Don't Judge, Read: Book Blitz: Kissing Magic by Day Leitao - Excerpt

Welcome to the Book Blitz for

Kissing Magic (Portals to Whyland #2)
by Day Leitao

Join us in celebrating this week and enter the giveaway at the end of the post!

Kissing Magic (Portals to Whyland #2)
By: Day Leitao
Publication Date: February 22, 2019
Publisher: Sparkly Wave

Kiss him. Don't fall in love.

Break a spell with a kiss. Karina has heard and seen enough weird stuff for this request to sound legit.

At 16, Karina has a shot at adventure—and an odd first kiss—when she's called to Whyland, a kingdom in another dimension, to save a guy she barely knows. Why her? No clue, but she's happy to help, and kissing Sian isn't torture, even if he isn't to be trusted. Karina's smart enough not to fall in love—or at least to tell herself not to.

Once in Whyland, she realizes that risking a broken heart is the smallest of her problems. Chased by dark magic creatures, she joins Sian and heads to a mysterious castle whose secrets might be tied to her own. But when truths are unravelled, Karina will need to step up and stand between an ancient darkness and the kingdom—never mind her heart.

This is book 2 in Portals to Whyland series but you can jump straight into it without having read book 1. If you like fantasy and adventure with romance and some humor, give Kissing Magic a try. This novel is recommended for readers 13 and older.

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The two intruders, or visitors, seemed a bit confused and had their eyes closed. They were surrounded by white fog. A rock star entrance. Of course, had they been rock stars they would have stepped in the room with eyes open, oozing confidence. Cayla held Darian’s hand. Holding hands was necessary for teleporting. But still, they looked cute and warmed Karina’s heart.
Karina wanted to help them out of their confusion. “You’re here. You can open your eyes.”
Cayla opened her eyes, looked around, then walked towards Karina and hugged her. “Good to see you.”
Only then, when she touched Cayla, did Karina believe that it was real, that they were actually there. It had all been so sudden. It was also good to see Cayla and know that she was all right. “Past time you made a visit!”
Cayla laughed. “If I could I would have dropped by earlier.”
Darian looked dizzy, but slowly he opened his eyes, looked around, and acknowledged Karina. “Hi.”
They hadn’t aged more than Karina had, which either meant that there was no significant time difference between the two dimensions, or that people there didn't age as fast. Cayla wore dark green pants and a jacket in what looked like suede. Her marvelous shiny black hair was tied in a loose ponytail hanging over a shoulder. Darian had his same brown hair to the chin, and wore brown pants and a jacket. His brown eyes reminded Karina of his older brother. In fact, Darian did look a little like him, with the difference that Darian had more delicate facial features and wasn’t as tall. For the first time she noticed that Darian was actually quite good looking. With all the craziness last time and with him being Cayla’s whatever, Karina hadn’t registered his attractiveness level, but now she realized that he and Cayla were quite a stunning couple. Each of them had a necklace with a clear orange stone, and Karina remembered with amusement how she’d been surprised that they could use the stones to communicate with each other. Her surprise hadn’t been silly, as communicating necklaces were rare even in Whyland.
Darian looked at Cayla as if expecting something, and Cayla bit her lip and looked down.
Karina considered their expressions and came to a conclusion. “You want something from me.”
Darian and Cayla looked at each other. Karina was right. She felt giddy because she thought they would ask her to go to Whyland, and she had wanted to go back there for a long time.
Cayla sighed. “It’s a huge favor, and it’s not easy, but Darian believes you can help him.”
Darian? Karina couldn’t imagine what he’d want with her, as she barely knew him. “What is it?”
“My brother,” he said.
The name came as a whisper from Karina’s lips, “Sian.”
Karina’s heart raced. She hadn’t known him well, other than spending some 20 or 30 minutes with him because he wanted to keep Cayla hostage and take the kingdom for himself and his evil father. Despite these small nasty details, Sian had been polite to Karina. She remembered with embarrassment that she felt flustered and speechless because he kept flirting with her. Life had taught her to ignore those types, but, being her first time, she felt confused. Sian did send her a book—Cayla’s mother had brought it to Karina—but all she could picture was a superiority smirk on his face while he told her that she needed to know more about Whyland.
Darian continued, “I know you didn’t get to know each other much, and—”
“What is it? Just tell me.” Karina hated long, unnecessary explanations, and was too anxious to hear them.
He looked at Cayla, who nodded, then said, “He’s under a spell. There’s a way to get him back, and you might be able to help.”
Of course, having magical or even non-magical objects from other dimensions kind of did some trick. “Does it have something to do with the book?”
Darian shook his head. “Not directly. It’s … I think you can break the spell.”
“Me?” It sounded strange, but maybe not so much. Karina remembered that, at least in theory, she had magical power in Whyland, because people have more power when they go to different dimensions. The only issue was that she had no clue on the nature of her power or any idea how to use it. “Because of my magic?”
Darian looked down. “I guess you could call it that.”
Cayla turned to him and squinted. “Just tell her.”
He cleared his throat and spoke fast. “That spell can be broken with a kiss.”
Karina had heard that somewhere. “Like in fairy tales?”
“You mean stories?” He shrugged. “They gotta be based on something.”
Karina was used to enough weird stuff not to argue with that logic. But hang on. What she’d need to do dawned on her. “What do I have to do with a kiss?”
Cayla said, “A kiss, uh, usually involves—you know—two people.” She put her two hands together, mimicking two mouths connecting.
“I know what a kiss is. But why me?”
Darian sighed, then said, “It’s a kiss of true love.”
Karina felt a hollowness in her stomach. “You don’t expect me to—”
“It’s not that,” Cayla said. “It can work both ways. Of course you’d never love or feel anything for Sian. We know that. But it can work the other way around as well. Receiving a kiss from someone you love does the trick.”
Karina didn’t know how to feel. The guy was weird and maybe a little annoying. But love her? “That doesn’t make any sense. I saw him for what? Half an hour at most. He just said I was pretty, but I’m sure he says that to every girl he meets, doesn’t he?”
Darian and Cayla replied at the same time. “Of course not,” he said, while she said, “Well, yes.”
Darian and Cayla glared at each other. She said, “You don’t want to lie to her.”
“I’m not lying. We don’t know it.”
Cayla shook her head in annoyance and turned to Karina. “Sian is not somebody you could trust, and not somebody I’d trust to be in love with anyone but himself.”
Darian said, “But he told me to send the book with all his love. Fair enough, he said he had a broad definition of love, whatever that is. But as far as I know it counts. He went to great lengths to make sure you got a book. So there’s something there.”
Cayla looked up, as if thinking. “That’s true. My mother was freaking out.” She made a shrill voice. “You can’t bring objects across dimensions.” She laughed. “But she agreed in the end.”
Karina was happy to hear Cayla talking about her mother like that.
Cayla continued, “I know in theory it’s a kiss of true love, but I think it’s just because if they called it a kiss of superficial attraction it wouldn’t have the same ring.”
Darian shook his head. “Not necessarily.”
“They barely know each other,” Cayla said.
“So what?” He shrugged. “Never heard of love at first sight?”
“You mean superficial attraction? That’s what I was saying.”
“Fair enough,” Karina interrupted. These two would never reach a conclusion. “Can’t you find any of the other girls comprised in his …” Karina looked up and grimaced. “… broad definition of love, superficial attraction, love at first sight, or whatever?” She didn’t want to upset anyone by using inappropriate terminology. And as much as she obviously wanted to go to Whyland, she also wanted to understand what was going on.
Darian shrugged. “I don’t know him that well. We, we didn’t get along.”
That was an understatement. These were two brothers who had been in opposite sides of an armed conflict.