Sacrifice by Stacey Rourke Book Review

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.

Writing is something I have always done.  I can remember in elementary school creating stories that I would stand up and read aloud to my classmates…whether they liked it or not.   As I grew older I didn’t flaunt my writing as freely.  It became something I did just for me  to vent my teenage angst, or chronicle my journey to adulthood.  I never thought about becoming a writer because that title prompted the visual of a grey-haired man in a tweed smoking jacket with suede elbow patches, slaving over an old fashion typewriter while puffing away on a pipe.  No way was that stuffy kind of life for me.  (Plus tweed is itchy.)  Instead I wanted to be in the spotlight!  I wanted to be–pause for dramatic effect–an actress!  I gave it my best shot, too.  Got about as far as any aspiring actress can get in Flint, Michigan.  Which is exactly no where.  But I did get two great things out of my time delving into the theatrical world; I gained the ability to act out the scenes I write to make sure they’re believable (yes, I really do that and no, you can’t watch) and I met my amazing husband. 

My theater ambitions behind me, I decided to do the “mature,” “grown up” thing and went back to college.  As I worked toward my Bachelor’s degree in marketing I did a lot of writing.   Essays, research papers, PowerPoint presentations.  All of it mandatory, none of it what I would ever call fun.  Even then, becoming a writer never entered my mind.  No, then I was going to be a business tycoon…or somethin’. 

Truth be told, I never picked writing.  It picked me.  During my time as a stay at home mom I needed an outlet to give me a mental break from diapers, formula and midnight feedings.  That’s when my hands found their way back to the keyboard.  Story ideas began coming at such an incessant rate that my rapidly clicking fingers couldn’t keep up.  Post-It notes and scrapes of paper with story ideas decorated every inch of our house.  In mid-conversation with my husband I would dart off to jot down things that would come to me.  Sweet guy my hubby is, he would just shake his head at my obvious rudeness and hold my place in the conversation. 

My first book was completed for an entire year before I told anyone about it.  I outed myself as an author and then sent out my first round of query letters to literary agents.  Surely, it would be picked up immediately and become an overnight success!  Yeah, not so much.  For two years I got rejection, after rejection, after rejection, after rejection…you get the idea.  Thankfully with the ever increasing pile of rejections came feedback.  I digested all the suggestions and applied the usable ones to my manuscript.  Little by little, the rough edges were chipped away and the diamond shone through.  The work paid off when I received an email from Outer Banks Publishing offering me a contract on The Conduit. 

While I've moved on to other publishing options I thank Outer Banks for teaching me one important lesson. At thirty-mumble, mumble years old I finally know what I wanna be when I grow up–- a writer. 

http://www.staceyrourke.com/site/df15c64a7c9940bbb2720baad73eae15/home?url=http%3A%2F%2Fstaceyrourke.com%2F#3007

Sacrifice, the title says it all.  There is no other title that would fit the continuing saga of Celeste, Gabe and Keni.  

 

Celeste learns what true sacrifice is, gives up the one person that she loves most, as he proposes, share a night to always be remembered only to find him gone in the morning.  All of who he was is erased, forgotten to him.  Celeste tares into her battles trying to forget, move on.  She comes to rely on Rowan only to find that maybe he was the one who had to do with her losing Caleb.  Was it Rowan, someone else.

 

All in between her questions and her fights, Gabe and Lani plan their wedding, only to have it thrown off, and save by whom else? Rowan.  Is it a trick, what does he want, what is his job at hand?

 

Then there's Keni.  Something takes over her, what?  Is it an evil darkness?  Alec whom Celesete finds out is not who she thought.  

 

Does Celeste give in to Rowan, does Caleb come back and most of all do Gabe and Lani get their "happily ever after?"

 

Only you can find out these answers as you read Sacrifice.  Be prepared though to laugh, cry and gasp.

 

Cheers,

Steph

Book rating: 5 stars

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00C3ONLP2/ref=redir_mdp_mobile?keywords=sacrifice%20rourke&qid=1364772553&ref_=sr_1_1&s=digital-text&sr=1-1