Blog Tour/Excerpt/Giveaway: Dance of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin

Title: Masque of the Red Death
Author: Bethany Griffin
Series: Masque of the Red Death #1
Release Date: April 24, 2012
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
ISBN13: 9780062107794
Format: Hardcover, 319 pages
Genre: YA, romance, dystopia, steampunk, post-apocalyptic
Source: blog tour

Desire is contagious

Everything is in ruins.

A devastating plague has decimated the population, and those who are left live in fear of catching it as the city crumbles around them.

So what does Araby Worth have to live for?

Nights in the Debauchery Club, beautiful dresses, glittery makeup . . . and tantalizing ways to forget it all.

But in the depths of the club—in the depths of her own despair—Araby will find more than oblivion. She will find Will, the terribly handsome proprietor of the club, and Elliott, the wickedly smart aristocrat. Neither is what he seems. Both have secrets. Everyone does.

And Araby may find not just something to live for, but something to fight for—no matter what it costs her.

Title: Dance of the Red Death
Author: Bethany Griffin
Series: Masque of the Red Death #2
Release Date: June 11th, 2013
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
ISBN13: 9780062107824
Format: Hardcover, 336 pages
Genre: YA, romance, dystopia, steampunk, post-apocalyptic
Source: blog tour

Rebellion is contagious

Bethany Griffin continues the journey of Araby Worth in Dance of the Red Death—the sequel to her teen novel Masque of the Red Death.

In Dance of the Red Death, Araby’s world is in shambles—betrayal, death, disease, and evil forces surround her. She has no one to trust. But she finds herself and discovers that she will fight for the people she loves, and for her city.

Her revenge will take place at the menacing masked ball, though it could destroy her and everyone she loves…or it could turn her into a hero.

With a nod to Edgar Allan Poe, Bethany Griffin concludes her tragic and mysterious Red Death series with a heroine that young adult readers will never forget.

Bethany Griffin
Bethany Griffin is a high school English teacher who prides herself on attracting creative misfits to elective classes like Young Adult Literature, Creative Writing, and Speculative Literature. She is the author of Handcuffs & MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH (April 2012). She lives with her family in Kentucky.

My father is a murderer. My brother is dead, and my best friend is dying of the disease that my father may have created. It's a refrain that's repeated over and over in my mind, through feverish dreams, and even now. And yet . . . my father is the gentlest man I know. He saved us from the contagion. I put my hand to the porcelain mask covering my face--my father's greatest invention.

Will's voice is soft. "Lie on your stomach, sweetheart. I want to get a good look at the stitches."

The throwaway endearment takes me back to the Debauchery Club. A simpler time when I didn't know dark secrets and wasn't trying to help save the world. But it doesn't wipe away his betrayal. He touches my good shoulder to try to help me, and I brush him off.

Elliott sits up, scooting down to the foot of the bed. He doesn't even try to hide his smirk from Will.

Elliott reappears in the doorway alone.

"I'd like to give you a reason to live." He tosses something to me, and I catch it without thinking. And then he's gone again, and I'm holding a diamond ring in my fist.
Br /> Is this some sort of diversion? Is he trying too keep me from my overwhelming guilt? Was he afraid for my sanity? Or was it more?