From best selling and award
winning author Stacey Rourke comes the heart-pounding continuation of
the acclaimed Gryphon Series.
The turning point of the Gryphon saga
is at hand …
Battle looms. Three unstoppable forces
prepare to clash in a colossal explosion that could wipe Gainesboro
off the map. Fate and sacred calling have landed nineteen year old
Celeste Garrett in the middle with nowhere to run.
Her trust wavers as she uncovers dark
secrets of the Council, powerful enough to test her loyalty and turn
her against those she swore to protect. Playing to the longing of her
heart, a malevolent enemy uses her weakness against her to form an
alliance.
With the trumpets of war about to
sound, which side will the Conduit choose, and who will be left
standing?
Excerpt:
Somewhere between sleep and awake he came to me. The mattress shifted under his weight as he settled in beside me.
Warm breath teased against my ear. “I could ne’er leave you, lovey.”
His
wandering hands gripped my waist and rolled me to face him. This
warbled land governed by sleep couldn’t conjure his whole essence—too
much time had passed for that. Instead it teased me with glimpses of
what I’d been missing; silky hair caressing my cheek. Hot kisses
traveling down my neck. Emerald eyes filled with an insatiable hunger.
The sensual awakening that jolted through me when his mouth found
mine.
“I’m always with you,” Caleb whispered against my lips.
I
twined my arms around his neck and pulled him closer; a move that
garnered a low groan of appreciation. His hands roamed up my arms and
encircled my wrists. In a sudden, shockingly violent, move he forced
them down against the mattress and pinned me there.
I
gaped in confusion as green eyes blinked to sapphire blue. His
seductive stare twisted into visible disgust and hatred. Like ink dumped
from a bottle, the black drained from Caleb’s hair. The dripping color
leaked away to reveal long strawberry blond hair ponytailed at the nape
of his neck. Alec. Not the latest version of him currently possessed by a
three-hundred-year-old demon, but the Alec I first met whilst rolling a
tire. The carefree boy I had started to fall for before fate
intervened. Yet the look that darkened his gaze was more murderous than
welcoming. I thrashed and bucked beneath him but couldn’t seem to summon
one iota of strength. His grip on my wrists tightened to the point of
pain.
“Is he worth it?” he hissed in my face. “Is he worth the blood on your hands?”
Crimson
red blood bubbled up Alec’s throat. It seeped between his teeth and
dribbled down his chin. “Will he still want you when he knows what
you’ve done and what it cost?”
Squeezing
my eyes shut, I cringed further into the mattress as blood rained down.
The warm stickiness, with its pungent rusty smell, dripped on my face
and soaked my shirt.
I risked a glance up to see Alec’s lips curl in an evil grin. “Now, how ‘bout a kiss?”
He
bowed his head and crammed his blood soaked lips to mine. My muffled
scream quickly turned into a gurgled gasp for air as I fought not to
drown in this crimson hell.
LINKS:
Website: http://Staceyrourke.com
My Review:
Book 4 of the Gryphon series starts with a creepy dream that Celeste has. The story picks up where it left off in book 3 and like in the other books, the action doesn’t stop. The Garret family has new joys, and new obstacles in the fight against evil. But in this one Celeste learns how it all started and has to wonder if she is fighting for the right side.
This series is one of the best action adventure series’ I have read since the Maximum ride series. It keeps you on your toes and each book has new surprises in store for the conduit of the Gryphon and her family. I tore through this book in a couple of days and I thoroughly enjoyed the exciting continuation of the Conduit saga. I give this another 5 stars and am very eagerly awaiting the next book in the series. Write faster Stacey! Or at least give us a novella to tide us over. :)
***
With the release of Ascension comes the
newest edition of the entire series, complete with amazing
illustrations of these dynamic characters. Here’s a sample:
Illustrator
Crystal Ord will be bringing some of your favorite Gryphon Series
characters to life!
Crystal
Smalls Ord is a freelance illustrator and writer who resides in the
rainy Pacific Northwest. Her art and stories have appeared in the
macabre children's lit magazine, Underneath the Juniper Tree. Last
year she illustrated her first children's book, Ethan's Story; My
Life with Autism which can be found on Amazon.com. Her art has also
appeared in hitRECord.com's musical short, Madamoiselle Noir.
In
her free time Crystal plays with her kids, cleans house, teaches
music in Sunday School, and lingers in the geekery corner of
Pinterest.
Contact
her at:
Website: wix.com/fynn47/author-website.com
Facebook: facebook.com/smallsord
The
demonic and fantasy elements of the Conduit’s journey will jump off
the page thanks to Robert Immings;
In
2000 Robert Immings graduated from the Art Institute of Atlanta with
a BFA in graphic design. Since then he’s done work in package
design, web development and designed training applications and
software interfaces. These days he’s a mild-mannered operations
technician with an electronic trading firm in Alpharetta Georgia.
Earlier this.year he had a chance to enter Sony's "Treasures of
Middle Earth" design contest which was a promotion for the
hobbit movie. He came in as a runner-up. More recently he had the
opportunity to do some sketches and collaborate on the cover for
Emily Fogel's wonderful fantasy novel Dragon Wars and created the
cover for her soon to be released book "Chasing Flames".
Right now he’s excited to be working on a collection of
illustrations for Stacey Rourke's Gryphon Series.
He’s
always interested in illustration and graphic design projects and can
be contacted at robertimmings@hotmail.com.
ABOUT STACEY:
There is nothing worse than being put
on the spot and asked to talk about yourself. For me it
Best selling award winning author of
the Laugh-out Loud Gryphon Series and the nonfiction book I'm Not
Crazy I'm on Lupron; a Journey Through Infertility. Learn more about
Stacey's books at www.staceyrourke.com
or diaryofasemi-crazyauthor.blogspot.com. If you are a blogger or
reviewer interested in reviewing any of Mrs. Rourke's work please
contact her publicist Sara O’Connor at info(AT)
gliterarygirlmedia(DOT)com
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