (interesting because vampires don't need to breathe anyway… but I digress)  On the porch, Elena tries to convince him that he can trust her by handing over the dagger.  (No don't do that!  Use it to kill Klaus!)  Stefan wakes to find Elena gone and immediately fears for the worst.  But Damon seems unconcerned, canoodling with Andie until they notice the door to the basement is ajar and go down to find Elijah missing. 

Elena offers Elijah her help (along with some blood bags until he is looking his usual hunky self) and in return asks for his help.  She believes that he is a noble man and follows a code of honor and that she can trust him.  Telling Stefan to back off and let her handle this on her own, she goes with him to the Lockwood Estate, (how random is that?  Were they just looking to use the pretty set again?) so that he can get a change of clothes and they can have some time to talk.  Elijah gives us the lowdown on some of his family's past history, revealing that Klaus is his brother, and at one time he would have done anything for him.  There were seven children in his family, but they were all born human.  While they are the Original family and all vampires are descended from them, he doesn't go into how they all ended up vampires at all.  (damn!)  He also reveals that the entire Sun and Moon curse is a load of crap!  No truth to it in any part, they made it up in order to obscure what they're really looking for, even going so far as to draft the old Aztec legends themselves.  That way there would be an army of werewolves and vampires out there searching for the doppelganger and the moonstone for them and they can defeat the real curse which is on Klaus alone.

Damon can't believe that Elena is playing herself right into Elijah's hands and believes they should stop her before she gets herself killed.  But Stefan tells him to respect Elena's wishes and back off.  They look like they might fight about it for half a second but Damon agrees to let them call the shots.  Only as soon as Stefan leaves Damon decides to break from the team and do his own thing, bringing Andie in tow. 

 Katherine gets Klaus (in Alaric's body) to tell her that he needs to do the ritual to break the curse right there in Mystic Falls since it's the birthplace of the Doppleganger.  Klaus compels her to stay in the apartment, effectively trapping her until he changes his mind, or dies, whichever comes first.  Bored out of her mind, she starts to look for something to do, but then Damon shows up with Andie.  He decides to give her some vervain to keep Klaus from compelling her any further, but it still doesn't break the compulsion she's already under and she's still trapped in Alaric's apartment. 

Stefan rushes over to the Gilbert house, desperate to keep Jenna from spending any time with Alaric now that he's possessed by Klaus.  Only Alaric is already there acting super creepy.  He makes some awkward small talk while brandishing a large cooking knife.  Jenna just gets more and more pissed off while he babbles on about vampires and werewolf legends and she orders him from the house.  Stefan is revealed as a vampire when he has to use his super speed and strength to hold Alaric back.  Jenna is stunned to see Stefan all vamped out, but leaves the house when he tells her to.  The secret is out!  Stefan calls Elena to tell her about Jenna and Elijah reluctantly lets her go take care of family business.

Elena rushes back to the Salvatore place to beg Jenna's forgiveness for keeping her in the dark this whole time.  Jenna demands to know who else knows and is livid that everyone else knew all about it, even Jeremy.  She falls apart and Elena feels terrible.  (don't worry sister, I would have done the same thing in your shoes.  Or hmm, would I have?  I am terrible at keeping secrets!)  Elena leaves Jenna there with Stefan and goes back to Elijah after Stefan and Damon have another staring contest over who is the bigger man.  (somehow these feel manufactured to me.  I just can't picture Stefan holding his own in a match against Damon, if only because he'd fight more honorably than Damon would)

Alaric/Klaus returns home just as his luggage arrives, including a huge box that contains his body and his own witch (Luka's missing sister!)  More than ready to get out of Alaric's body, they start preparations to return Klaus to his own body.

Elena surprises Elijah by returning to him and demanding to know what Klaus' curse is all about.  Klaus was not his full brother, and from a different bloodline as their mother had taken a lover.  When Elijah's father learned of this, he hunted down Klaus' father and killed him, thereby starting the war between vampires and werewolves that continues to this day.  This makes Klaus both a vampire and a werewolf.  (eewh!  Somehow I find the idea a little creepy but YMMV) The curse binds the werewolf half of himself, only allowing him to access the vampire side.  Dun, dun, dun!

Last ten minutes of the show:

Elijah tells Elena that Klaus wants to break the curse in order to sire his own race of werewolf/vampires, which would threaten those on both sides.  When Elena asks why Elijah helped him to try and break the curse when he posed such a threat, Elijah reveals that he helped Klaus for so long because he loved him, but not any longer.  The only way to kill Klaus now is for a witch to channel enough power to kill him (which is really hard to do).  Elijah's plan is to go through with the ritual and kill Klaus when he's at his most vulnerable. 

We flash back to Elijah telling Klaus that the witches might have found a way to spare the doppleganger's life but Klaus doesn't seem to care.  One human's life means nothing to him.  Elijah begs him to reconsider (seriously, did he fall in love with her?) but denies that he had any feelings for Katarina.  Klaus warns that love is a vampire's greatest weakness.  "We do not fear and we do not care," he says.  "We did once," Elijah reminds him, but Klaus doesn't care and instructs him to tell the witches not to bother trying to save her life.

Elena is surprised to hear that she might not have to die, but they weren't able to test the theory out since Katarina took matters into her own hands, becoming a vampire.  She realizes that Elijah must have had feelings for Katherine back then, but he shrugs it off, saying it's a common mistake or so he's told and one he won't make again. 

Andie tries to comfort Damon who's upset that Elena's out there with Elijah again, but Damon tells her to leave him alone, in too bad of a mood to deal with being fussed over.  Stefan shows up to chide Damon for keeping Andie around like a plaything, reminding him that she's a person.  Damon replies that Stefan should be grateful that he's keeping Andie around, it keeps him from going after what he really wants.  "You're right, thank you, for being in love with my girlfriend," Stefan says, and the cards are all out on the table now!  "You can be in love with Elena all you want if it means you will protect her, but I have the one thing you never have, her respect."  Ouch!  Damon responds with a resounding punch that sends Stefan flying across the room.  (Go Damon!)  They growl and snap at each other a little while longer until Elena appears with Elijah, demanding that they stop. 

Elijah flashes back to a similar memory of fighting with Klaus after Katarina has gone missing.  Klaus threatens to kill Elijah if he had anything to do with her escape. 

Damon is pissed to see that Elena invited Elijah into the house but she tells the brothers that they have renewed the terms of their deal.  Elijah promises that neither of them will come to any harm at his hands, in exchange for one thing; an apology.  I had to laugh at the look on Damon's face over that request.  Stefan steps forth to apologize for the part he had in Elijah's death but that he did it for Elena and will always protect Elena.  But Damon tells them to all go to hell, he doesn't trust Elijah at all.  They all shake their head over his behavior and Damon goes up to his room to find Andie waiting in her underwear.  "I thought I told you to leave," he says.  "You didn't compel me," she grins, before adding that she wants to be there for him.  Damon isn't amused.  He's upset, and knows what will happen to her when he's upset.  He yells at her to leave but she refuses.  "You need to know that someone cares about you.  I care about you Damon," she insists.  Damon bites into her neck savagely and I thought for sure she was a goner, but instead he lets her go and compels her to leave before he kills her.  Andie grabs her clothes and stumbles out while Damon tries to get ahold of himself.

Back at Alaric's apartment, the ritual works and Klaus is put back into his own body.  Alaric passes out with no memory of what happened while Klaus was possessing him.  Klaus steps out of the crate looking fresh as a daisy.  "Now that's more like it," he says; a mischievous smile on his lips. 

Random thoughts I had:

I am dying to know who the Petrova dopplegangers resemble!  One of the Originals?  But then that would make it one of Elijah's sisters, ick! 

If you had just found out about the existence of vampires (Jenna) and saw one vamp out in front of you (Stefan), is his house the first place you would run?  I'm just saying…

Is it wrong that I cheered when Damon knocked Stefan across the room?

Am I the only one who liked Klaus better in Alaric's body?

Boy, what a lot of revelations in this episode.  No sun and moon curse, Klaus is not only Elijah's half brother, but half werewolf and the one the curse is really on.  Elijah had a thing for Katherine back in the day.  There might be a way for Elena to survive the ritual… it goes on and on.

Version Two – Electric Boogaloo

Okay after getting some great feedback I've revised the blurb a little and gone with a slightly less creepy eye. Which do you guys prefer?

When Mercy wakes up in the hospital after a brutal stabbing, she has little recollection of the attack; only the blurred memories of a mysterious stranger with piercing blue eyes that haunts her dreams. Remembering enough of her own identity, (Name – Merceline Renault, check. Occupation – bartender at the nightclub Eden in Seattle, check. Phone number, ABC's and the lyrics to every musical ever made, check.) Mercy struggles to piece together the events that brought her to the ICU at Northwest Hospital. When the blue-eyed stranger turns up in her hospital room, Mercy assumes it's the medication that's bringing her dreams to life.

Mercy is stunned to find her wounds virtually healed with only the faintest trace of a scar left. Even more jarring, the surprised eyes that look back at her in the mirror are no longer her own familiar brown but a startling shade of blue – the same blue as her mystery man. After spotting the same man, that only she can see, Mercy follows him home, brazenly confronting him. (kids at home, never do that!) Her savior turns out to be less than human, or is it more?

Samael is a fallen angel, bound to the Earth and living out his life among humans but apart from them. Sam and his brethren dwell among us, never seen, never heard, but always watching… and on occasion, intervening to atone for sins great enough to be cast down from heaven. Unwilling to let an innocent die, Sam bestowed some of his Grace to Mercy, healing her wounds and accidentally imbuing her with some of his angelic powers.

Thrust into a world within her own where angels and demons coexist unseen by mere mortals, Mercy must learn to accept the fact that she is no longer strictly human; she is something new. Complicating things is Adamiel, the reckless fallen angel who is Sam's enigmatic friend. In every way that Sam is light, Adam is dark, from his jet black hair to his wicked smile. Equal parts information and aggravation, Sam and Adam help Mercy acclimate to her new life.

Determined to find a balance between her new abilities and juggling friends, family, job and others who are attracted to her Grace, Mercy struggles to play catch up before she draws too much unwanted attention from the powers that be and their minions. But now Mercy's eyes are opened to a whole new world beyond the human realm… and their eyes are opened to her.