Spotlight on The Gryphon Series by Stacey Rourke with a review & gveaway

 

About the Author RONE Award Winner for Best YA Paranormal Work of 2012 for Embrace, a Gryphon Series Novel.

Young Adult and Teen Reader voted Author of the Year 2012. Stacey Rourke is the author of the YA Fantasy Gryphon Series and the nonfiction
autobiographical I'm Not Crazy, I'm on Lupron; a Journey Through Infertility.
She lives in Michigan with her husband, two beautiful daughters, and two giant,
drooly dogs. Stacey loves to travel, has an unhealthy shoe addiction and
considers herself blessed to make a career out of talking to the imaginary
people that live in her head. She is currently hard at work on the
continuations of the Gryphon Series as well as other literary projects.

 Website / Blog / Facebook / Twitter / Google+

 

The Gryphon Series

Young Adult Fantasy/Humor

By Stacey Rourke  

The Conduit (Book, #1)

 All 18-year-old Celeste Garrett wants is to head off to college and make those fun, yet ill-advised, choices college kids are known for. And maybe to spend some time with the hot cameraman she just met. Instead, because of a pact her ancestors made in the 17th century with a mythical creature, she has to save the world.

While normal kids are slamming energy drinks and cramming for exams, Celeste will get her adrenaline rush fighting a fire breathing dragon. She wants to meet friends in the quad to exchange lecture notes, but first she must exchange blows with a shapeshifting demon on the rooftop. Life isn’t always fair for a superhero, but at least she doesn’t have to do it alone. With her brother and sister as sidekicks, they alternate between saving lives and getting on each others’ nerves. Together the trio encounters unspeakable odds, mystical forces and comes face-to-face with an image that will haunt them forever—their grandmother in a leopard print bikini.

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Embrace (Book, #2)

RONE Award Winner Best YA Paranormal Work of 2012

Whether she likes it or not, eighteen year old Celeste Garrett has come to terms with being the Chosen One. She knew having a "normal life" would be tricky, between intense training sessions and epic demonic battles, but she didn’t know at what cost it would come. That is, until a dear friend is harmed by the malicious forces hunting her.

Now, she’d like nothing more than to retreat into a hermit lifestyle to prevent anyone else from getting hurt. But startling revelations, amazing new abilities, and mortifying moments in front of insanely hot guys won’t allow time for that. Soon, Celeste finds herself surrounded by darkness and wondering who she can trust—if anyone.

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Sacrifice (Book, #3)

Celeste Garrett has finally found a happy balance in her life as the Chosen One, thanks in large part to a certain hunky Irishman. But if there’s any lesson she should heed since receiving her calling it’s that everything can change in the blink of an eye. Soon a terrible new threat, unlike anything she’s ever encountered, causes her to make a gut-wrenching choice that will strip her of someone she holds dear.

 As much as she’d like to have a pity party for one, there’s no time for that now because wedding bells are ringing in Gainesboro! In between dress fittings and rehearsal dinners Celeste will have to fend off attacking demons and leering pirates. As if the Dark Army wasn’t scary enough our heroine is faced with the horrifying trauma of attending a bachelorette party with her mom and watching Grams do Jello shots. Is a walk down the aisle even possible for a member of the Garrett family when the Dark Army is out to destroy them? More importantly, will the Dark Army Glee Club sing at the reception?
Raise your glass to the happy couple, and get ready for a wedding…Conduit-style.

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Ascension (Book, #4)

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 a 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?

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My Thoughts:

Celeste Garrett wanted to go to college and have a fun time finding her way like all the other college students. You know what they say about wishful thinking!
 
Conduit is the first book in the series. It mainly gives us the set up. The whos, whats, wheres, whens and whys mostly.
 
Alaina is a spirit guide who has come to guide them in their transformation which was prompted by an old oath made by an ancestor to the Gryphon, the Protector of the Divine, to serve and help fight the evil that would one day come and try to tip the scales of Good and Evil.

Three children would one day be called upon when they were most needed to help. They would become the Protector, the Guardian and most importantly the Conduit. Gabe is the Protector, Kendall the Guardian, and Celeste the Conduit.

The characters are amusing and witty. There is action and suspense a plenty too!

The first book could be skipped but it is free everywhere! Why would you want to skip it?
The second book is Embrace. In the first book, there wasn't much in the way of romance but this one made up for it. :-) The terrific three are still learning their powers and Celeste is having a hard time remembering that she is not in it alone.
 
I am really liking Caleb (I think). ;-) But I keep second guessing everyone and having a hard time trusting the characters to not be out to get Celeste. 
 
Just like in the first book, there was much humor and many witty lines to keep you laughing, lots of action and suspense too. Oh and of course, another cliff hanger. 
 
The third book was Sacrifice. Wow! Each book has gotten better and better! In this book we see more romance. I mean there is a wedding! I'm not saying who's. ;-)
 
The laughs continue along the other aspects that I really liked about the other books, action, romance, suspense, action, romance, suspense, surprises you get the picture! :-)
 
The latest book, Ascension, took place about a week after the ending of Sacrifice. I liked it to but not as well as the first three because I found parts of it, while informative, to be confusing. Some parts like when they were in the Spirit realm seemed Alice in Wonderlandish. I never liked that story and I didn't care for the parts of this book that gave off that type of vibe.
 
I appreciated the answers that were given to some of the questions that I've had though.
 
This book left me wanting the next book!
 
If you are a fan of twists and turns and plots that keep you on your toes, you should give this series a try.
 
I received an ecopy of all four books in exchange for my honest opinion. I liked this YA paranormal series a lot. It was completely different from the other books in that genre that I have read. You know this is no small feat :-)

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