Caris Roane Guardians of Ascension Tour Stop and Giveaway

Hi, everyone!  I want to thank Fangtastic Books for having me today as part of my WARM UP YOUR WINTER BLOG TOUR.  On most of the blogs on this tour, I’ll be revealing excerpts from the sixth book in my vampire series called, GATES OF RAPTURE (12/24).  I created the tour with the hope that you might get to know my Guardians of Ascension, who are my most beloved winged vampire warriors.  I know the covers have wings on them, but the books aren’t about angels AT ALL…just vampires…with wings.  I also have goodies for you to win, details to follow!

GATES OF RAPTURE is the sixth installment of Guardians of Ascension and features Warrior Leto, a famous, ancient Warrior of the Blood, six-six, long straight black hair, piercing blue eyes, and built to battle death vampires for centuries and drive the ladies crazy!  Major yummy!  Romantic Times Magazine gave GATES OF RAPTURE a 4 ½ Star, TOP PICK review!  I couldn’t be happier!

If you’re following the tour, you’ll know from the previous excerpt that Leto went into battle.  Grace did her part as well, by getting a fix on the location and making sure that all the warriors got there in time to save the colonists.  Now she’s in Leto’s Mortal Earth home, leading him to his bedroom and planning on many good things to follow.  But first, she has some hard truths to face…

EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER 6:

Grace led the way upstairs to Leto’s bedroom.  She had been thinking about this moment from the time she’d left the contest grounds and returned to his cabin to wait for him.  She’d drawn some hard conclusions.

Mostly, she wanted her blue flame power fully expressed so that she wasn’t hindered by these terrible headaches.  After that, well, she didn’t know what exactly would happen, but she did know that events tonight had brought her right next to the war and given the number of colonists that had been saved, she was glad she’d come back when she did.

Once in the bedroom, she looked up at the unusual bed.  “I’ve never seen anything like this.”

“It was handcrafted by a local artisan.”  Dried branches, scraped clean and oiled, formed a canopy over the massive king-size-plus bed, which seemed like a fitting choice for a cabin deep in the Cascade mountains.

 “I couldn’t say no to the bed,” he explained.  “The woman who made it lost her Militia Warrior husband last year.  She needed the money to support her family.”

“I think it’s lovely.”  She ran her hand over some of the smooth branches, letting her fingers glide over nubs and arches.  “And the sentiment is equally beautiful.”

Opposite the bed was a large fireplace, enough for a roaring fire in winter.  But in September, not so much.

He slid his arms around her.  “How’s your head?”

“Much better, thanks to Alison.  And did you know that her wings have emerged?  She spent the day flying over White Lake with Kerrick.”

“Wait, that has significance, doesn’t it?  When I tried to rejoin the Warriors of the Blood, Luken brought me up to speed about everything, especially about Alison and that she would one day open the portal to Third.  Holy shit, do you think we’re headed there?”

Shivers suddenly chased down Grace’s shoulders and arms.  “I hadn’t thought about that when I heard her wings had emerged.  It would cast a new light on your possible ascension to Third as well.”

He leaned down and kissed her then drew back.  “I think you might be the missing piece of the puzzle, Grace.  It can’t be a coincidence that your return here, to be involved in the war, has coincided with Alison’s wings.”

Grace felt overwhelmed suddenly and the part of her that was deeply intuitive knew Leto was right.  Her return was connected to Alison, even as much as her presence here would affect the war against Greaves.

“You did good tonight, Grace.  I don’t want to think what would have happened if you hadn’t embraced your obsidian power, despite your headache, and gotten the Nazca location for us.  It was some quick thinking, too.”

She looked up at the branches and once more let her fingers glide over a bend and a smooth knot.  She shook her head.  “I’ve avoided the war my entire life.  Now here I am right in the middle of it.  But then I ask myself, why should I be spared these fears and sufferings?  War has afflicted human and vampire-kind for most of history.  I hid out in the Convent, sent there by my sister’s disappearance.  I can see that now.  I’m not exactly sure that I’m worthy of you, Leto.  I think I’ve been a coward.”

He drew close and put a hand on her shoulder.   “No one likes war, Grace.  Those of us who are built for it serve because it’s the right thing to do.  But when lives are destroyed, as they were tonight, there is no real solace.  So why would you choose that, especially when it’s clear you’re built for other things?”

“I want to help, that much I know.  I didn’t understand how much being of use would actually mean to me especially in this situation.  But because Greaves won’t hesitate to slaughter millions of people if it suits his purposes, and if I can stop him, then I have a responsibility to do what I can.”

As she stared up into Leto’s clear blue eyes, at least one thing crystallized for her.  He had been in her life a long, long time and she loved him.  She knew his soul, his infinite worth, even if he didn’t.  If having her obsidian flame power opened and utilized fully would help her to keep him safe, then whatever sacrifices she must endure would be worth it.

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I hope you enjoyed the excerpt!  I’ve had an extraordinary time creating and writing this series!  Let Guardians of Ascension be a new journey for you.  GATES OF RAPTURE releases on December 24^th.

To Learn More about Gates of Rapture and to read the opening chapter:  CLICK HERE!!!

To Order GATES OF RAPTURE   Amazon   Barnes & Noble   iTunes    

Here are the giveaway details (all international with appropriate compensatory prizes as needed):  On each stop of the tour, I’ll be giving away the same awesome collection of prizes as listed on the Rafflecopter form, so be sure to stop by each blog on the tour for a chance to win at each blog.  Be careful to follow the directions on the Rafflecopter form at each site.  And be very careful of the dates!  The contest at each site will last 3 days only, and those dates will be listed on the Rafflecopter form as well!!! 

For links to all the other blogs on the tour:  CLICK HERE!!!

The Grand Prize Drawing - VERY IMPORTANT:  to be eligible for the Grand Prize drawing of the Nook with Glowlight, you must leave a comment at the bottom of this blog!  (And for more chances to win the Nook, you can go to every site on the tour and enter that many times—totally up to you!  But comments must be left!)  

The grand prize drawing will be selected by random.org in the following manner.  On January 18^th, three days after the tour ends, I will enter the number of blogsites into the random number generator, which will deliver up the winning site.  I will then go to the winning site, count up the comments one by one, and enter that number into random.org.  Random.org will then provide the Grand Prize winning number matched to the comments on the winning blogsite.  This means, that if you travel to all the blogs on this tour, you can enter the GRAND PRIZE contest on every single blog you visit by leaving a comment at each blogsite!  Good luck to all!

The Goodies as listed on the Rafflecopter form are :  a $10 gift card to Barnes & Noble (or similar for International),  a replica, antique typewriter key bracelet that spells ‘dream’,  a signed copy of ASCENSION (the first novel in the Guardians of Ascension series), Romance Trading Cards and bookmarks.  

The Grand Prize drawing for a Nook with Glowlight, will take place on January 18^th, three days after the tour officially ends!  Good luck!

For links to all the other blogs on the tour:  CLICK HERE!!!

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Caris Roane has published over fifty Regency romance novels and novellas under the pen name, Valerie King.  In 2005, Romantic Times gave her a Career Achievement award in Regency Romance.  Having had a long-time love affair with vampires, Caris tackled the paranormal genre and built a unique vampire world based on ascending dimensional earths.  Her series is called Guardians of Ascension. 

Her most recent self-published project, The Blood Rose Novella Series, launched in May of 2012 with the first title:  Embrace the Dark. 

Currently, Caris is working on a new vampire series set to launch in the Fall of 2013:   WARRIORS IN CHAINS with the first novel, BORN IN CHAINS.

Caris lives in Phoenix, Arizona, with her two cats, Sebastien and Gizzy.

TO FIND CARIS ROANE ON THE WEB…
Website Home Page:  www.carisroane.com
Twitter handle:  @carisroane
Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/caris.roane
Email:  carisroane@gmail.com
Again,  to be eligible for the Nook with Glowlight, leave a comment below like this:  carisroane at gmail dot com!  Good luck to all!


a Rafflecopter giveaway