Kindle Edition Download to your Nook (eBook) Download from Apple iTunes (eBook) Download from Smashwords (eBook) Amazon Author Alaina Stanford Category:  Mystery/Suspense Publisher: Hypnotic Publishing ISBN-10:  1517122945 Type: Non-Fiction Pages: 229 Copyright: Oct 12, 2015 ISBN-13: 9781517122942 Price: $2.99 (eBook) Archangel. Sixteen-year-old Cody grew up surrounded by archangels. It never occurred to him to question if he truly belonged. Archangel. Sixteen-year-old Cody grew up surrounded by archangels. It never occurred to him to question if he truly belonged. Of course he wasn’t an angel's son. Why hadn’t he realized that before? He looked nothing like his dad, and no one doted on him like they did Vada- Gabriel's true daughter. She was the only angel’s child among them. Why didn’t it ever occur to him to ask? When the truth about Cody's tainted soul is revealed its suddenly time for flight or fight.   Cody chooses to fight. But he just might lose his soul in the process.       Excerpt The wind cut through Alyssa’s hair with icy fingers, forcing it back from her face as they ran. She glanced at her daughter who ran effortlessly beside her. Samantha turned eighteen that spring. Her long blonde hair was pulled up into a high ponytail. She wore a dark- gray wool headband that covered her forehead and ears. Samantha flashed her mother a fierce smile. She pointed to at a large elk as it crashed through the brush less than a hundred yards to their right. It bounded up a rise to disappear into the dense brush beyond. Alyssa pulled a stocking cap from the pocket of her fleece jacket and stuffed it on her head. “Should we follow?” she challenged her daughter. Samantha laughed, and slowed her pace as the elk sprang into the air out of the brush and darted east across the ridge. “No, I think we’ve already scared the life out of it.” Alyssa stopped to catch her breath, “If you’d brought your rifle, we certainly would have.” A distant howl filled the air, followed quickly by a chorus of the same. Neither one spoke as the elk spun and bolted toward the west along the ridge, back the way it had come. Samantha’s big blue eyes locked with her mother’s. She gasped, “Wolves!” Alyssa grabbed Samantha’s hand and glanced around. A ridge of snow-capped mountains surrounded them on all sides. Dense trees and tall grass lined the edge of their narrow trail. Deep in the Alaskan wilderness was the last place she wanted to have an encounter with a pack of wolves. “Why didn’t we bring our guns?” she whispered to the sky. “The ATVs are at the trailhead,” Samantha took charge, squeezing her mother’s hand. “The wolves are after the elk, not us. We can make it. It’s only a mile.” Alyssa nodded. The took off down the trail at a fast run. Another chorus of howls filled the air. They were close, too close. Samantha shot Alyssa a desperate look, and they increased their pace. Alyssa whispered a breathless prayer, “Lord, don’t let us die out here today. Not like this.” A figure darted out of the shadows to their right, and Samantha slammed into her mother, shoving her off the path. “Get to the trees!” she screamed. Out of the corner of her eye, Alyssa caught a glimpse of a flash of gray fur bolting from the trees to their left. “Climb!” Alyssa yelled at Samantha, and snatched up a fallen branch as they reached the tree-line. Alyssa spun to face the wolf. It wasn’t alone. ********** Gabe split the log twice then tossed the four sections into the wheelbarrow. He glanced toward the house to find his daughter, Vada, scurrying after a loose chicken. He chuckled and said, “You’ll have to run faster than that. Peta is a fighter. She was born to free-range.” His spry ten-year-old had his wavy blonde hair and her mother’s blue eyes. She shot him a look full of daggers, and he set the ax on the ground next to the stump he used to cut the wood. “All right,” He feigned a moan of exasperation and added, “I’m coming.” Gabe’s long legs took only a few short strides to reach Vada’s side. He shot past her and began herding the brown and red chicken back toward her. The chicken squawked and flapped its wings as Vada dove at it. She landed on top of the bird. Gabe winced and asked, “Did you get her? Is she alive?” Vada rolled onto her back, clutching Peta to her chest, and smiled up at him with her big blue eyes. “Of course she’s alive,” she giggled and offered the chicken to her father. He clamped onto it with both hands and stuffed it under one arm. Reaching down with the other, he pulled Vada to her feet. “Good job, sweetie.” Gabe pulled the hood of her coat up over her head to cover her red ears. “Now go find Cody, and you two check the chicken wire and patch up Peta’s escape route.” “He went hunting again,” Vada frowned. “He’s always hunting.” “He’s good at it.” Gabe smiled at her, “We’re on our own out here. There’s no grocery store. Cody puts meat on the table. That’s his job. You watch over the chickens and help Mom milk the cows. Met should be back any minute with some salmon. Would you like to help us smoke the salmon this time?” “Eeew! No!” Vada’s face screwed into a knot. “That’s so yucky! Slimy guts and fish stink; no, I definitely do not want to help you.” Gabe chuckled, and pointed toward a pail of grain that sat on the front porch of the small log cabin they called home. “Then why don’t you grab the feed and I’ll help you patch Peta’s escape route?” “My fish don’t stink!” a deep voice called out from the tree-line. Vada turned and shouted at Met, “Yes, they do, and so do you!” Met’s dark green eyes scowled at her from underneath the hood of his navy down parka. His white-blond hair snaked out the sides of the hood and trailed down his chest. He flexed his arm, causing his parka to tighten around his huge, rock solid biceps and broad shoulders. Without his wings, his oversized muscled gave him an ominous appearance, resembling something more akin to a demon instead of an angel. He roared, “If my fish stink, then so shall you!” Vada screamed and darted behind her father as Met rushed toward her, waving his catch in the air. Bo, their border collie, came trotting around the side of the house. He barked and ran toward Met when he saw the fish. Met began to dart around the yard, chasing Vada while trying to keep Bo away from the fish. Gabe laughed and slapped his leg, calling for Bo to no avail. Then, suddenly, he froze. The breath caught in his chest. Met dropped the fish where he stood, and the men exchanged glances. Gabe tore at the snaps on his coat as Met wrenched free of his parka. Met’s wings exploded from his back in a flutter of pale orange, green, and blue. Gabe’s pearl-white wings burst through his flannel shirt, and he turned to Vada as Met shot into the air. “Go inside, take Bo, bolt the door, and don’t open it until we get back.” Vada nodded and ran for the house, Bo trailing close behind. Gabe waited until the door shut behind her then shot into the sky after Met.

Wow! The emotions this book brought me...
I haven't been so attached to characters in years. Thought provoking depth to each life. Thank you Alaina Stanford. Please keep creating. Your imagination is profound.

Another great book in the Archangel Series
In this installment of the series, we start a couple years later than the last one. Samantha and Cody are now all grown up. Mike comes back and shares the secret that Cody isn't really Gabriel's son. Why hadn't Cody ever thought that before, he knew Samantha wasn't, but he never even thought to ask about himself. Mike has a reason for doing this, he needs Cody to help him to uncover what is happening in a small town. But can Cody handle it, and come out unscathed?

I loved this book just as much as the other three. I do have to say that I was quite shocked about Alyssa. I was also surprised about who Samantha is in a relationship to, and that it is more than just a little crush. The ending was probably the biggest surprise yet, and I am dying to see what will happen next. What happens to Gabriel, Samantha, Cody, and Vada?!