Tour: Caris Roane's THE DARKENING (Guest Post/Giveaway)

Today I would like to welcome romance author, Caris Roane!

Hi, everyone!  And a big thank you to READING BETWEEN THE WINES for having me here today!

Though I’ve been a writer for a couple of decades now, words never grow old to me.  I wake up each day ready to tackle the next round of edits or full-on creation because at the end of the journey, I’ll have a story in hand!  Writing has become a true passion in my life, almost as much as reading!

I’m here today talking about my hunky, winged vampire warriors, my beloved Guardians of Ascension!  Because I fell in love with the works of Sherrilyn Kenyon, Gena Showalter, Christine Feehan and Lara Adrian, I knew I had to build my own world in which some really awesome vampires, built like powerful, muscled military men, would go around saving the world!  The result?  An elite band of warriors called, the Warriors of the Blood.  But the women in my stories play an equally important role.  Each woman has emerging powers and because that power appeals to the enemy, our warriors have to serve as a shield in order to keep the women alive as they harness their new powers and in turn protect their men and their society from the depredations of the evil ones.

In THE DARKENING, my heroine, Vela, has an unusual power called, that’s right, the darkening power, in which she can travel between dimensions through a secret super-highway.  Of course bad guys, with sawed off shotguns, also travel the darkening, so without Warrior Samuel’s protection, Vela would soon be history! At the same time, vampire mate-bonding snares these two and before long they’re battling each other, trying to keep from tumbling into bed, something that naturally proves absolutely impossible!

The following excerpt comes from the first chapter of  THE DARKENING.  We’ve just met Vela and her good friends are taking her out for a celebration, but first they have other plans – they want her to see what’s going on at the Militia Warrior Training Center, the last place Vela wants to be… 

Chapter One

Vela stood up and grabbed her purse.

“Well, we’re definitely taking you out for drinks,” Donna said. “But first, have we got a surprise for you.”

“Really?” Vela grinned. “I hope it involves a cake with that really bad-for-you, sugary-white frosting, because I’m in.”

When she reached the door, Bev and Chris flanked her left side, and Donna, who shared HQ grid-work with Bev, took her right.

“This has nothing to do with that kind of cake,” Donna said. “But it is cake, if you get my drift.”

“As in beefcake,” Chris drawled.

Vela stalled out and couldn’t make her feet move. “Please don’t tell me we’re going to the workout center.” Anything but that.

“Oh, yes we are,” Bev said. “We’ve heard it on the grapevine that someone special is being brought in, a warrior we’ve been hearing rumors about for the past several months but have never seen. He’s the one Duncan helped rescue from that weird prison cell in Honduras Two, where he’d been tortured.” She lowered her voice. “Apparently, he did something last night out at the Superstition Borderland that has all the What-Bees in an uproar. For one thing, he really pissed off Warrior Luken and you know how good-natured he is.”

Vela started getting that really bad feeling that Bev’s description matched the man from her nightmare and her heart rate cranked up a notch. What if this was him? What if she walked into the workout center and there he was? Wouldn’t it mean something? Wouldn’t the preternatural nature of the situation demand that she do something?

Her heart sank. She didn’t want a connection with another warrior, not any kind of connection.

“Please, can’t we skip this? In fact, why don’t we all go out to dinner? I have a friend who works at the White Lake Resort Colony. I’m sure I can get us into any number of restaurants over there.”

 “Hell, no,” Donna said, as Chris and Bev nudged her along. “Before you leave HQ permanently, we want you to enjoy a bit of eye-candy, because, girl, locked away in the rehab center, you’re going to die of man-starvation. At least here at HQ, you get to see Militia Warriors coming and going, but there? You’ll be lucky to see a man once a decade.”

Which was exactly what she wanted.

She took a deep breath. “Fine.” She only had to get through the next half hour or so then she’d never be back here, never be tempted by something she really, really, didn’t want in her life.

I hope you enjoyed this excerpt from THE DARKENING.  To learn more about Warrior Samuel go to:  http://www.carisroane.com/the-darkening/

THE DARKENING, by Caris Roane

A novella of the Guardians of Ascension

49,800 words plus Ascension Terminology

A tortured warrior and a peace-loving counselor battle to protect Second Earth against a powerful dark force…
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?

Purchase from: AMAZON / BARNES & NOBLE

BIO:  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. 

Website /  Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads

~*GIVEAWAY*~

Caris is giving away an eBook of THE DARKENING to one reader! To enter, just leave a question or comment for the author on this post and then fill out the Rafflecopter below. Additional entries are available but not required. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

~*TOUR-WIDE 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

Caris Roane's THE DARKENING
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