Character Interview with my favorite Sweetie from Blood's Voice, Declan and Review

Hello again!!  So many things going on this month at CEWTNK! I now have an international copy of Bloods Voice to give away which I will tell you how to win at the end of this post! Today is an exciting day because I have stolen Declan away from Anya (for a few hours anyway :) and with her permission of course) and have him here to answer your questions as well as some I have posed to him!  He is a sweet and lovable guy but has his hands full with Anya and adjusting to his new life.  Let's get to know a little bit about Declan and then my review for Blood's Voice!

1.       Declan, what was the first thought in your head the first time you saw Anya?

                                                                                                                

Uhhh, uhhh, uhhh . . . 

Honestly, it took me a minute to re-engage my brain.  She was and is the most beautiful girl I have ever met.  If she had told me she was one of the ‘beautiful people’, you know Fae?, I would have believed her.  She is like nothing else, ever.  And what makes it more amazing is that she doesn’t seem to even realize how beautiful she is.  It’s not just to a human or even a human that loves her, Nicholas says that she is seen that way by many of the fanged ones too. 

2.       I know you studied design, but did you have a particular path you wanted to go on before Anya that is?

I have always been into architectural design, which is what I won the scholarship to Cornell for.  That is still my goal.  What’s changed about it is that I might have to take a little longer to get my degree.  It’s hard to keep up with my full credit load, train, attend all of Anya’s vamp housie things, and still have any time for friends and family. 

I don’t see why I can’t have my life with Anya, be a Guardian, and still create. ;)

3.       You are going to be really busy!!  LOL!! What is your favorite Holiday?

Hum, that would be a toss between Christmas and Halloween.  In my family both are very family-centric really.  My mom still follows a lot of customs from her parents so we do things together on Halloween, she calls it Samhain just like Anya does, to show respect and honor for our ancestors.  We do all the dress-up and party stuff too. 

Christmas we have a huge dinner and gifts but we spend more time helping others that aren’t as lucky too.  Dad started that when we were little, helping at soup kitchens and such. 

Can I be a typical teen and say both? :D

4.        Sure you can!  I love both as well! What kind of music do you like to listen to?

I don’t like whiny Country (non-whiny is okay, I guess) and I don’t like hateful music (the kind where all they talk about is killing or degrading/abusing women).  Otherwise, I like just about everything.  I do tease Anya about her music, but if you saw her dancing to music that was too low for your ears to even pick it, you’d prob think it was funny too. 

5.       Hmm.  I can promise I’d never laugh where she could hear me!! What are some of your favorite foods?

Oh, um, my fav kinds of food are Indian, especially Saag Paneer, and anything with noodles – don’t care if it’s Italian, Thai, or what . . . just love noodles!  What?  You expected me to say pizza? ;)

6.       Yes!  Or steak! What is your favorite drink?

You probably expect me to list off half a dozen kinds of alcohol now that I’m away from the parentals and in college but no.  I won’t risk being on liquid stupid and need to fight, plus Anya would be pissed. 

My favs would have to be Mt. Dew, iced coffees and hot chocolate though I drink a ton of water too.  Nicholas buys it by the case for me.  I think he’s scared I’m going to dehydrate or something, lol. 

7.       I have a thing for iced coffee so I can totally relate!  I think Nicholas is just taking care of you! How is the training coming along?

Geoff, Jonathan, Nicholas, and Louie have all certified me ‘insane and ready’ so I’m finally allowed to publicly help Anya.  I also go out some with Nicholas as he still likes to ‘super hero’ for those like me, well… humans any way.  I don’t think he tells Anya though.

Even with that decision, I like to practice and am always looking for new ideas and training. 

8.       I don’t think I’d tell Anya either!!  Could you see yourself actually being able to kill a vampire?  Or other being?

Yes, totally.  Any that seek to kill humans that is.  I understand that not all vampires are evil and cruel but those that are, I am honor bound to destroy.  I think I’d had a lot of trouble killing any evil that wasn’t a vamp though.  That probably sounds wrong but, destroying those void-eyed monsters is a part of me, like a calling or blood obsession.  It was hard for me to learn to deal with Thomas, Louie, and Simon.  Thomas especially.  Louie and Simon were void-eyed too but Jonathan talked to me and swears that they only kill murders and other human monsters, never the weak or innocent.  He likened it to how some states have capital punishment or even how I’m charged to kill murdering vamps.  I still don’t like it but Louie did save my Anya, so . . .

9.       You owe him huh?  Anya has declared him a friend.  Do you have any other hobbies? Or sports?

Drawing (not just buildings), drafting (of course), also gotta love my Lego’s!  Oh, and they guys have been teaching me different strategy games.  They say it’s good for me since I’m the bonded Guardian of a House Mistress.

I still practice Kickboxing separate from the Guardian training.  I do Tai Chi with Geoff and Anya some too.  I don’t really have time for other sports and even though I’m strong enough, I’ve never been into a lot of the more common sports though thanks to Geoff we have to like Football (Soccer but he won’t call it that, lol).

10.   Have you ever studied another type of martial art?

I’ve done Kick-Boxing since I was young, well, younger.  I never took like judo or karate classes though.  I don’t know what you’d call my current training as it’s a combination of vampires training me.  They seem to be combining their own knowledge and forms learned. 

11.   Do you like to dance?

Having Skye as a best friend means that by necessity I had to learn to dance.  Thankfully, or not depending on how you look at it, the only ‘old’ dance she made me learn was to waltz. :D Everything else I know how to do you’d find at normal dance clubs.  Well, the clubs she and now Star drag me to. 

12.   Did you inherit any kitchen creativity from your parents?

Sadly, no.  I love their cooking and creativity but mine is solely relegated to buildings.  I can cook, don’t get me wrong – mom insisted that I be self-sufficient – but I just seem to lack their edible vision.

13.   Lol…Their skills sounded fascinating!  Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Where I am right now. 

I should be about done with my degree though I’m not entirely sure how I’m going to work being a Guardian, being part of Anya’s guard, and being a normal architect.  No matter how I manage that part, I will be with Anya and Nicholas and the rest of our House.  I’d like to be working on becoming self-sufficient (no matter what they say, I should be a grown-up and not a leach).

14.   I’m quite sure they don’t view you as a leach! Are you happy?  Is anything missing in your life?

I couldn’t be happier!  I have the two greatest people in my life, I’m studying for a career I am passionate about (both architecture and being a Guardian), I have great friends and you should check out the house Anya and Nicholas bought for us!  I want to restore a few parts and am itching to add on a little, lol.

I don’t really think I’m missing anything, though Anya will probably argue that point.  She still thinks I’m going to leave so I can have children and a ‘normal’ life.  I’m a Guardian, how ‘normal’ a life could I really even have?  I already have a great family, just as we are.  God I sound sappy.  Sorry :D lol

The only thing I’d really love to change about our life is me wanting to be able to contribute more.  Right now I have to depend on them for nearly everything.  I don’t like being a mooch.  Don’t tell Anya or Nicholas I said that though, they think I should be okay with them paying for everything.

15.   LOL!   I promise! What is your favorite book?

Am I a complete dork if I say most of my books are math and architecture related?  For just fun reading it would have to be (shhh….) Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.  Of course, some days I feel like I fell down the rabbit hole.  I mean, come on… I live with vampires…

16.   Yes, I can totally understand that one! If you could pick one spot in the world to vacation, where would it be?

I would love to go visit Anya’s cottage and lands in Ireland.  Both my parents are Irish though they never taught Kayla and me any Irish.  My mom used to tell us stories about the sidhe, gods and goddesses, and even just local things about places she remembered going with my grandparents when she was little and got to go visit.

AHH Ireland.  What a perfect choice!  Thank you so much for answering my questions Declan!!  You've been a treat to talk to! So now that you know a little bit about Declan, lets introduce you to the book!!

Anya Millar had no memory of her life or an instruction manual on how to navigate the insane world of humans, biting, and reality. Instead, Anya has had to learn to navigate the world of love, life, and sanity while avoiding those that would see her dead or enslaved.

This is the ongoing journey of Anya and Nicholas, human loving vampires and the human they love, Declán. What makes it all more complicated is that they are abominations in their own world and Declán is a natural born vampire hunter called a Guardian.

Anya must come to terms with who she is and her missing past, Nicholas must win back the object of his eternal love while dealing with new cravings in his silent heart, and Declán must learn to destroy the very creatures that he has unequivocally given his heart and blood.

My Review

Imagine waking up on day and not knowing who or where you are.  When you look in the mirror you see an 18 year old staring back at you, but inside you know that you are far older, and far more dangerous than any normal human.  Anya Millar was such a creature.  She woke up, in someone else’s bed with absolutely no memory of where she was, who she was, and how she came to be here.  But she had help.  Star was her godsend, if you believed in that type of stuff.  Star has taught her about herself and her nature, as well as how to control her cravings.  That’s right, Anya is a vampire.  So, to learn how to fit into her world she must first relearn how to interact with humans.  She has a fascination with them, not as food because to her knowledge she has never tasted human blood.  Of course, with her memory being gone it is hard to say if that is a reliable deduction.  So she convinces Star to allow her to enroll in high school, so she may study human interactions.  Star finds this amusing and agrees, but she worries because of Anya’s unusual ability.  Then Nicolas and Declan enter the scene.

Nicholas can barely suppress his absolute joy!  After almost three decades of searching he has finally caught a whiff of her scent.  His Anya has at last returned!  Imagine his shock and disappointment when he discovers that she has no memory of him or of what they were to each other.  Should he begin again with her?  He still felt so strongly about her, even after finding out about her newest obsession with the human boy Declan.  He could wait out his short life span and hope that Anya would turn back to him.   Maybe he should just act as a friend?

In this world of vampires, immortals, humans, and other types of beings, there are two classes of vampires.  One class that have retained the eye color of their human form and do not feed off of humans and the others that do and their eyes are black and soulless.  Most of the vampires in this series have some type of unique ability.  Especially Anya.  She gives a new meaning to the coin phrase of “I get whatever I want”.   You follow her on her adventures of trying to fit in with humans and seemingly thwarted by her own kind almost every time.  She begins to have feelings for Nickolas, as well as Declan but they are different and easy to separate.  At least for her.  She loves whom she loves.  Towards the middle of the book I grew a little envious of her situation.  It does not work out like that so much in real life.  It’s so hard to try and pull for Declan or Nicholas.  It becomes apparent that she needs them both.  To have one without the other would be like having a heart with no soul, or vice versa.  It is an intriguing story and keeps a strong grip on your curiosity so that you just have to finish reading it because you have to know how it ends!!  It wasn’t predictable in the least and had an entire cast of interesting characters that seemed to pop up everywhere.  I liked Louie.  He was the most down to earth one out of the bunch, and knew Anya before she had lost her memory.  He was a tell it as it is type of character with a big attitude.  I love guys with attitude!  I really enjoyed this book and can’t wait to read the next installment of the Millar House series!

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+1 for each question you ask Declan  (but don't tell Anya I'm making him work!)

You can check out the rest of the tour at Aine's website http://www.housemillar.host56.com/ and follow along!!