Gates of Rapture (The World of Ascension #6) by Caris Roane with Giveaway

Hi, everyone! I want to thank PARANORMAL CRAVINGS for having me today as part of the FAVORITE CHARACTERS EVENT. It just so happens the event here, at Paranormal Cravings, coincides with my WARM-UP-YOUR-WINTER BLOG TOUR, so I thought I should give you a few details because we have a big contest going on! For 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!
Today, as part of the FAVORITE CHARACTERS EVENT, I decided to share with you an excerpt from GATES OF RAPTURE that features one of my fav characters ever, the incredible Madame Endelle, Supreme High Ruler of Second Earth. Endelle is nine-thousand-years-old, of Mesopotamian ancestry, beautiful, has brown, ancient wooded eyes, a mouth that would make a drunken sailor wince, the fashion sense of a tree stump, and a heart of gold. In GATES OF RAPTURE, well into the story, Endelle is preparing to lead a Spectacle Event, one of the most beloved forms of entertainment in this dimensional world of the vampire. So here she is, in all her glory!

EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER FIFTEEN:

Endelle stood on a tall platform, before three full-length mirrors in her large bedroom.

She knew how to rock the spectacle and she wasn’t holding back now. She was having her final fitting for the hastily constructed regal costume she intended to wear for the event.

Poor Marcus would throw a bitch-fit but it couldn’t be helped. He had wanted her to rein it in a bit, but this was her passion, what had helped keep her sane, especially in recent months since Thorne had broken his mind-link with her. As the administrator in charge of public relations for her, Marcus had done an amazing job. He’d single-handedly cleaned up her image all around the world and had somehow even gotten rid of those unfortunate Mardis Gras photos in which she had, oops, lost her top.

But beyond the superficial crap, he’d built up her image as primarily a ruler of independent territories, that her most important goal would always be to make certain that each Second Earth Territory existed in a state of complete autonomy. Greaves had an opposite vision and this was something Marcus punched at hard in the political world-wide blogosphere, hammering away at the truth that Greaves was interested in world domination, not freedom for all ascenders.

“If you would please turn, Madame Endelle, an easy step to your right?”

She had discovered that the recently rescued blood-slave, Kaitlynn, a new mother, was also an excellent seamstress and costume-designer. She had a gift with working a variety of materials and never even flinched when Endelle said ‘possum’ or ‘cuckoo feathers’. If anything, her eyes lit up. She was a hands on kind of gal. In addition, she could work miracles with just about any medium.

She was fashioning a massive coat for Endelle, structured for wings so that it could be worn while in flight. The back had a strong central strap and was very fitted, but for the most part was bare. The bottom of the coat was made up of a number of layers, many of which would extend for several yards behind her while in flight. Those layers were constructed of traditionally lighter fabrics like lace, silk, and even netting.

She already wore her civet cat bustier and the lady-bug pendant. She pressed her hands to her hips. The coat was cinched in to showcase her small waist and was composed of sequined black leather, with white sequins in zebra-like lines.

Spread out in other parts of her palace, the long trains were being hemmed by her seamstresses.

In an hour, her hairdressers would arrive.

Endelle had to admit she actually felt excited about the Camelback spectacle event, which brought one hard fact sharply into view: This was one of the first times in recent decades that she’d gone on the offensive.

And it felt fucking great.

The room’s audio system came on. “Madame Endelle, Carla here.”

“Go ahead, Carla. Kaitlyn is with me.”

“Understood. Marguerite wishes to report in.”

“She all rested up?” The red variety of obsidian flame had endured a long night. With Stannett bound to six powerful Seers, he’d been a bitch to guard hour after hour. By Endelle’s calculation, Marguerite might have gotten four hours of sleep, but hello, welcome to the shit-for-luck club.

“Send her in.”

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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.

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 (as well as at all the sites on the tour if you want to go to every site 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!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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

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(The World of Ascension #6)

Gates of Rapture by Caris Roane

E-arc provide by Publisher for Review

Mass Market Paperback, 416 pages

Expected publication: December 26th 2012 by St Martins Press

ISBN 1250009952 (ISBN13: 9781250009951)

url: http://us.macmillan.com/gatesofrapture/CarisRoane

As a vampire and a warrior, Leto Distra is deadly. But after years of being forced to drink dying blood, he is now part beast—a wild savage thing lurking beneath the surface. With war on the horizon, Leto is determined to help the Guardians of Ascension destroy the enemy who turned him into a monster. And there’s only one woman who can help him.

Grace Albion is certain that she’s meant to be with Leto, but their future may be cut short by the impending battle. Now Grace must embrace her obsidian flame powers—and bind her powers with Leto’s—if they’re ever going to survive. With the fate of the world at stake, they must tap into powers they never knew they had…and unlock their deepest passions.

Sexy and thrilling, Gates of Raptures is the breathtaking final book in Caris Roane’s Guardians of Ascension series.

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

To Order GATES OF RAPTURE Amazon Barnes & Noble iTunes

BIO:

I was ten when I first watched an old movie version of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE and loved it! Movies led to books, which led to writing and after a good long while, publishing. I wrote sweet Regency romance for Kensington for 19 years and recently fell in love with paranormal, although I’ve always had a thing for vampires. I currently write paranormal romance for St. Martin’s Press but I self-publish as well. Building an online platform has been an enormous but rewarding challenge. I think all the changes in publishing will alter how authors approach the business going forward and I for one am thrilled to have so many options.

TO FIND CARIS ROANE ON THE WEB…

Website Home Page: www.carisroane.com

Twitter handle: @carisroane

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/caris.roane

Email: [email protected]

Again, to be eligible for the Nook with Glowlight, leave a comment below like this: carisroane at gmail dot com! Good luck to all!