Excerpt Tour and Giveaway: She's the One Who Doesn't Say Much (The War Stories of the Seven Troublesome Sisters #4) by S.R. Cronin

Welcome to my stop on the excerpt tour for She's the One Who Doesn't Say Much by S.R. Cronin. This tour was organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. On my stop, I have an exclusive excerpt from the book. There's also the tour wide giveaway for a chance to win a $20 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card. Be sure to visit the rest of the stops on the tour for more exclusive excerpts. Enjoy!

--

Title: She's the One Who Doesn't Say Much

Series: The War Stories of the Seven Troublesome Sisters #4

Author: S.R. Cronin

Publisher: Cinnabar Press

Publication Date: August 13th 2021

Print Length: 230 pages

Genre: Historical Fantasy

~

Do you know what your problem is?

Olivine knows hers. This quiet thirteenth-century artist has been hiding a secret as she travels to K'ba to meet her friends. Others assume she's fallen in love with another artist, but it's much worse than that. For on the way to K'ba is the dirt poor nichna of Scrud, a place scorned by other Ilarians. And in Scrud is the one man who understands her.

However, Bohdan recognizes the dangers posed by an impending Mongol invasion. When he learns of Olivine's unusual visual powers, he convinces her to pick up her bow and start practicing.

She does, though she's more concerned with moving to K'ba where she can paint all day and see Bohdan whenever she wants. If only her sister hadn't decided Olivine and her fellow long eyes held one key to defending the realm.

Then, as if life wasn't complicated enough, Olivine learns the artist community she yearns to be part of has developed a different take on the invasion. They're sure the only way to survive is to capitulate completely to the Mongols’ demands. Artists who feel otherwise are no longer welcome.

Where does her future lie? The invasion is coming soon and Olivine doesn't have much time to decide.

Goodreads * Amazon * Apple Books *

Barnes & Noble * Books-A-Million * Bookshop *

IndieBound * Kobo * Smashwords

---

EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT:

She settled onto the foot of my bed and we talked of my oldest sister who lived with the Velka, and my next sister who had married a Mozdol, and the third one, newly inducted into the Svadlu as a fighter. She’d heard about my family already, but I needed to convince her I was a credible source of information before I described Ryalgar’s plan for using long eyes.

Zoya sat up and listened, interested to discover our shared skill could have some use, but her face fell when I mentioned archery. I kept talking anyway and finally she looked at me with tears in her eyes. Then she pulled down her blouse and turned away from me. I saw deep purple scars twisting along her back and her upper arms, and burrowing well into the soft tissue of her armpits. She’d kept these scars hidden under the modest clothing she always wore. What could have caused such injuries?

“Did you ever wonder why I, of all my siblings, never carry the heavy trays to clear the tables? I don’t serve large orders; I don’t even clean the rooms. Why? I can’t lift anything much heavier than a paintbrush for long enough to be of any help.”

“Zoya. I’m so sorry. I had no idea. What happened?”

She shook her head as she put her blouse back on. “No questions. I only showed you so you’d believe me, and not think I made up an excuse. I’d do anything to help your cause, but archery is well beyond what I could manage.”

I believed her. “Maybe Ryalgar could use your long eyes in other ways. Is it okay if I tell her and ….”

“Yes, because I want to help. But no one else, please.”

“Of course. Zoya …” My mind raced. Zoya’s avoidance of intimacy and the way her parents had always treated her as if she were fragile suddenly made more sense.

“I’m sorry I never noticed. I had no idea.”

“You fool. Not noticing is the nicest thing you could have done. Now be my friend again by pretending you never saw this.”

The scars were horrible. I wished I never had.

---

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Sherrie Cronin is the author of a collection of six speculative fiction novels known as 46. Ascending and is now in the process of publishing a historical fantasy series called The War Stories of the Seven Troublesome Sisters. A quick look at the synopses of her books makes it obvious she is fascinated by people achieving the astonishing by developing abilities they barely knew they had.

She’s made a lot of stops along the way to writing these novels. She’s lived in seven cities, visited forty-six countries, and worked as a waitress, technical writer, and geophysicist. Now she answers a hot-line. Along the way, she’s lost several cats but acquired a husband who still loves her and three kids who’ve grown up just fine, both despite how odd she is.

All her life she has wanted to either tell these kinds of stories or be Chief Science Officer on the Starship Enterprise. She now lives and writes in the mountains of Western North Carolina, where she admits to occasionally checking her phone for a message from Captain Picard, just in case.

Amazon * BookBub * Blog * Facebook *

Goodreads * Instagram * Twitter

---

GIVEAWAY:

S. R. Cronin will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter. Good luck!

(All the Ups and Downs is not responsible for this giveaway, its entries, or the prize. Goddess Fish Promotions assumes all responsible for this giveaway.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway