Welcome to the Blog + Review Tour for Driven by Sara Davison, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!
Title: Driven
Series: Night Guardians #3
Author: Sara Davison
Publisher: Mountain Brook Ink
Release Date: February 1, 2021
Genre: Christian Romantic Suspense
Driven by ongoing grief and relentless dreams, Holden Kelly is determined to track down the child his brother Gage abducted eight years earlier. The kidnapping that saved Matthew Gibson’s life had cost Gage his. Proving his brother hadn’t sacrificed his life for nothing might be the only way Holden can start fully living his again. And it could be the last chance he has to find his way back to the wife he loves but who is also mired in grief and a crisis of faith.
Mikayla Grant has nightmares of her own. A road trip with private investigator Jax Rodriguez—a man she is drawn to even though his primary goal seems to be to drive her crazy—can’t be the way to heal from a terrible loss. Can it?
As Holden, Mikayla, and Jax follow the missing child’s trail from Toronto to Chicago, their mission is not as secret as they thought. Someone knows they are coming and will stop at nothing to prevent them from finding Matthew.
And to make sure that no one ever hears from the three of them again.
PURCHASE LINKS*: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | IndieBound | BookBub
MORE BOOKS IN THIS SERIES
Sara Davison is the author of three romantic suspense series—The Seven Trilogy, The Night Guardians, and The Rose Tattoo Trilogy. She has been a finalist for ten national writing awards, including Best New Canadian Christian author, a Carol, a Selah, and two Daphne du Maurier Awards for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense. She is a Word and Cascade Award winner. She currently resides in Ontario, Canada with her husband Michael and their three children. The words on the mug she uses every morning pretty much sum up her life—I just want to sleep, drink coffee, and make stuff up. Get to know Sara better at www.saradavison.org and @sarajdavison.
CONNECT WITH SARA: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
Hi Sara! Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions and giving my readers the chance to get to know you and your new book- Driven a little bit better! I usually start these interviews the same way with 5 random facts about YOU, but since this is your second time here, we’re going to mix it up a bit. Can you share 5 random facts about this book or the series as a whole?
Random facts: My daughter loves everything Mexican and has travelled to the country often. This sparked my interest in learning Spanish and resulted in my inclusion of a character whose first language is Spanish.
The Night Guardians was originally intended to be a two-book series, but based on how the storylines in Guarded developed as well as reader feedback regarding issues they’d like to see addressed, a third book, Driven, was planned. At the end of the writing of the third book, questions raised as well as the direction the storyline took led to the decision to add a fourth book to the series, Forged, which will release in 2022 and will (probably) conclude the series.
Although Driven was always the title of book three, books one and two went through numerous titles before Vigilant and Guarded were settled upon. For instance, Vigilant was once shopped around with the working title of Eight O’clock at Joe’s, which was a favourite title of mine but not suspenseful enough for the genre.
The Night Guardians series is set largely in Canada, where I live, in the country’s largest city, Toronto. However, the character of Mikayla Grant is introduced in book two, and she initially lives in Chicago. That opened up the possibility of the setting of Driven to be Toronto initially but then shift to Chicago via a road trip that is part of the reason for the title of the book.
I absolutely love writing my male characters, and each of my heroes has a special place in my heart. However, Jax Rodriguez is my favourite (so far), for reasons that I hope become obvious to people as they read through Driven.
As a writer of suspense, your books can often deal with dark and difficult topics, how do you balance those heavy topics and faith within your stories?
Yes, I do cover a lot of heavy topics in my books, hopefully with grace and sensitivity (and definitely with a lot of prayer). It’s easy to balance those subjects with faith, though, as faith in God is the perfect and only antidote to darkness and suffering. As those who have come to the end of themselves can attest—it is then that we find God and recognize not only our absolute need for him, but his absolute faithfulness in keeping his promises, including to never leave or us or forsake us.
What type of research goes into this type of story, particularly in regards to any police procedures, etc?
I actually describe myself as a fairly lazy writer, meaning that I don’t do a ton of research. I do all the research I need to in order for the information to be as accurate and authentic as I can make it, then I always have someone in that field read it over to check for any possible issues. For example, one of my editors for The Seven Trilogy was former military, and since the hero is an Army captain, she was able to make suggestions about any passages involving military procedure and protocols. For my books that have cops or police procedures involved, I have a friend who is a former police officer who checks those out for me. As well, with any stories of mine that involve characters of different ethnicities, I always ask someone with that ethnic background to read the story and give me feedback to ensure cultural sensitivity, respect, and accuracy. Can you tell us a little bit about Driven?
With pleasure! As you know, this is the third book in The Night Guardians Series. In the first book, Vigilant, an underground but very powerful and well-funded group is kidnapping children from their abusive homes in order to place them with a safe, loving family (yes, lots of ethical questions raised and examined in that book). In this third book, three people connected to the man who kidnapped the kids and ended up being killed during one of the abductions follow up on a lead and track one of the missing kids to Chicago. The organization has been largely dismantled by the police, but a remnant still guards the children to make sure they are not discovered, and this remnant will stop at nothing to keep the three who come after the child from finding him. While all this is happening, two of the main characters, a husband and wife, are dealing with the loss of their child and trying to find their way back to God and each other. And of course there is a romantic storyline as well, between two of the people travelling to Chicago. So lots of suspense and romance going on in this romantic suspense!
What do you hope readers will take away from the book?
I hope and pray that readers will take the same message away from Driven as they do from all books – that whatever they are going through, however distant God seems, He has never and will never leave them. My goal with my stories is to always show readers that they are never alone and that God fights for them and will ultimately ensure that justice is done and all is put to right.
Driven is the third book in your The Night Guardian series. Will readers be able to understand and appreciate this book without reading the others?
Yes, several early readers who hadn’t read the first two books commented on the fact that enough back story was given that they didn’t have any trouble following the story. This book takes a different direction than the first two, so although it would be helpful to read those ones in order to have the full story picture, it is quite possible to read Driven on its own and not feel lost.
Thank you again for taking the time to answer these questions. Before you go, are there any other projects you are currently working on that you can share?
Sure! My next release, The Watcher, comes out April 15, 2021. The Watcher, which is a standalone novel, is a bit of a departure for me. While the story is still a romantic suspense, it also contains speculative elements that hint at the supernatural warfare going on behind the scenes of the human activity. The Watcher is actually a re-release of my first novel, which came out ten years ago. It has been largely re-written and a number of new chapters have been added, though, so readers of the early version may not completely recognize this one.
My other works in progress include Written in Ink, which is the second book in The Rose Tattoo Trilogy and the sequel to Lost Down Deep. When that one is finished I will be working on Forged, the fourth and final book in The Night Guardians Series. I’ve also started a new series that will tackle the topic of human trafficking, so lots happening!
Hi Sara! Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions and giving my readers the chance to get to know you and your new book- Driven a little bit better! I usually start these interviews the same way with 5 random facts about YOU, but since this is your second time here, we’re going to mix it up a bit. Can you share 5 random facts about this book or the series as a whole?
Random facts: My daughter loves everything Mexican and has travelled to the country often. This sparked my interest in learning Spanish and resulted in my inclusion of a character whose first language is Spanish.
The Night Guardians was originally intended to be a two-book series, but based on how the storylines in Guarded developed as well as reader feedback regarding issues they’d like to see addressed, a third book, Driven, was planned. At the end of the writing of the third book, questions raised as well as the direction the storyline took led to the decision to add a fourth book to the series, Forged, which will release in 2022 and will (probably) conclude the series.
Although Driven was always the title of book three, books one and two went through numerous titles before Vigilant and Guarded were settled upon. For instance, Vigilant was once shopped around with the working title of Eight O’clock at Joe’s, which was a favourite title of mine but not suspenseful enough for the genre.
The Night Guardians series is set largely in Canada, where I live, in the country’s largest city, Toronto. However, the character of Mikayla Grant is introduced in book two, and she initially lives in Chicago. That opened up the possibility of the setting of Driven to be Toronto initially but then shift to Chicago via a road trip that is part of the reason for the title of the book.
I absolutely love writing my male characters, and each of my heroes has a special place in my heart. However, Jax Rodriguez is my favourite (so far), for reasons that I hope become obvious to people as they read through Driven.
As a writer of suspense, your books can often deal with dark and difficult topics, how do you balance those heavy topics and faith within your stories?
Yes, I do cover a lot of heavy topics in my books, hopefully with grace and sensitivity (and definitely with a lot of prayer). It’s easy to balance those subjects with faith, though, as faith in God is the perfect and only antidote to darkness and suffering. As those who have come to the end of themselves can attest—it is then that we find God and recognize not only our absolute need for him, but his absolute faithfulness in keeping his promises, including to never leave or us or forsake us.
What type of research goes into this type of story, particularly in regards to any police procedures, etc?
I actually describe myself as a fairly lazy writer, meaning that I don’t do a ton of research. I do all the research I need to in order for the information to be as accurate and authentic as I can make it, then I always have someone in that field read it over to check for any possible issues. For example, one of my editors for The Seven Trilogy was former military, and since the hero is an Army captain, she was able to make suggestions about any passages involving military procedure and protocols. For my books that have cops or police procedures involved, I have a friend who is a former police officer who checks those out for me. As well, with any stories of mine that involve characters of different ethnicities, I always ask someone with that ethnic background to read the story and give me feedback to ensure cultural sensitivity, respect, and accuracy.
Can you tell us a little bit about Driven?
With pleasure! As you know, this is the third book in The Night Guardians Series. In the first book, Vigilant, an underground but very powerful and well-funded group is kidnapping children from their abusive homes in order to place them with a safe, loving family (yes, lots of ethical questions raised and examined in that book). In this third book, three people connected to the man who kidnapped the kids and ended up being killed during one of the abductions follow up on a lead and track one of the missing kids to Chicago. The organization has been largely dismantled by the police, but a remnant still guards the children to make sure they are not discovered, and this remnant will stop at nothing to keep the three who come after the child from finding him. While all this is happening, two of the main characters, a husband and wife, are dealing with the loss of their child and trying to find their way back to God and each other. And of course there is a romantic storyline as well, between two of the people travelling to Chicago. So lots of suspense and romance going on in this romantic suspense!
With pleasure! As you know, this is the third book in The Night Guardians Series. In the first book, Vigilant, an underground but very powerful and well-funded group is kidnapping children from their abusive homes in order to place them with a safe, loving family (yes, lots of ethical questions raised and examined in that book). In this third book, three people connected to the man who kidnapped the kids and ended up being killed during one of the abductions follow up on a lead and track one of the missing kids to Chicago. The organization has been largely dismantled by the police, but a remnant still guards the children to make sure they are not discovered, and this remnant will stop at nothing to keep the three who come after the child from finding him. While all this is happening, two of the main characters, a husband and wife, are dealing with the loss of their child and trying to find their way back to God and each other. And of course there is a romantic storyline as well, between two of the people travelling to Chicago. So lots of suspense and romance going on in this romantic suspense!
What do you hope readers will take away from the book?
I hope and pray that readers will take the same message away from Driven as they do from all books – that whatever they are going through, however distant God seems, He has never and will never leave them. My goal with my stories is to always show readers that they are never alone and that God fights for them and will ultimately ensure that justice is done and all is put to right.
I hope and pray that readers will take the same message away from Driven as they do from all books – that whatever they are going through, however distant God seems, He has never and will never leave them. My goal with my stories is to always show readers that they are never alone and that God fights for them and will ultimately ensure that justice is done and all is put to right.
Driven is the third book in your The Night Guardian series. Will readers be able to understand and appreciate this book without reading the others?
Yes, several early readers who hadn’t read the first two books commented on the fact that enough back story was given that they didn’t have any trouble following the story. This book takes a different direction than the first two, so although it would be helpful to read those ones in order to have the full story picture, it is quite possible to read Driven on its own and not feel lost.
Yes, several early readers who hadn’t read the first two books commented on the fact that enough back story was given that they didn’t have any trouble following the story. This book takes a different direction than the first two, so although it would be helpful to read those ones in order to have the full story picture, it is quite possible to read Driven on its own and not feel lost.
Thank you again for taking the time to answer these questions. Before you go, are there any other projects you are currently working on that you can share?
Sure! My next release, The Watcher, comes out April 15, 2021. The Watcher, which is a standalone novel, is a bit of a departure for me. While the story is still a romantic suspense, it also contains speculative elements that hint at the supernatural warfare going on behind the scenes of the human activity. The Watcher is actually a re-release of my first novel, which came out ten years ago. It has been largely re-written and a number of new chapters have been added, though, so readers of the early version may not completely recognize this one.
My other works in progress include Written in Ink, which is the second book in The Rose Tattoo Trilogy and the sequel to Lost Down Deep. When that one is finished I will be working on Forged, the fourth and final book in The Night Guardians Series. I’ve also started a new series that will tackle the topic of human trafficking, so lots happening!
(1) winner will receive a paperback copy of Driven and a $10 Amazon Gift Card!
Full tour schedule linked below. Giveaway began at midnight February 1, 2021 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on February 8, 2021. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US/CAN only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.
Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.
Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!
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Sounds like a good read.
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing, this looks great
ReplyDeleteThank you for the interview! - JustRead Tours
ReplyDeleteIt looks like a good read.
ReplyDeletenice interview
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Randi, for showcasing Driven on your blog - I really appreciate it! And thanks to everyone for stopping by.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed the interview! Thank you for hosting.
ReplyDeleteLooks like an interesting book. Like the colors on the cover.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the contest.