Hi
lovelies! It gives me great pleasure today to host Weston Sullivan and his new
book, “Just off the Path”! For other
stops on his Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner
above or any of the images in this post.
Be
sure to make it to the end of this post to enter to win a $10 Amazon or Barnes
and Noble Gift Card!! Also, come back
daily to interact with Weston and to increase your chances of winning!
Thanks
for stopping by! Wishing you lots of
luck in this fabulous giveaway!
Just off the Path
by Weston Sullivan
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GENRE: Fantasy
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BLURB:
Hansel
never asked to be a hero. He never wanted to fall in love with Rapunzel, Queen
of the East. He didn’t ask to be raised by Gothel the Wretch, and he certainly
never wanted to be credited for her arrest. But more than any of that, Hansel
never wanted to lie: but he did. He lied about everything. He thought that he
was done with it all when he and his sister Gretel retreated into the woods to
reclaim their land, but he should have known better.
Hansel
needs to find a way to fix this, otherwise he will be responsible for Grimm’s
destruction, or that is what he thinks. As Hansel isn’t the only liar in Grimm.
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EXCERPT TWO:
The Girl in the Red Cape
My
rude brother’s name is Hansel,” Gretel
said, pushing her way past a particularly thorny vine. “And I’m Gretel.”
“How
am I rude?” Hansel asked, his voice sharp. He wasn’t in the mood to argue.
Their hunt was fruitless, and it was cold enough that his breath rushed from
his nostrils and plumed into the air above his head. “I saved her life, didn’t
I?”
The
girls walked ahead of him, Ceara only steps ahead of Gretel. Every few seconds,
she stopped to gather her bearings. They were fast friends; Hansel knew Gretel
was intrigued by Ceara’s fearlessness. She walked the thickets as if they were
a second home to her, leaving Hansel behind to worry about the things that hid
in the darkness. He kept his bow drawn. It felt as though the briar was pulling
him back and with each step he took, he could feel the thorns prick his skin,
snag his clothes, like Grimm itself was assaulting him. Touching the thorns was
unavoidable. His skin was on fire after the first few steps, and tiny pools of
blood formed all over his body. Gretel was bleeding, too. But not Ceara, since
her cloak shielded her from the thickets.
Gretel
shoved her elbow into his ribcage. “It’s rude not to introduce yourself.”
“It’s
rude to call someone else rude,” Hansel retorted. To his relief, he saw the
light of the moon streaking through the overgrowth ahead. The three of them
shimmied their way through the final layer of hanging briar and back into the
woods. Hansel sucked in a breath of air. It tasted clean, crisp and cold,
instead of stagnant and sour. Leaving the thickets was like taking a plunge
into the river on the hottest day in summer. His muscles loosened and he
strapped his bow on his back. They weren’t home, but they were safe.
They
walked in silence for a few minutes, until they could see The Path. When they
passed a tall tree, Ceara stopped and placed her palm on its trunk, admiring
it. And when they reached a particularly tall tree, she stopped.
“Have
you ever wondered why the trees shed their leaves in the winter?” she asked. “I
don’t know about you two, but when it starts to get cold, I put more clothes
on. I certainly don’t get naked and stand in the middle of the forest.” Her
thought was interrupted by the sound of hooves in the distance.
Hansel
squinted, looking off into the distance. Before he saw anything, Ceara tackled
him to the ground. He mumbled an angry demand for explanation, but Ceara
shushed him, pointing.
Five
horses raced across the worn trail that cut through the wood. The horsemen were
spots of light in the gray-brown haze of early winter. They wore gold and
white—the colors of the Eastern region, Rapunzel’s territory. When they passed
in front of him, he noted their tunics were dirty and their swords drawn. After
they disappeared behind a wall of pale trees, he stood and brushed himself off.
“Why
did you do that?” he asked.
Ceara
shook the leaves from her cloak. “They’re tracking The Wolf.”
“So?”
Hansel asked.
“You
don’t want them to spot you anywhere near him,” Ceara replied. “All three
regions are out for his head.”
“We’re
friends of Rapunzel,” Hansel said. “She knows we hunt here. No harm would come
to any of us.”
Ceara’s
eyes widened emphatically. She closed her cloak over her bodice, her wicker
basket producing the illusion of pregnancy. “It doesn’t matter.”
Gretel
stepped between them, taking charge of the conversation. “Why are all three
regions after him?”
“They
think he’s the one who’s committed all the murders,” Ceara said. She leaned in
close, even though there wasn’t another soul in sight.
“Murders?”
Gretel asked.
“You
haven’t heard?”
The
word murder made Hansel cringe. He felt cold and vulnerable with it floating in
the air around him. “We need to keep going. It will be dark soon.”
The
girls followed him, but they hunched over like housewives in the market square,
gossiping among themselves.
“What
murders?” Gretel repeated.
“There’ve
been murders all across Grimm for weeks. Close to twenty of them, at least!”
“I
have no words.” Gretel shook her head. “There’s never been anything like this
in Grimm. Not since…”
“Gothel,”
Ceara finished her sentence. “I know.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR BIO:
After
graduating with a BA in Creative Writing from the University of South Florida
in 2017, Weston Sullivan moved
to New York City to live and write in the heart of the industry. In late 2016,
he began working as an intern in the submissions department of BookFish Books.
His short story, "On the Hillside", won the Anspaugh Award for
Fiction in February of 2017, and his novel, JUST OFF THE PATH, is due for
release in early September. He likes to
believe that he is in charge of his own destiny, but at the end of the day, he
knows that he was born to serve his two beloved cats.
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CONNECT WITH WESTON:
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Goodreads Author Page:
Goodreads Book Page:
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BOOK BUY LINKS:
Amazon US Kindle:
Amazon US Paperback:
Amazon UK:
Amazon CA:
Amazon AU:
Amazon DE:
Barnes and Noble:
Kobo:
Apple iBooks:
Books2Read:
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GIVEAWAY INFO:
Weston will be awarding a $10 Amazon or B/N GC
to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.
**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a
purchase made I may receive a small commission to help support this blog. This does not cost you anything, it just
helps pay for all those awesome giveaways on here.**
This contest is sponsored
by a third party. Fabulous and Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish
Promotions. Prizes are given away by the
sponsors and not Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish
Promotions are solely responsible for the giveaway prize.
Weston ~ It is great to have you here! Congrats on your new book and good luck on the book tour! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for both the excerpt and giveaway, greatly appreciated.
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading the excerpt to get to know your book; best wishes on the tour and thanks for the chance to win :)
ReplyDeleteWho is your favorite literary villian? Thanks for the giveaway. I hope that I win. Bernie W BWallace1980(at)hotmail(d0t)com
ReplyDeleteHappy Friday! Thanks for sharing the great post - I enjoyed reading it :)
ReplyDeleteI just love the artwork on the cover, so pretty.
ReplyDeleteI like books that have a twist on the traditional stories we grew up with.
ReplyDelete