The fifth book in The Guardians series is going to be released in three days, and today, I have some samples and a Rafflecopter drawing for a copy of the series, and for a Kindle E-Ink. Enjoy!
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The
Guardians Crown
by Wendy Owens
Release Date: September 27th
Blurb:
Gabe is finally
forced to answer the ultimate question, will he give his life to save the
world? What about just to save the one he loves the most? The Guardians
struggle to find another way--ideas that don't involve Gabe's death--to defeat
Baal. Time is running out. What will Gabe choose? What price will he pay for
that choice?
Excerpt #1
As Michael watched her speak,
he swallowed hard, remembering in that moment it was more than her beauty he
had fallen in love with. “I don’t know what to do,” he replied, his words
barely audible.
“People need hope Michael, as
much as they need a leader. You and Gabe are the answer to both of those
things. You’ll lead the people of earth to victory and Gabe will give them the
hope they need to keep going,” Mirada said, her voice sensitive, yet
unwavering.
“I don’t know if I can,” For
the first time in Michael’s life he was completely unsure of what he should do.
He had lost all sense of purpose.
“You can, and I’ll be at your
side every step of the way,” she said with a smile.
“Are you serious?” Michael
asked, his heart now racing.
Falling to her knees she
embraced him, their lips meeting in a passionate kiss. She pulled away, looking
into his eyes. “I’m never going to leave your side again.”
Michael felt as if his heart
might burst. With the death of the council he had felt as though he had lost
everything that mattered to him, but here in his arms, he found the last piece
of hope he had left in the world. “We have to go back and help Gabe.”
“Why, what’s wrong with Gabe?”
Mirada asked.
“They found a book that says
the guardians crown is real,” Michael explained.
“Well it is real, or it was,”
Mirada stated, staring back at Michael.
Michael watched as she rose,
taking a seat next to him on the bed and wrapping her fingers around his. “What
do you mean it was?” he asked.
What does Mirada know that nobody else seems to? Read The
Guardians Crown to find out if The Guardians have a chance to change their fate
or simply must face their destiny.
Excerpt #2
“Do you think there’s any chance Mirada got the coordinates wrong?”
Rachel asked. It was clear to the group that they had followed the directions
precisely, and after thoroughly searching the area there was no sign of a cave.
At first nobody answered her question. Sophie and Haim collapsed on
the ground, both relieving themselves of the rope around their waist. The rest
of the group soon followed suite.
“I don’t know, maybe she had bad information,” Sophie suggested.
Gabe took a big gulp of the water then made his own suggestion,
“Perhaps she’s not all that different from her sisters after all.”
Uri nodded in response, but Rachel quickly chimed in to defend the
woman whom she barely knew. “That’s not fair. Mirada told us from the beginning
that she was working off secondhand knowledge and that this could be a wild
goose chase. I think you’re being too hard on her.”
“She has a point,” Haim added, moving to stand next to Rachel, causing
her stature to look even smaller. “I don’t think Michael would marry someone
who’s that dishonest.”
“You’re sure giving him a lot of credit when it comes to judging a
pretty face,” Gabe remarked.
“Really?” Rachel snarled, leaning back against the surface of the
rocks behind her.
Suddenly her face shifted from one of contempt towards her husband’s
comment to one of pure terror. Before Gabe could react, he watched helplessly
as Rachel slipped backwards and out of sight into the mountainside, a crumbling
wall now the only thing he could see.
“Rachel!” Gabe shouted, rushing forward. Before Gabe could reach her
Haim, being closer to where she had fallen through, leapt into the gaping hole
after her.
The group now only heard Haim’s cries echoing in the darkness as they
drifted further away.
“What the hell?” Uri shouted as he and Sophie hopped to their feet,
peering down the hole with Gabe, only darkness staring back at them.
“Where did they go?” Gabe cried.
Peering into the darkness, Uri commented, “it looks like some sort of
old shaft.
“Get out of my way, I’m going after them!” Gabe exclaimed.
He didn’t
hesitate. Grabbing what remained of the sides of the cavern, he propelled
himself through the hole, and down the ice-covered tube. As he rocketed through
the shaft, he could see where pieces above his head had melted away, exposing
solid rock, or in some place even an empty darkness.
Excerpt #3
Releasing one last big breath, pushing all the air from his lungs,
Michael emerged into the room. He opened his eyes, wide, and prepared to greet
his brethren. The room shrank inward, all around him, as his eyes took in a
sight he had not expected. He had accepted the idea this was a trick, that
perhaps he had offended the council one too many times with his unorthodox
methods. He had accepted they might, in fact, be luring him there to imprison
him for his insubordination. What he saw now though, was not what he had expected.
A half circle of handmade bamboo tables was sprawled out before him.
At each table, a small stool perched behind it with an elder seated in it. None
of them looked up at him, their heads lying on the table tops, the blood from
their slit throats draining, and spilling onto the dirt floor. All of them,
they were all dead.
Michael’s head began to spin. He fell to his knees, purging himself of
all of his stomach contents. A tear ran down his cheek, as he wiped away a
string of vomit with the back of his hand, from the corner of his mouth. “No,”
he gasped, shaking his head, as if trying to make the reality before him
disappear.
“I knew you’d come!” a voice called out behind him.
Michael staggered to his feet and turned to face his worst nightmare.
Baal stood before him, a smirk on his face. He wore his signature grey,
pinstripe, three-piece suit, and casually twisted his pinky ring on his long
and slender well-manicured finger. As it rotated Michael caught a glimpse of
the rubies in the skull’s eye sockets. His black hair was slicked back, the
sight of his false appearance made Michael sick to his stomach.
A slight panic
rushed over him as he thought, you need to get the hell out of here. But he
knew transporting would be pointless. If he fled back to Iron Gate, Baal would
most certainly pick up the tracer and follow him. He would bring the same fate
of the council down on everyone he cared about. There was only one option. He
would stand and fight, even if it meant perishing like the council.
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Author Bio:
Wendy Owens was raised in the small college town
of Oxford, Ohio. After attending Miami University, Wendy went on to a career in
the visual arts. After several years of creating and selling her own artwork,
she gave her first love, writing, a try.
Since 2011, she has published a young adult
paranormal series, The Guardians, which will contain five books total, as well
as a novella.
Wendy now
happily spends her days writing—her loving dachshund, Piper, curled up at her
feet. When she's not writing, she can be found spending time with her tech geek
husband and their three amazing kids, exploring the city she loves to call
home: Cincinnati, OH.
Author Links:
Website: http://wendy-owens.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WendyLOwens
Wonderful excerpts, Wendy. It looks like I better start reading, this series sounds amazing.
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