INTERVIEW & REVIEW – BLOG TOUR – HAZE by Paula Weston

When we were asked if we wanted to take part in the Blog Tour for Paula Weston’s Rephaim series… there was no hesitation! We love these books… enough that I even order them from Australia (And pay the god awful shipping) just so that I can get a copy as soon as possible. (if you don’t already know this, the books release waaaaay earlier over there than here!) That said, I have read the next book in the series and OMG THERE WAS FLAILING! I’m so excited for the next and if you haven’t started this series yet, please go grab book 1 – Shadows ASAP! READ MY REVIEW HERE We also had the chance to ask Paula a few questions so make sure you check out our interview down below!!

Gaby Winters’ nightmares have stopped but she still can’t remember her old life. Still can’t quite believe she is one of the Rephaim—the wingless half-angels who can shift from place to place, country to country, in the blink of an eye. That she was once the Rephaim’s best fighter. That demons exist. That Rafa has stayed.

But most of all, she can’t quite believe that her twin brother, Jude, might be alive.

And Gaby can’t explain the hesitancy that sidetracks the search for him, infuriates Rafa, and sends them, again, into the darkest danger.

ABOUT PAULA
I’m the author of the Rephaim series.I’m also an avid reader and blogger, a huge fan of Australian literature and fantasy/paranormal stories, a closet comic reader and TV addict…and I’m borderline obsessed with the Foo Fighters.

Where did the idea for The Rephaim Series come from?

Shadows started as a scene with a girl and guy who were attracted to each other, but who had a complicated history that only he remembered. I knew there were supernatural elements in how she’d lost her memory and that they were both part of a wider conflict. When I started researching world-building options to work out their story, I came across the Book of Enoch. It’s a two-thousand-year-old text that talks about angels being kicked out of heaven for getting a little too friendly with human women (a book not considered doctrine by mainstream churches). I got to thinking about what would happen if those angels got free again and fathered children. And then what the consequences would be for those half-angels, and how that could relate to my two characters. From there, the world of the Rephaim was born and Gaby and Rafa’s story came together. One of the main drivers for the series for me has been the fractured nature of the Rephaim society, and if there can be hope for broken relationships (whether they been romantic, friendship or family). I knew early on it would take four books to unfold the story the way I wanted to.

What is the weirdest thing you googled while researching for this series?

Wow, there are so many… Top 3: ‘how to sharpen a katana’, ‘shark-bite wounds’ (obviously ‘hellion bite’ wasn’t going to return scientific results) and ‘demon names’.

What has been your favorite scene to write and why?

That’s a tough one. I always have fun writing the scenes where Gaby and Rafa are arguing (particularly in Shadows, when Rafa is giving her a hard time when she first meets Ez and Zak, and in Haze, when they arrive in Dubai). I also enjoyed exploring Gaby’s friendship with Micah in Shimmer (sorry, I know that’s not out in your part of the world until 2015!) because it was a chance to show a different side to both of them. But if I had to pick one single scene as my favourite, I’d have to say it’s one I’ve recently written for Burn (still in draft form), so I can’t tell you about it!

Were there any scenes that had to be cut that you wish would have stayed in?

In Haze, I originally had a scene in Dubai with Ez, Zak, Gaby and Rafa playing cards while they waited to go to LA. It was a lighter scene that showed the dynamic between all four of them at that moment in the story. We (my editor and I) decided to drop it and slightly re-work the order of events in Dubai because it didn’t quite work with the pacing. Haze works better without it, but I did quite like it.

Did any of your characters surprise you by doing something you didn’t expect?

Mya surprised me a couple of times, especially in Haze when the Outcasts go to LA. Her reaction outside the nightclub wasn’t something I’d been planning, but it fit nicely with the layers I wanted to create for her, so I went with it.

And Malachi. I originally thought he’d be more like Daniel, but – while he’s not particularly lovable – he turned out to be less antagonistic, and that definitely shaped his growth in Haze and Shimmer.

Did you always know how the story will end or have major things changed as you’re writing?

I’ve always known generally how the story will end, but the fine detail only really took shape once I started writing Burn. There have been a couple of things that have changed, mostly about how everything comes together in the last quarter of Burn, but all within the general ball park of what I’d planned. All the general plot threads have stayed pretty steady and my plans for Gaby and Rafa, and Gaby and Jude, are how I’ve intended them to be (even if there have been slight changes in the execution along the way).

What are you currently reading? What books boys make you swoon?

I’m currently reading Head of the River by Pip Harry.

My favourite swoony book boys would be Jonah Griggs from On The Jellicoe Road and Finnikin from Finnikin of the Rock (both by Melina Marchetta); Ed in Graffiti Moon (Cath Crowley); Mycroft in Every Breath (Ellie Marney); Cole in Linger/Forever (Maggie Stiefvater) Four in Divergent (Veronica Roth); and I still have a soft spot for Adrian in The Vampire Academy series (Richelle Mead).

Do you have a dream cast, because we would love to see this on the big screen!

Thanks! It’s not so much a dream cast, but photos where an actor has the right ‘feel’, even if they’re no longer age appropriate! (But can I say, I’m happy for readers to picture my characters however works for them.)

Gaby (Mila Kunis)

Rafa (Charlie Hunnam before the beard)

Jude (Taylor Kitsch)

Any advice for aspiring writers?

My advice is the same you’ll hear from most writers: read lots (so you get a feel for good storytelling), write lots (so you can discover your own voice and style) and finish what you start.

What’s next for you? Are you working on anything right now that you can tell us about?

I’m working on Burn (Rephaim #4) right now, and then I’m going to start on a new stand-alone novel that has nothing to do with angels or demons, but will still sit somewhere in the speculative fiction spectrum. I’m quite excited about it, and hopefully it will distract me from the fact I’ll be saying goodbye to the Rephaim.

5 Favorites

Favorite Song (right now)

– Love You Deserve by Stonefield (an Australian band of four teenage sisters who play like 1970s rockers) Love them.

Favorite Book (right now) – The Girl with All The Gifts by MR Carey

Favorite TV Show/Movie – Friday Night Lights (TV show – still!). And Orphan Black.

Favorite Word – epiphany

Favorite Snack – chocolate coated coffee beans

Jaime’s Thoughts
Haze by Paula Weston
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

4.5 stars – I’m not even exaggerating when I say that I’ve tried writing this review a handful of times and stopped because I wasn’t quite sure what to tell you. This has become one of my favorite series out there … enough that I bought the books from overseas because I couldn’t wait until they finally came out here.

Haze actually picks up shortly after book 1, Shadows. Gaby is no longer having the nightmares that brought her and Rafa together, but she still struggles with remembering her other life. The life where she and her brother Jude were at odds. Mystery still plays a big part in this story because Gaby has no idea what happened with Jude… what caused the accident that has her believing he is dead and the question arises as to whether Jude is truly gone. Rafa is convinced he’s not.

Gaby struggles with moving forward… and continues to find reason after reason not to go on the search, which kind of stalls the progression of the plot of this story, but in no way took away from the enjoyment of reading for me. I can understand her struggle with hoping that Jude is still alive and I can understand her hesitancy to find out the truth about what actually happened a year ago. That doesn’t mean I’m not impatient and want her to suck it up and get going. I love Gaby. She has her vulnerable and soft side, but we almost never see it. She’s kick-ass and tough and snarky.

Rafa glances at me as we walk. His hair looks fairer out here in the sunlight. Right now I’d like to run my fingers through it, get a good handful, and smack his head into the brick wall we’re passing.

We do get to see some relationship type of things develop between her and Rafa here. But I have to say that the more Rafa refuses to tell Gaby about their past the more I’m curious to know exactly what kind of past it was. It only makes me more eager for Gaby to get all her memories back, and yet I’m afraid of what those memories will bring.

Rafa of course is arrogant, sexy and brooding … he’s determined to find Jude, but he needs Gaby’s help.

“But what if we can’t find Jude?”

He leans closer. His breath is warm on my ear. “We will.”

“How can you be so sure?” I want to believe him so badly, but this is Rafa. The guy who’s all action and no plan. His smile is tired, knowing. An echo of a shared past I don’t remember.

“Because I’m not smart enough to give up, and you don’t know how to.”

I love that the story hasn’t become about the romance between Gaby and Rafa … it’s hovering out there in the distance, and we get bits and pieces of it, but it’s not what Weston is focusing on. Instead we get to see snippets of the evolution of their relationship… the tenderness that Rafa is starting to show towards Gaby, the confusion that Gaby has because of her missing memories and how that impacts them together… I am really loving how Weston is pacing this part of the story. But what I really love about these two is that Rafa sees her strength and pushes her to try to remember who she used to be. Despite the fact that it may change her feelings for him going forward.

All that said, what Gaby’s stalling early on in the story does lead to, is a handful of subplots that while interesting, kind of slowed the book down a bit. We are drawn into several other dramas before we get to the meat of the story that I really had been dying for since the end of Shadows. Don’t get me wrong, they are interesting in their own right and definitely add to the overall arc of the story, but I was dying for these two to get to Melbourne. Let me just say I was so excited when we finally got there. We readers got some resolution!

And that’s all I’ll say about that.

What I will say is this – if you aren’t reading this series yet, go get it. Weston has created vibrant, wonderful characters that jump off the page and a story that will have you captivated from the start of book 1. If you’re looking for something amazing in the paranormal / fantasy genre then this series should be on top of your list. Filled with mystery, action, humor and romance… there is a little bit of something for everyone and the end will have you begging for the next book. I know I am!

INTERVIEW & REVIEW – BLOG TOUR – HAZE by Paula Weston

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