A Distant Voice
Bridie Blake
Evernight Teen
Contemporary Young
Adult
72,000 words
In life you don’t find your voice. It finds you.
Violet Hayes
knows how to survive the year living with her grandmother in the small town of
Wandorah, Tennessee.
• Make Rose
happy
• Don’t sing
or play guitar
• Avoid Sally
Shaw
• Ignore
Carter Jenkins
It seems
simple enough, right? Wrong.
• How do you
keep a depressed sister happy?
• How do you
deny yourself your dream?
• How do you
avoid a friendship?
• And how do
you ignore a boy when he’s everywhere you turn?
Violet’s
to-do list just became a whole lot harder.
14+ due to adult situations
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book trailer:
EXCERPT
He
smiled and reached out to pull the guitar toward him. He strummed his fingers
over the strings and played a few chords before glancing over at me proudly.
“Impressive.”
He
offered me the guitar. “Your turn.”
“And
what makes you think I can play?”
“Your
bloodlines.”
I
snorted out a laugh and clapped my hand over my mouth in horror.
“Play
away,” he said, ignoring my snort, and pushed the guitar into my hands.
I
stared down at it with my mouth hanging open. The way my heart raced you’d
think he’d pulled the pin on a grenade and handed it to me. Relax Violet. It’s
an instrument. It can’t hurt you. Unless I tripped over it and broke my neck.
And that could happen. Probably not entirely realistic while I’m holding it,
but if I dropped it and then got up and tripped, it … oh dear god, what is
wrong with me?
His
mom called out his name and he gave me an apologetic shrug. “I’ll be right
back.”
He
left the room and I remained where I was, the guitar still burning my hands. It
had been months since I’d played. Months since I’d felt that wave of joy I got
whenever my fingers ran over the strings.
A
yearning, so strong it sent butterflies fluttering in my stomach, washed over
me and my fingers moved. They ran over the strings, playing whatever came to
mind. I closed my eyes and let myself be swallowed up by it all. I allowed
myself to forget and be something else. Someone else.
I
didn’t know how long I stayed like that but a shuffle behind me forced me back
to reality. I opened my eyes and twisted around. Carter stood in the doorway, a
look of wonder on his face and it made me squirm. I dropped my hands, rested
the guitar on his bed, and scrambled to my feet. “I should go.”
He
moved toward me slowly, as though scared a sudden movement would startle me.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,”
I mumbled and folded my arms across my chest, tucking my hands into my armpits
where they’d be safe and wouldn’t stray towards anymore strings.
His
brow creased and I saw him trying to work out what had happened but I didn’t
want to talk about it. I tried to duck out of his room before he asked me
anything. He gripped my arm, stopping my quick exit. “It’s okay,” he said.
“You’re allowed to enjoy things. You’re not betraying your sister by having fun
or doing the things you want to do.” His voice, filled with sincerity and
kindness, caused a lump to take up residence in my throat.
His
hand ran along my arm and towards my hidden hand. He tugged on it until he
freed it and he squeezed my fingers gently. I shook my head because he’s right,
but he’s wrong at the same time. It was guilt over Rose that stopped me doing
things but when it came to music, there was so much more to it.
Music
destroyed Gran’s life. It ruined Mom’s childhood. I couldn’t love something
like that because if I did, I’d open myself up to the same hurt. And I’m not
anywhere near as strong as Gran. It would destroy me. It would be my trigger.
I
wanted to tell him that. I wanted him to understand. But the words wouldn’t
come out of me.
Author Bio:
Discover more
about her at www.bridieblake.com, https://www.facebook.com/AuthorBridieBlake
or @BridieBlake on Twitter!
Giveaway: $25 Amazon GC
Bridie, I loved the excerpt and I can't wait to read your book. You really like the same things I do. I call them all my C's...computer, coffee and my cats.
ReplyDeleteThank you! The C's are all super important:) Can't live without them! I hope you enjoy A Distant Voice.
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ReplyDeleteSounds like a great read!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the chance to win!
Excerpt made me curious and I liked the cover. Thanks for the giveaway.
ReplyDeletesounds like a great read
ReplyDelete