Caris Roane's THE DARKENING + giveaway

Hi, everyone! I want to thank I Smell Sheep for having me here today! I’m an Arizona author, having lived in the Sonoran desert for over twenty years. Here’s a desert-living fun-fact: scorpion mothers carry their babies on their backs.  I know! And I’ve seen it since I’ve had scorpions in my house…yes, one big aaaaargh! (And you should hear me scream!) 

Image courtesy of Nuttapong at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I’ve been a writer for a long time now having published Regency romance with Kensington for 19 years and now I’m writing paranormal romance. Currently, I’m published with St. Martin’s Press and I Indie publish novellas for my Guardians of Ascension series as well as for other series that have hooked my imagination and forced me to write the words down, lol! 

My latest paranormal offering, THE DARKENING, is part of my Guardians of Ascension world and takes place one month after events in GATES OF RAPTURE, a St. Martin’s Press release of December, 2012. Guardians of Ascension is an epic world of multiple dimensions in which the ascending process between dimensions involves hot romance and an array of emerging powers. Second Earth sees the transformation of the ordinary human into a vampire, who eventually mount wings! Yep, you heard it straight -- vampires with wings. I know, it’s kind of off-the-rails, but it’s all in the writing! 

The following is the opening to THE DARKENING: 

Chapter One 

Near dawn, Samuel Daman dragged air into his lungs, each breath like fire as he surveyed the Superstition battlefield. He’d been fighting death vampires for hours, like the rest of the Militia Warriors. 

Sweat trickled from beneath his weapons harness and down his back. Blood seeped in a few places as well since one or two swords had caught skin.

He was a fucking mess.

But the death vampires kept coming, floating through the dimension on arctic air, fresh and ready to fight, dozens of them hour after hour.

He’d never seen so many pretty-boys at a Borderland before, which meant of course that the chaos left over from Darian Greaves’s defeat in recent weeks, had turned up the heat. Maybe it was a good thing to have the Commander out of the way, but his generals had hauled the remnants of his army into pre-planned hiding places before Thorne, in charge of the Allied Ascender Forces, had been able to run them to ground.

Chaos now ruled Second Earth.

The fucking war was still game on.

At the very least, the current engagement required another eight squads of Militia Warriors. Thirty-two trained men. But what the situation really needed was another Warrior of the Blood who could handle up to eight pretty-boys at a time. Eight, while a squad of four Militia Warriors struggled to slay just one.

He extended his vampire vision and in the distance saw that Warrior Santiago battled – holy shit – thirteen death vamps, way beyond capacity even for a powerful What-Bee. Santiago fought with his back to the immense monolith of the Superstition Mountains, a Latin God in the moonlight, his sword moving like a silver streak of lightning.

Samuel whipped his warrior phone from the slim pocket of his leather fighting kilt and thumbed over the surface. He kept his sword at the ready and turned in a slow circle keeping his eye sharp for more trouble.

“Central Command, Jeannie here. How can I help, Warrior Samuel?” He served as back-up to Section Leader Nathaniel. He didn’t like the job, but right now what anyone liked didn’t matter.

He explained the situation, that he needed another eight reserve squads called in and another Warrior of the Blood to the Superstitions on the double.

“Done.” He almost smiled as he thumbed his phone. The women at Central could handle anything. And no argument.

He took one last look at the field. The Militia squads were holding their own so he knew where he needed to go.

One problem remained: if he didn’t release his dark power on the battlefield right now, something he never did because of the unpredictable qualities of his power, how the hell was he supposed to support Santiago? In his current state, if even three death vamps turned on him, he’d be dead.

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I hope you enjoyed this excerpt from THE DARKENING. To learn more about Warrior Samuel go to:

http://www.carisroane.com/the-darkening/ 

Purchase from: 

AMAZON / BARNES & NOBLE

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Read Adria's 4 Sheep review of The Darkening

About the Author:

Website / Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads 

 Caris Roane has published nine paranormal novels and novellas and writing as Valerie King, fifty Regency works. In 2005, Romantic Times gave her a Career Achievement award in Regency Romance. As Caris Roane, she currently writes paranormal romance for St. Martin’s Press and also self-publishes the continuing stories for her Guardians of Ascension series as well as stories set in other worlds. 

Giveaway for a reader on our blog stop

*eBook of The Darkening

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Grand Prize Giveaway: 

One lucky winner will receive: 

· A $10 e-Card to Amazon or Barnes & Noble 

· a signed copy of ASCENSION 

· an e-copy of THE DARKENING 

· Caris Roane sticky notes, note cards, notepad, versatile calendar, RTC cards!!! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

  

Book Review: The Darkening (Dawn of Ascension, #2) by Caris Roane

He thwarted connection of any kind…
Fearing that his newly emerged grayle power will kill innocent ascenders, Samuel Daman struggles to keep his distance from beautiful Vela Stillwell. But the breh-hedden has struck and her light floral scent tears at his restraint. When the enemy draws them both into the darkening, a place of secret travel for Third ascenders, will Samuel learn to control his power, or will he destroy what he desires most?

She hid from grief…
Vela Stillwell wanted a new life, away from Militia Headquarters, away from the reminder of all she’d lost when her husband died five years earlier. Seeking a more reclusive occupation, she finishes her last day of work only to have Samuel Daman and the infamous breh-hedden sweep through her life. Though trying to disconnect from her new emerging power and from Samuel, the call of the darkening pulls Vela into an adventure that both terrifies her, yet reveals the truth about her deepest desires. Will she succumb to the breh-hedden, or will her fears prevent her from living life to the fullest?

The Darkening, the second novella in Caris Roane's new Guardians of Ascension series, is a fast-paced, action-packed, sexy ride that will leave readers new and old wanting more.

Warrior Samuel has two big problems, the first being that his newly emerged, but deadly powers have been discovered (by whom?). The second is that the breh-hedden (a kind of bonding that begins with the affected pair being able to scent each other) has struck and is slowly taking over his thought process. He is the type of hero that really makes a romance thrive; the battered soul who, on the outside is deadly and fierce, but on the inside is lonely and unsure.

Vela Stillwell's plans for her future have been completely blown apart. On her last day at work the breh-hedden comes for her and the last thing she wants or needs is another warrior in her life. Widowed five years before, all she wants is a quiet, peaceful life away from men and the war that claimed her husband. She may seem like a quiet, reclusive female but she's more than willing to step out of her self-imposed exile if it means saving lives. She's gutsy, strong, and intelligent. Vela's strong reaction to Samuel is frightening to both of our leading characters, and with both Samuel and Vela fighting the breh-hedden, The Darkening adds an element of angst to action and romance.

What was truly enjoyable about this novella is that, like in the previous one, Brink of Eternity, there are a lot of details and there's a real story development in The Darkening. The pace of the story is fast but thorough, something that I've rarely found in novellas. Readers get a real sense of Caris Roane's style and are able to better judge if the full length novels are for them or not. In the past I have read and liked novellas by certain authors, only to be disappointed when I purchased a book by that author. Such is not the case here and that is something to consider when looking at these series.

As a new reader (this is only my second foray into the world Roane has created) I still found the terminology a little confusing but because I already knew the dictionary was located at the end of the book, reading went a little smoother. Still it is a little hard to keep up with the names of previous characters so I recommend reading the previous books before picking this one up.

Because Caris Roane has definitely piqued my interest with how detailed and complete her worlds are, I will (hopefully) be picking up all her previous books soon.

4 Sheep

Guest Reviewer: Adria
Adria's Romance Reviews Among Wildlings
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About the Author:

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I confess I've had a love affair with vampires for several years now, especially warrior vampires, the kind found in the books of Sherrilyn Kenyon, Lara Adrian and JR Ward. Though I've been published in Regency Romance under the pseudonym Valerie King--and yes one of my Regency Novellas features a vampire--one day I woke up knowing I had to create my own contemporary world of the warrior vampire.

For some mystical, magical reason, early in the process, my vampires appeared with enormous beautiful wings and it has been the most amazing experience to include flight in my novels, in both battle scenes and scenes involving spectacle. My special vampire world, published by St. Martin's Press, is introduced in the first book called, ASCENSION (12-28-2010). The second book, BURNING SKIES (May of 2011), opens up the world a little bit more. And even as I write this, I'm on the final draft of my third novel, WINGS OF FIRE (September of 2011). What a thrill it has been to live with my ascended vampires through the creation of this extraordinary, multi-dimensional world!