Happy Thursday everybody! I am so excited about today; release day for the final book in my Paranormal trilogy Angels Among Us. Today is the 1 year anniversary from the date date I published book 1 in the series and I never imagined it would get to where it is now. Redemption is unlike anything I've ever written and I think fans of the series will be pleasantly surprised at how things turned out.If you're new to the series, then that's okay! I'll be sharing about books 1 and 2 as well. Today I'll be kicking off the tour by sharing a 1st chapter preview. Of course, there's a giveaway as well so don't forget to get your entries in and check out the rest of the tour schedule. There will be chances to win at every stop! Title: Redemption (Angels Among Us Book 3)
Genre:Paranormal/Urban Fantasy Romance
Publisher:Self
Length:40,000 words (Novella)
Description: In a world full of the sick and dying, the hurting and desperate, and those lost in darkness, angels dwell.
Once a Warrior Angel, Nathaniel has now become one of the Fallen, after losing sight of his purpose. Fallen angels are cursed to wander the depths for all of eternity, a fate that Nathan has avoided every day for the past seven years. As the demon within him grows, he knows that it is only a matter of time until he becomes a monster. His love of a human woman is what caused him to lose his wings, yet Nathan cannot bring himself to regret it, or the child that came of their love. It is that child’s identity as a Naphil—half angel, half human—that threatens the existence of everyone he loves and Nathan finds himself having to face his past in order to secure his son’s future.
Carmen Rodriguez lives her life in constant fear. The power of her son grows every day, leaving him vulnerable to the plans of the Evil One. When a demon’s bold abduction puts Carmen in a desperate position, she turns to the only one who can bring him back. Nathan warns her that the road to rescuing their son will be a treacherous one … one that leads them straight into lair of the Prince of Darkness.
The third and final installment of the Angels Among Us series goes where it never has before.
Even in the very pits of hell, can an angel find salvation? Will the love that Nathan has for Carmen and his son be enough, or will Nathan finally have to face the consequences of his actions.
Is there redemption for the Fallen?
Book Release Date: November 15
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Chapter 1: Manifestation
The church was empty, save for the two who knelt silently at the altar. The woman placed her hand on the arm of the small boy to still him. He glanced at her with wide brown eyes and understood the solemnity of the moment. They had been coming to this place almost daily his entire life.
Our Lady of the Immaculate Heart Catholic Church was a steady fixture in the lives of Elian Rodriguez and his mother. She insisted on coming for prayer often, during which he was to remain silent and reverent. The high, arched ceilings had once intimidated him, and the figures of Jesus and Mary gazing down upon him had once been overwhelming. Now he barely spared them a second glance; Jesus with his outstretched arms and Mary with her benevolent eyes and serene expression.
He followed his mother in the sign of the cross and bowed his head as she recited aloud the Lord’s Prayer. He mouthed the words with her automatically, a reflex.
Our father who art in heaven …
Carmen Rodriguez glanced at her son out of the corner of her eye as she recited the words she’d committed to memory. She knew that the boy was bored, but someday he would understand just how important this ritual was. It was vital for his protection.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil …
She spoke these words with emphasis, recognizing them as the most important words of her prayer. Deliver us from evil. She had been led into temptation once, and as a result, evil was now upon her. She could feel the presence of the Evil One’s minions stalking them, waiting for the day that they would be found unaware and unprotected.
Over my dead body, Carmen thought vehemently as she performed the sign of the cross once more as the closing to her prayer.
She grasped her son’s hand tightly as they stood. She shouldered her purse and he adjusted the straps of his backpack as they made their way down the center aisle. Elian squirmed against her grasp, but she only held on tighter. There wasn’t a single seven year-old boy alive that wanted to be seen holding his mother’s hand, but Carmen wouldn’t let her son out of her sight for a single second. To do so would be equal to feeding him to the wolves.
As they neared the set of double doors that led outside, a sound like a ragged whisper rang out through the church. It bounced off of the high ceilings, followed by another and another until a chorus of spine tingling whispers surrounded them. She reached for the door, only to find that the handle was like ice in her palm. Ignoring the biting sting of the cold against her hand, she pulled with all her might. Her breath was now coming in shallow gasps as the realization of what was about to happen ripped through her.
“No,” she moaned, pulling Elian against her protectively.
The boy clutched at his mother, his eyes wide as the lights flickered ominously overhead.
“What’s happening, Mama?” he asked, his voice small and frightened.
A shadow swooped over their heads, followed by a second. Carmen felt a frightening mix of terror and helplessness sliding down her spine as a third shadow crossed over them in the other direction.
“Get down, Elian,” she commanded, shoving him gently toward the row of pews on their right. He opened his mouth to protest, but Carmen’s expression indicated that she would not tolerate insubordination. Elian obediently ducked down between the pews, watching as Carmen rifled through the bottom of her large purse.
The figures were swooping lower now, and Carmen could feel the rush of air that they conjured up with the flapping of their metallic wings. She could feel the heat from their red, flaming eyes and smell the hatred and malice that oozed from them, like the putrid mingling of rotting meat and fetid garbage.
Demons.
She had never seen one in person, but after Elian’s birth she’d been warned to look out for them. They had been sent for her son. As her fingers closed around the wooden, hand-painted rosary beads at the bottom of her purse, she vowed to protect him with her last breath. She tossed her purse aside as one of the demons swooped down even lower, scratching at her shoulders with razor sharp talons, tearing through her thick sweater as if it were made of paper. As she cried out in pain, the other dove toward her with a piercing scream.
She dropped to her knees and clutched the rosary beads against her chest, her fingers wrapped tightly around the cross. She began to recite the Guardian Angel Prayer, her fingers tightening around the cross with each word. The angel Reniel had given her the rosary and taught her the prayer, but she had never had to use either. Now was the time.
“Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love commits me here—” the first demon’s long, lizard-like tongue flicked out and danced in her face. The second began pulling at her long, wavy hair brutally, causing her to cry out louder, “—ever this day, be at my side, to light and guard, rule and guide!”
The instant the last word left her mouth, the church began to quake. The ground shook beneath her feet. She dropped to her stomach and crawled toward Elian, who waited between the pews, his large eyes filled with tears as he reached his hand out to her. As she neared him, the double doors flew open and crashed against the walls and the room was filled with a blinding light.
A glowing white orb rushed into the room, containing the figure of a man. The demons trembled and snapped their jaws at the orb as they circled; their narrowed, glowing eyes burning with intense hatred. They flew toward the orb, trying desperately to penetrate the glowing circle. They bounced off of it continuously like mindless moths, beating their wings furiously and growling with a grating sound that Carmen knew would always haunt her dreams.
The glow grew brighter by the second, increasing in its intensity as the dim-witted demons continued bashing themselves against it. Another bright flash and the orb was gone, revealing the man at its center. The demons screamed and tore at their own flesh with their claws as they came face to face with Jackson Bennett, one of Elian’s Guardians.
“Good-bye, fellas,” he said with a sarcastic smirk as he pointed the barrel of his solid gold Desert Eagle handgun at one of the two beasts. Instead of a bullet, a burst of white light hit the target directly in the center of his chest, dispatching the creature back to Hell in a puff of smoke and gray ash. A second shot sent the other one screaming after him.
The presence of evil finally gone, Carmen felt her heart expanding as the vice of fear slipped away. She filled her lungs with deep breaths, drinking greedily as if she’d been starving herself for the past five minutes. She knelt and pulled Elian against her chest, stroking his curly black hair affectionately.
Jackson approached and knelt to help them to their feet, his smoky gray eyes—a stark contrast against his deep brown skin—wide with concern.
“You all right, buddy?” he asked Elian, who nodded quickly to assure him. “How ‘bout you Carmen?”
He gestured toward the angry red welts that showed through the tears in her clothing. Her shoulders stung and her scalp hurt, but she was just grateful to be alive and that Elian had been saved.
“I’ll be all right,” she answered, pressing her hand to her pounding heart in relief. “I’m just glad that the prayer worked.”
Jackson turned to her with a frown as they neared the exit. “Did you doubt Reniel when he taught it to you?”
Carmen shrugged. Call her crazy, but she hadn’t been so sure that the prayer would produce help as quickly as it did. She’d called on its power in a moment of desperation; she would be forever thankful that she had.
“Well it did,” he said with a shrug. “Filled my head with visions of what was happening here, and I got here in a flash.”
“Thank goodness for inhuman speed,” Carmen remarked, deciding that Jackson’s superhuman skill was more useful than she’d previously thought.
“Let’s get you to school, buddy,” Jackson said to Elian as they moved easily through the doors and out onto the church’s front steps.
“Wait,” Elian demanded softly. He slipped his hand from Carmen’s and turned to face her. He motioned for her to kneel down in front of him. Gripped by confusion and anticipation, she did as he asked. As she gazed into her son’s brown eyes—so like his father’s—she knew that something special was about to happen. It was the same look she’d seen in his eyes the first time he’d used his telekinetic powers to levitate a handful of building blocks. He’d only been four at the time.
Now he reached his hands out to her, gripping her shoulders gently. The contact burned, but she didn’t move a muscle, didn’t breathe. She just stared into her son’s eyes, watching as the pupil’s dilated until the irises were nearly gone. Within seconds, her wounds began to burn so intensely that she could barely stand it. Her mouth fell open, but her cries came out as barely audible squeaks.
“My God,” Jackson gasped as Elian pulled his hands away and stepped back.
The burning was gone and in its place was a cooling sensation that caused Carmen to sigh with relief. She ran her fingers along her skin, only to find that the wounds were now gone. As she glanced at the gaps in her shirt left by demon claws, all she saw was perfectly smooth, olive toned skin.
Her blood rushed through her veins in both excitement and trepidation. Her son had manifested a new ability and his strength had increased every year since his birth. It was an amazing thing to behold. It was also dangerous.
“We can go now,” Elian said, grasping his mother’s hand again as if nothing had just happened.
As they walked the three blocks to Elian’s elementary school, Carmen remained on high alert. Her eyes darted left and right, scanning the street for anything or anyone that seemed out of place. If demons were bold enough to enter Our Lady of the Immaculate Heart in search of her son, she would not assume that they weren’t bold enough to attack them on the street as well.
“He’s getting stronger.”
Carmen glanced up from the cup of hot tea in her hands. Across from her sat Jackson and his wife, Sarah, Elian’s second Guardian. The husband and wife team that had been assigned to Elian for protection lived in the apartment across the hall. For the past seven years, the two had kept a vigilant eye on Carmen and her son.
Sarah ran her hands over the small bump that was rapidly growing in her belly. She’d happily announced her pregnancy a few months ago. As she watched Jackson place his hand over Sarah’s with a loving smile, her own heart plummeted and twisted in her gut. The fingers of his other hand caressed the brown hair that framed her face, causing Carmen’s own scalp to tingle with the familiarity of a similar touch. As always, seeing the two of them together reminded her of what she had lost.
Trying to keep her mind from diving completely into those melancholy thoughts, she cleared her throat and took another sip of her tea. As if sensing her distress, Sarah straightened in her chair and shifted away from Jackson’s embrace. He nodded in understanding and continued.
“Has he ever done anything like that before?” he asked, running his hands over his black, buzz-cut hair. “I mean, I’ve seen him move objects with his mind, but healing powers?”
Carmen shook her head. “That’s a new one,” she sighed. She didn’t know if she should be thrilled that Elian was manifesting powers so young, or terrified because of what it might mean. “I’ve never felt anything like it,” she murmured, her fingers moving unconsciously over her left shoulder. She’d put on a new shirt when she came home, but could still feel the coolness of Elian’s healing touch against her skin, like the soothing aloe her mother had used on her scrapes when she was a girl.
“They must have suspected this all along,” Sarah said, her voice low and soft. Her eyes, a beautiful blend of mahogany and emerald green, seemed clouded with turbulent thought and worry. Carmen knew she was referring to the demons; or more specifically Eligos, the Great Duke of Hell. He’d made it his mission to gain control over her powerful son. It was the mixture of angel and human blood in him that made him so special, so powerful. Children like Elian were rare, and he would not rest until he had taken the boy on as his apprentice. This was why the two Guardians, humans with supernatural abilities, had been assigned to them. Carmen thanked God for them every day.
“Eligos is intensifying his efforts, that’s for sure,” Jackson stated with a shiver. His eyes always grew haunted when he mentioned the powerful demon. He’d had a brush with the creature years ago and knew firsthand just how powerful Eligos was. “We need to get Reniel here and discuss these new developments with him. He’ll know what all of this means.”
“If only his father …” Carmen began before trailing off. Tears sprung to her eyes. Even after seven long years, thinking of Nathaniel always filled her with a raging war of emotions.
Sarah shook her head. “No,” she said, her mouth a firm line. “It’s forbidden.”
Sarah knew the rules that governed angels and demons very well, as she had once been an angel herself. Like Nathan, she’d faced the temptation presented by the love of a human. Unlike Nathan, she hadn’t lost her soul by succumbing to it. Who knew that God would be willing to allow an angel to trade in their immortality for a life on earth?
If only she and Nathan had known, maybe things would be different. Maybe now they would be as happy as Jackson and Sarah were, secure in the knowledge that their love was neither forbidden nor frowned upon. Unfortunately for both of them, it was too late. About books 1 and 2 in the series:
In a world full of the sick and dying, the hurting and desperate, and those lost in darkness, angels dwell. An angel of healing, Amir has spent centuries performing miracles for people hovering at the very edge of death.
A professional ballerina, Shayla lives her life to dance. Abandoned by her family, she is alone in the world yet determined to pursue her dream. When a car accident leaves Shayla in critical condition and in danger of never dancing again, it seems that all hope is lost.
Amir enters Shayla’s life intending to heal her, but when he sees her laying in her hospital bed fighting for her life, something unfamiliar resounds within him. A stranger to desire and love, Amir is drawn to Shayla like a moth to a flame despite the fact that the rules of heaven forbid angels to engage in romantic relationships with mortals. Should he give in to temptation he will become one of the “Fallen”, demons cursed to the depths of hell for eternity.
As his desire for Shayla rises to fever pitch, Amir will face the choice between love and damnation, or loneliness and divinity. Will an angel who has roamed the earth alone for centuries choose to continue on the path of righteousness, or will he fall captive to his burning desires and be forever damned?
In a world full of the sick and dying, the hurting and desperate, and those lost in darkness, angels dwell. Messenger angel Sarah is focused, dedicated to the cause of heaven in the war against hell. For centuries she has watched other angels succumb to temptation and break the rules governing relationships between angels and humans. Sarah has vowed to never become one of the ‘Fallen’ angels, now demons cursed to wander the depths of hell for eternity. She knows that she is stronger than the others, incapable of emotional attachment and the feelings of love and desire that can be so dangerous to her kind.
Jackson Bennett is alone in the world, and he prefers it that way. The former Army sergeant has seen more death than any human ought to experience in one lifetime. Even his dreams are haunted by the faces of those who have lost their lives because of him. He feels lost, purposeless, until an encounter with an angel reveals the secret purpose that he was made for. Born of a superior race of humans, Jackson learns of a special assignment. Should he accept, he will become an important part of world that exists between heaven, hell, and earth. After all that he has been through, Jackson doesn’t know if he’s ready to take on such a heavy responsibility; what he does know is that he could lose himself in the eyes of Sarah, the intriguing angel assigned to him. She is the only person who seems to understand the darkness and pain that have enveloped his heart; she is the only person capable of driving them away.
In a battle between love or loneliness, divinity or damnation, Sarah’s choice once seemed easy. What she finds is that the black and white lines that once defined her world are now impossibly blurred and gray. What she finds is that she may not be not quite as strong as she thought.
Now check out the awesome giveaway items you can win and enter the contest below!
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| 3 e-book copies of 'Fallen' |
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| 10 Autographed Bookmarks |
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| 1 'Angels Among Us' Coffee Mug (side view) |
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| 1 'Angels Among Us' wraparound coffee mug (side view) |
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| 1 Angel wing beaded charm bracelet |
Tour Schedule
November 16: Tamara’s One Stop Indie Shop
Interview
November 17: Shah Warton’s WordsinSync
GuestPost/Review
November 18: Romance Book Junkies
Review/Guest Post
November 19: Hope With Change
Review/Extended Excerpt
November 20: Ms Romantic Reads
Guest Post
November 20: Book Lovin’ Mamas
Review/Character Interview
November 21: Seawitch Reviews from the Bookshelves
Guest Post, Interview
November 25: Book Dream Land
Review
November 26: Carly Fall
Review
November 28: Satin Sheets Romance
Guest Post/Review
December 1: Not Now…Mommy’s reading
Guest Post/Review
