Virtual Book Tour and Giveaway: Karma City by Gardner Browning

Welcome to my stop on the virtual book tour for Karma City by Gardner Browning. This tour was organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. On my stop, I have an excerpt for you as well as a interesting guest post regarding fate. There's also a tour wide giveaway. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for more excerpts, guest posts, interviews, reviews, and more. Enjoy!

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Title: Karma City
Author: Gardner Browning
Publication Date: March 11th 2019
Genres: Post Apocalyptic, Science Fiction

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A microscopic parasite has crippled humanity with night terrors and paralyzing anxiety. In this world of increasing dystopia, hope yet remains in Karma City. But when mercenary drifter, Jameson Shoals, learns that a famous scientist has created a stronger parasite to kill the original, it isn’t until the bodies litter the streets that he realizes the horrifying truth: the new parasite is a killer with a mind of its own, and upon dominating Patient Zero, this killer acquires legs, hands, and eyes. It falls upon Shoals and his partner, a deadly female mercenary, to stop PZ and his mob before they can overcome and supplant humankind.

**The eBook is on sale for $0.99!**

Goodreads * Amazon

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EXCERPT:

Jameson Shoals crouched to keep his balance atop the speeding train. The wind beat against his leather jacket, scattering his collar length, brunet hair over his eyes like a frayed, muddy rag. The scalding steam and smoke puffing from the locomotive singed his nostrils. Raising his shotgun at the attacker standing only a few feet away, he shouted, “You’re in a real heap of sh*t, pal.”

The man glared at Jameson, with blond hair framing his gaunt face like tendrils of fire . His spindly legs backed to the edge of the train car roof with unnatural balance. “You should consider your own life,” he hissed. Amber light burned in the man’s hollow, jack-o-lantern eyes. “Detonation is imminent.”

Before Jameson could shoot, the man leapt from the train, flipping backward and vanishing into the night.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Gardner Michael Browning is an award-winning author and professional wrestler. In addition to receiving a New Hampshire Literary Award, two of his novels were part of an international English literacy program for middle grade readers. Browning enjoys classic literature, fishing, playing guitar and spending time with his family.

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Guest Post:

What is your opinion on the fate of humanity? Are we all doomed or can we be saved?

I don’t believe in fate. I believe that we all control our lives.

I make the world I live in.

What I want for myself, I work for. I choose it. I believe that I can achieve it and I work for it. Self-belief is a very powerful tool and when bolstered by a positive attitude and healthy life style, success can be a reality for anyone. People can live the life they dream of living if they begin to believe and then begin to do the work.

No one is doomed to failure. The only failure is not trying and that’s the worst kind of failure because it means you failed yourself.

Those who are unhappy in their lives need to understand that everything going on in their lives is happening because of a choice they made at some point. Have a home you can’t pay for? You financed it. Have health issues? You’re controlling your diet. Bills piling up? You’re spending the money somewhere else. Own your life.

There is no such thing as fate. No one has decided anything for you and no one will come to save you from yourself.

Make only the choices that will get you closer to living the life that is most meaningful for you. Every day is a chance to do the work and make your success. Every day matters.

You make the world you live in.

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GIVEAWAY:

Gardner Browning will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter after the tour. Be sure to leave a comment at a different stop on the tour each day to increase your chance of winning.

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Book Blog Tour and Giveaway: Radioactive (Bonnie and Clyde Series Book Three) by Clark Hays and Kathleen McFall

RADIOACTIVE

Bonnie and Clyde Series

Book Three

by

CLARK HAYS AND KATHLEEN McFALL

Genre: Historical / Alternative History / Romance 
Publisher:  Pumpjack Press on Facebook

Date of Publication: March 23, 2019

Number of Pages: 332

Scroll down for the giveaway!

Bonnie and Clyde: Defending the working class from a river of greed.

It’s January 1945, the height of World War Two. As the bloody conflict drags on, America has undertaken a massive top-secret effort to unleash the power of the atom and develop the first nuclear bomb. A network of Nazi and Soviet spies is determined to steal the technology, or failing that, sabotage the project. 

But first, they have to get past Bonnie and Clyde.

In a heart-pounding adventure spanning the windswept landscapes of eastern Washington to an isolated internment camp in the California mountains, Bonnie and Clyde face deception at every turn.

Can the former outlaws put aside their desire for revenge long enough to help end the war?

As in Resurrection Road and Dam Nation, the story cuts back and forth between 1984 where Royce, a washed-up investigative reporter, teams up with the now-elderly Bonnie Parker to hunt down the truth about their past, and the 1940s undercover exploits of the young Bonnie and Clyde.

And in Radioactive, Royce and Bonnie finally discover the devastating truth: Who Sal — the brains behind forcing Bonnie and Clyde into covert service defending the working class all those years ago — really was.

CLICK TO PURCHASE

CLICK TO PURCHASE

Clark and Kathleen wrote their first book together in 1999 as a test for marriage. They passed. 

Radioactive is their seventh co-authored book. 

Twitter ║ Facebook ║ Instagram

Clark: Goodreads ║ Amazon
Kathleen: Goodreads ║ Amazon  

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GIVEAWAY!  GIVEAWAY!  GIVEAWAY!

GRAND PRIZE: Signed copies of the full Bonnie and Clyde series
TWO WINNERS: Choice of print or eBook copy of Radioactive

May 23-June 1, 2019

(U.S. Only)

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VISIT THE OTHER GREAT BLOGS ON THE TOUR:

5/23/19	Review	Hall Ways Blog
5/23/19	Review	Momma on the Rocks
5/24/19	Review	Forgotten Winds
5/24/19	Review	Missus Gonzo
5/25/19	Review	Reading by Moonlight
5/25/19	Review	The Love of a Bibliophile
5/26/19	Review	Book Fidelity
5/26/19	Review	KayBee's Book Shelf

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Book Blitz and Giveaway: High King of Britain (Once and Future Hearts #5) by Tracy Cooper-Posey

Title: High King of Britain
Series: Once and Future Hearts #5
Author: Tracy Cooper-Posey
Publication Date: May 30th 2019
Genres: Fantasy, Historical, Romance

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All she wants is to fight for Arthur and Britain.

Lady Mair is a daughter of Corneus—the house of perfect warriors—and wants only to serve Arthur, War Duke of Britain, as her brothers Lucan and Bedivere do. Yet King Alun of Brocéliande wants to make her his queen, which would mean leaving Britain and Arthur’s court.

Alun’s younger brother and Mair’s best friend, Rawn, sees things as Mair does—nothing is more important than being the best warriors they can be.

Only Mair is entangled in the politics of the kings and leaders surrounding Arthur, just as his army prepares to fight two major battles in one summer, and people wonder when Arthur will become High King of Britain.

Plus, Rawn is hiding secrets of his own, that run counter to Mair’s desparate wish to be free to fight for Britain.

This novel is part of the ancient historical romance series, Once and Future Hearts, set in Britain during the time of King Arthur.

Goodreads * Amazon * Barnes & Noble * iBooks * Kobo

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Tracy Cooper-Posey is a #1 Best Selling Author. She writes romantic suspense, historical, paranormal and science fiction romance. She has published over 100 novels since 1999, been nominated for five CAPAs including Favourite Author, and won the Emma Darcy Award.

She turned to indie publishing in 2011. Her indie titles have been nominated four times for Book Of The Year. Tracy won the award in 2012, and an SFR Galaxy Award in 2016 for “Most Intriguing Philosophical/Social Science Questions in Galaxybuilding”. She has been a national magazine editor and for a decade she taught romance writing at MacEwan University.

She is addicted to Irish Breakfast tea and chocolate, sometimes taken together. In her spare time she enjoys history, Sherlock Holmes, science fiction and ignoring her treadmill. An Australian Canadian, she lives in Edmonton, Canada with her husband, a former professional wrestler, where she moved in 1996 after meeting him on-line.

Website * Goodreads * Facebook * Twitter

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GIVEAWAY:
Win a $25 gift card to the bookstore of your choice!
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Book Tour and Giveaway: Flobella - Adventures in the Creative Idea Dimension: Book 1 The Creative Path by Altheta G.D. Waverly

Flobella

Adventures in the Creative Idea Dimension
Book 1 The Creative Path

by
Altheta G.D. Waverly

Genre:
Middle Grade Fantasy 

Flobella is a creatress but doesn't know it.

Orphaned when she was four, twelve-year-old Flobella now lives a sad, drab life with her cruel aunt and uncle. Only painting and the maybe-memory of a woman who might be her mother hugging her in a purple garden makes her feel alive. But one day while painting, the swirl of colors begins to lift off the page, revealing a tiny fairy named Mumu whom Flobella follows through the spiral into the Creative Idea Dimension, a land of imagination and ideas.

When Flobella misses her opportunity to exit the spiral, the only way home is to follow the creative path to a gold door and Evo, a wise man who lives beyond the door and can help her find her way. Along her fantastical journey, she meets an array of magical creatures, each of whom presents a different creative path. But in a world of possibilities, she must find her own way, and the ruminudgies will do anything to stop her from fulfilling her destiny, as the dimension of creativity hangs in the balance…

An inspired and creative adventure awaits in an imaginative Alice-in-Wonderland-like fairy-tale world—where mysterious gardens, dark forests and magical fields are populated with wizards, talking ladybugs, white idea birds, a quantum kitty, and Timette, a lavender tea-loving time guide, and more—in this exciting first book in the Adventures in the Creative Idea Dimension series by debut author Altheta G.D. Waverly.

Goodreads * Amazon

Flobella looked down at the shiny floor and noticed a cat was laying only a few feet away from her, stretching its exceptionally long body from one side of the cottage to the other. The cat extended its front paws, dipped its shoulders, curved its back like a crescent moon, and lengthened its hind legs as its paws slid in either direction across the slippery floor, until its tummy was resting on the wooden sheen.

“Oh my, that’s the longest cat I’ve ever seen,” Flo exclaimed. “Why, he looks like many cats.”

“Woem! Meow! Woem! Meow!” the pale gray cat started meowing as he arched and replicated into many pastel colors.

“Qbits, my pretty kitty,” Timette said.

“Why does he look like that?” Flobella asked.

Timette bent down and lifted the cat onto her lap and started petting his long hair. Qbit’s body shortened like a retractable accordion and the colors faded as he sat on Timette’s lap.

“When Qbits gets nervous, he starts to make lots of copies of himself so he can have more possibilities. He’s a Quantum kitty! And you, Flobella, are making him very nervous.”

“Odd, he looks like a stacked paper doll or colorful accordion that expands and compresses,” Flo said with curiosity.

“Not odd at all! He’s only odd to you because you think everything has to follow the rules of your dimension,” Timette scolded.

“Mumu, tell Evo he may have made a mistake. If Flobella is as creative as he thinks she is, she wouldn’t be such a dimensionist,” Timette called out, her words echoing through the cottage.

“I’m not a dimensionist! Flobella said in defense, “What’s a dimensionist anyway?”

“Someone who thinks their dimension is the only one and has trouble accepting anything different when they go into another dimension,” Timette explained.

“That’s ridiculous! I didn’t even know I was in another dimension.”

“You Flobella, are a dimensionist!” Timette said while pointing her finger at Flo. “But hopefully if you spend a little time here, you won’t be for long.”

“All I said was why does the kitty look like that?” Flo said in her defense.

“Never mind, the important thing to remember is we’re counting on your abilities and willingness to be open to possibility,” Timette said as she pet Qbits.

“Now Qbits is relaxing. Poor kitty, you frightened him into more kitties then I’ve ever seen before.”

“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to frighten him. Here kitty, kitty.” Flo bent down and pet Qbits as he wrapped his fluffy body around her legs and started purring.

“Aw, he’s so cute. I think I rather like a cat with many possibilities. It makes them extra fluffy.”

Qbits started purring loudly as he continued to circle around and around Flo’s legs.

Timette bent down and unraveled Qbits from Flo’s legs and said, “Now, now Qbits, you be a good little kitty and run along.”

Altheta G.D. Waverly created Flobella's Adventures in the Creative Idea Dimension to immerse the reader in a creative landscape. She lives with her family (a mini creative collective) in a garden state not too far from the ocean and loves to visit lavender groves.

Website * Goodreads

Win a $40 Amazon gift card and lavender tea!

Follow the tour HERE for exclusive content and a giveaway!

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Book Tour and Giveaway: Crepe Expectations (The Pancake House Mysteries #5) by Sarah Fox

Crepe Expectations

The Pancake House Mysteries #5

by
Sarah Fox

Genre:
Cozy Mystery

When a murder case from the past heats up again, it’s up to Marley McKinney to sort through a tall stack of suspects in the latest Pancake House Mystery. . .

Although it’s a soggy start to spring in Wildwood Cove, the weather clears up just in time for the town to host an amateur chef competition. Marley McKinney, owner of the Flip Side pancake house, already signed up to volunteer, and chef Ivan Kaminski is one of the judges. But when Marley visits her landscaper boyfriend Brett at the site of the Victorian mansion that’s being restored as the Wildwood Inn, she discovers something else pushing up daisies: human remains.

The skeleton on the riverbank washed out by the early-spring floodwaters belonged to eighteen-year-old Demetra Kozani, who vanished a decade earlier. While the cold case is reopened, Marley must step in when some of the cook-off contestants fall suspiciously ill. Stuck in a syrupy mess of sabotage and blackmail, it falls to Marley to stop a killer from crêping up on another victim. . .

Goodreads * Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Google * iBooks * Kobo * Kensington

Sarah Fox is the author of the Music Lover's Mystery series and the USA Today bestselling Pancake House Mystery series. When not writing novels or working as a legal writer, she can often be found reading her way through a stack of books or spending time outdoors with her English Springer Spaniel. Sarah lives in British Columbia and is a member of Crime Writers of Canada.

Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram * Bookbub * Amazon * Goodreads

Win a $20 Amazon gift card!

Follow the tour HERE for exclusive content and a giveaway!

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Virtual Book Tour and Giveaway: Shades of Justice (Detective Madison Knight, Book 9) by Carolyn Arnold

Welcome to my stop on the virtual book tour for Shades of Justice by Carolyn Arnold. This tour was organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. On my stop, I have an excerpt for you. There's also a tour wide giveaway. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for more excerpts. Enjoy!

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Title: Shades of Justice
Series: Detective Madison Knight, Book 9
Author: Carolyn Arnold
Publication Date: May 7th 2019
Genre: Mystery

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The line between good and evil isn’t always clear…

Detective Madison Knight has risked her badge—and her life—in the pursuit of justice before, and she just might need to do so again. Two victims are found murdered and naked in the home of Steven Malone, who is the largest contributor to the Stiles PD. One victim is his wife. The other victim is a John Doe. This high-profile double homicide immediately pits Madison against her sergeant, who seems more intent on protecting the Malones’ reputation and retaining a benefactor than catching a killer.

Madison will need to pull on her tenacity and courage if she’s going to follow the evidence without prejudice. In the process, it becomes clear that finding justice isn’t always black and white, and often the shades in between tell the fullest story—and it’s not something she will forget anytime soon.

Goodreads * Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Book Depository * Books-A-Million * iBooks * IndieBound * Google Books * Kobo

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EXCERPT:

“We need to talk to the daughter and find out what she can tell us about her parents’ marriage,” Madison said. “Do you know where she is, Cyn? I didn’t see her as we came back here.”

Cynthia slid a glance to Terry.

“What is it?” Madison asked, turning to her partner. She didn’t care for the way Cynthia and Terry were looking at each other, as if the two of them shared a secret.

Eventually, Cynthia said, “Sergeant Winston took her home.”

“He what?” Madison spat.

Cynthia held up her hands. “I’m just the messenger.”

A responding officer should have taken Kimberly’s statement, and she should still be here for Madison and Terry to question. At the very least, she should have been taken to the station and set up in a soft interview room, nestled on a sofa.

“Tell me you at least swabbed her hands for GSR,” Madison said.

“I did,” Cynthia replied, “but it will take a bit before we’ll be able to process it and get the results.”

Madison had a feeling Cynthia would tell her that, yet the sergeant still let Kimberly go home. Not that testing negative for gunshot residue should have been enough to excuse her, either. GSR findings were fickle and didn’t rule out guilt.

“What about bullet casings? Did you find any?” Terry asked.

Leave it to Terry to carry on like nothing’s wrong.

“None.” Cynthia shook her head. “No sign of the murder weapon, either.”

She shook aside her fury at the sergeant and redirected her thoughts to the case. If Lorene had been cheating, Madison could somewhat understand where Mr. Malone was coming from if he’d been the one to kill his wife and her lover. After all, she was familiar with the pain of being cheated on, all because of Toby Sovereign. He had been her fiancé at the time she’d found him in bed with another woman. That image and resulting heartbreak took her over a decade to purge. Toby wasn’t her favorite person on the planet, but they’d at least made peace. It still didn’t mean she was looking forward to walking down the aisle with him at Cynthia’s wedding. He was Lou’s best man. Lucky her.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

CAROLYN ARNOLD is an international bestselling and award-winning author, as well as a speaker, teacher, and inspirational mentor. She has four continuing fiction series—Detective Madison Knight, Brandon Fisher FBI, McKinley Mysteries, and Matthew Connor Adventures—and has written nearly thirty books. Her genre diversity offers her readers everything from cozy to hard-boiled mysteries, and thrillers to action adventures.

Both her female detective and FBI profiler series have been praised by those in law enforcement as being accurate and entertaining, leading her to adopt the trademark: POLICE PROCEDURALS RESPECTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT™.

Carolyn was born in a small town and enjoys spending time outdoors, but she also loves the lights of a big city. Grounded by her roots and lifted by her dreams, her overactive imagination insists that she tell her stories. Her intention is to touch the hearts of millions with her books, to entertain, inspire, and empower.

She currently lives in London, Ontario with her husband and beagle and is a member of Crime Writers of Canada and Sisters in Crime.

And don’t forget to sign up for her newsletter for up-to-date information on release and special offers.

Website * Facebook * Twitter

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GIVEAWAY:

Carolyn Arnold will be awarding a personalized paperback copy of Power Struggle to a randomly drawn winner (Canada, US, or UK only) via Rafflecopter after the tour. To increase your chance of winning, be sure to leave a comment at a different stop on the tour each day. Good luck!

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Book Blitz and Giveaway: A Shifting of Stars (Of Stars Book One) by Kathy Kimbray

Title: A Shifting of Stars
Series: Of Stars Book One
Author: Kathy Kimbray
Release Date: May 28th 2019
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

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A squandering emperor. A handsome stranger. A reluctant heroine. And the ancient magic that will capsize a kingdom.

Seventeen-year-old Meadow Sircha watched her mother die from the wilting sickness. Tormented by the knowledge that the emperor failed to import the medicine that would have saved her, she speaks out at a gathering of villagers, inciting them to boycott his prized gladiator tournament.

But doing so comes at a steep cost.

Arrested as punishment for her impulsive tongue, Meadow finds herself caught up in the kind of danger she’s always tried to avoid. After a chance meeting with an enigmatic boy, she’s propelled on a perilous trek across the outer lands. But she soon unearths a staggering secret: one that will shift her world—and the kingdom—forever.

Filled with longing and heart, surprise and wonder, A SHIFTING OF STARS is the first book in Kathy Kimbray's gripping Of Stars trilogy.

Amazon

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EXCERPT:

CHAPTER ONE

I should not be here. I’m foreign to this village of broken rooftops and dull stone walls. I brush my fingers over a pillar. Its coldness burns my skin, makes me pause.

Go home.

The words sing loud like a taunt as moonlight slithers across my shoulders. The parchment digs like thorns in my palm. I imagine its shape, every fiber and ink blot.

Something moves near my feet and I jump. It’s just a rat, one of hordes from the city. They’ve grown bolder during these past few seasons, always darting out of alleys and running by arches, desperate—like us—to fill their bellies.

As it squeaks away, nails tapping in rhythm, I inspect the darkened street before me. Lamplight glows from a crooked post, but the shadows are still and the windows are empty. A leaf-strewn house looms in the distance, enticing me over the cobblestone ground. That house is the reason I’ve ventured so late into this weary part of town. Beside me, buildings cringe with moss. Walkways glisten with dirty puddles. Teetering balconies slouch from walls with garments strung between casements like cobwebs.

But that smell.

I halt to sniff the air. It wafts from the dwelling ahead of me. It winds from beneath its splintered panes—the pungent scent of broth and ale.

            I wish it were stew.

Saliva brims on my tongue at the thought of meat cooked with spices and oils. The last time venison passed my lips, my mother was alive, my father smiled, and the future stretched before us, unending. Those were the days of Emperor Komran, a king who lived and bled for his people. I barely remember the white of his beard or how he limped through the fields during harvest. And it’s the same with my mother. I’m losing her, too. The curve of her cheek. The shade of her tresses. When she died, we set her afloat in the Geynes, and I sat on the bank with my toes in the water, not wanting to break that connection to her.

It’s a year tonight.

My chest starts to cave, but I fight and I fight to be still, to not cry. At least the dead are not hungry, not in turmoil. They do not see what Centriet has become.

I urge my feet toward the house. Komran would never have driven me here. When he reigned, our streets were routinely swept, and fountains dotted the well-kept pavements.

And medicine was—

A loose stone clacks. Forgetting my thoughts, I dart to an alcove. Since Komran’s son became our emperor, soldiers lurk where you’d least expect them.

In the dark, I steady my breaths, in and out. Not that I’m breaking any laws—that I know of. I listen to the night: crickets chirping, a soft breeze, and the whinny of a horse that’s so indistinct, perhaps it’s from Sledloe, the next village over.

I wait longer, just to be safe. Many of the soldiers are kind, though not all. Father says they’ve been granted more powers, but that we won’t know what it means for a while.

I hate not knowing. Just like tonight. I hate not knowing what awaits in the house. When the street remains silent, I rejoin the road, but my ankles wobble when I try to walk.

So I jog.

It soothes my jangled nerves, and I reach the house, breathless and flushed. Planks board the four square windows; rust from the nails seeps into the woodgrain. The stones are all different sizes and shapes, charred by the remnants of a long-ago fire. Ivy clings to the rutted surface, its end pieces curling like ribbon from the door.

You should leave, Meadow.

But I raise my fist. All I need to do is knock. I’ve already abandoned my stonebrick at dusk without letting Father know where I have gone. The loss of my mother hits me anew—the pain a reminder of why I have come here. That I’ve come to move on, to at last let her go. Even though I’m not sure what that means anymore.

Or if I can.

“Are you here for the Gathering?”

The question shatters the bracing air. Someone’s behind me and I spin to face him, shrouding myself with my long dark hair. But I’m wrong. There are two. One’s tall and strapping. The other is smaller in every way. As they chance another step, I notice that they’re young—about my age, seventeen.

“Why I’m here is not your concern,” I say.

“We do beg your pardon,” the smaller boy says. He has a scar on his brow like a cutlass. And another on his forearm, dark as molasses. He gestures to the vacant street behind him. “Have you ever visited Yahres before?”

“Yes,” I say, though my words are false. It’s safer to make them believe I’m a local.

            “And your name?” asks the boy, but I shake my head at the same time his companion lets out a grunt.

            “Don’t bother,” he snaps. “We leave tomorrow.”

            The smaller boy nods, looking slightly embarrassed.

“We watched you for a bit,” he tells me.

“And what did you see?” I ask.

He smiles. One of his teeth is chipped. “We assumed you’d turn back many times.”

My pulse quickens at their presumption, especially since it’s mostly true. The slums of Yahres are outside the walls. My home lies inside in the village of Maytown. In Maytown we’re warned to always tread wisely in places like Yahres, Florian, and Sledloe. Perhaps that’s why I’d appeared so unsure. Yet neither of the pair looks remarkably dangerous.

“You proved us wrong,” the boy continues.

“No hard feelings,” I say.

He laughs. “Come inside with us.”

He holds out a hand, but I back away.

“Forgive me,” he says, withdrawing swiftly, color blotching his cheeks. “We lodge with the man who hosts these gatherings . . . and I noticed you had a parchment to read.”

“You saw?” I jolt, clutching it tightly, blood surging through my legs and arms. Since Mother’s passing, it happens quite often. My heart beats fast, and I need to run.

“You don’t have to read it,” he says.

I swallow.

“Although you can if you want to, of course. Unless you didn’t come here for the Gathering?”

“I doubt she’s here for anything else.”

It’s much too hard to read his expression, but the taller boy speaks with a dash of disdain. He sidesteps his friend with two no-nonsense strides.

“You don’t know my business,” I say.

“Oh, please.” He comes in close, reaching past me, and the scent of leather and steel is intense. It reminds me of sitting in my father’s workroom when he’s mending quivers for the elder archers. The boy raps on the door with his knuckles. Three times, then nothing. The way we’re supposed to. “Of course you’re here for the Gathering,” he says, as metal grinds and a peephole opens.

My need to bolt escalates.

“Get in. You’re the last,” says the face inside. The cumbersome timber shifts outward before us. It breaks the leaves and they flutter in spirals.

“After you,” the tall boy says.

The parchment feels like a stone in my hand. It dawns on me how stifled this is—this narrow black corridor, deep in the kingdom.

I brush the still-dangling leaves to one side. The passageway stretches a good twenty paces. I could perish in there and no one would find me.

“Are you waiting for something?”

“No,” I say.

Ignoring the boy, I stoop to enter, trying to focus my thoughts on the brickwork. The blocks have eroded from years of scuffing. They smell like lichen and tarnished copper. Light spills through the distant doorframe, and our guide clears his throat to urge us on. I double my pace, though the boys hang back. The weight of their presence behind me is strong.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Kathy Kimbray is a YA author from Australia.

She loves summer, dancing and dreaming up big ideas. A SHIFTING OF STARS is the first book in her thrilling new YA fantasy series.

    

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GIVEAWAY

Win a $10 Amazon gift card!

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