I am so excited to be a part of this tour! A new world full of dragons and finding what you are made of. Can't wait to dig into this story. Go to the end for the Giveaway details. Links for the author and other book friends are listed below as well!
Title:
The Darkening Dragons
Author:
Sarah
Everest
Synopsis:
"I
suppose you have a choice to make. You can continue along in the life you have
been living, you can identify yourself with your job, but I see in your eyes
that this is not who you are. This is not what makes you happy."
After
the death of his father, Tucker gave up his dreams to take care of his mother.
Reluctantly he followed in his father's footsteps and became a truck driver.
Every day was as predictable as his truck route and Tucker slowly gave up his
hopes for a different life until he finds a girl in the middle of the road.
Evil
threatens to destroy Ravinna's world unless Tucker chooses to believe her and
accept her challenge to become a dragon slayer.
Amazon
Link:
https://www.amazon.com/Darkening-Dragons-Sarah-Everest/dp/0692869441/ref=sr_1_1ie=UTF8&qid=1501477600&sr=8-1&keywords=sarah+everest"
Goodreads
Link:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35714326-the-darkening-dragons
________________________________________________________________________
EXCERPT:
The
one thing Tucker never wanted to be when he grew up was a trucker. Sure, like
most little boys, he had been fascinated by the big rigs that blasted past his
home on the winding country road. He had enjoyed pumping his arm up and down in
an attempt to hear the resounding bellow of the classic semi horn. However,
from the first time Tommy called him “Tucker
the Trucker ”in first grade, the idea of
falling into that stereotype had appalled him. As much as he hated to admit it,
he once hit a smaller classmate in the back of the head with a binder when he
heard the dreaded nickname being muttered.
He
had nothing against truck drivers as a group of individuals. After all, his
father was a trucker for a logging company, and once brought Tucker out to the
woods on a run. He was ten at the time and had spoken to his classmates of
nothing else for several days in advance. They left home in the wee hours of
the morning, bags packed with sandwiches and thermoses full of coffee for
father and hot cocoa for son. Tucker had received the royal treatment by the
entire crew. They showed him the inner
workings of the process from start to finish, letting him sit up in the cab of
the truck as the logs were being loaded.
The
drivers were friendly, good old boy types.
To them, the title “Tucker the Trucker” was more a privilege than a curse.
With a name like Tucker Kenworthy, it fit. Tucker loved his father, and wanted
the outing to be a success, but as the dreaded nickname was bandied about he
longed for the day to end.
No
doubt, Frank Kenworthy had dreams of passing along the family business when he was
too old to handle driving the beast on
his own. He said nothing on the delivery run, but waited for their drive home
to ask Tucker what he thought about the day. Despite his desire to make his
father proud, he gave only cursory answers. It was obvious that something had
spoiled the outing, but being a man of few words, Frank was unable to discern
what the issue was. The next time he invited Tucker to come along, the request
was politely refused with no clear reason given. Rather than linking Tucker’s discomfort to what he considered good
natured teasing, Frank merely accepted that he had failed his son.
There
were a limited number of choices for kids growing up in the mountainous region
of Northern California. Contrary to the popular belief that the state was jam
packed with people in booming metropolitan areas, the vast majority of land was
far from urban sprawl. When Tucker looked around at local career options he
came up with an uncomfortably short list.
He could work in the woods or on a road crew, but both of those jobs
involved the dreaded trucks. He could have a little farm in the valley, or
teach at the local school, but neither of those ideas appealed to him either.
The only solution, besides moving to the trailer park and applying for welfare
checks, was
to
find a way out.
Even
before he entered high school he was planning how he would work hard in school,
excel in sports, and earn enough scholarships to help him move on in life. He
could see that his father was hurt by his attitude, but found it impossible to
explain anything to Frank.
The
Kenworthy family had been in the logging industry for generations. Frank had
managed to save enough to buy his own truck, and made decent money for himself.
He wanted the best life for his family, and believed that he was succeeding. To
him, Tucker’s determination to move on in the world looked like disdain for
everything he had worked for his entire life.
If he had taken the time to talk to his son, he might have found the
root of the trouble and patched up their relationship. Instead, he stepped back
and let Tucker be. Despite all the work Tucker did to distance himself from
anything even remotely concerning trucks, the nickname followed him. He had a
solid build, even as a young child, and grew more compact with age. He was
never overweight, but muscles stacked up, giving him a thick, powerful
appearance. In short, he looked like a trucker. On the football field he was
nearly unstoppable. It was impossible to escape the shouts of, “Keep on truckin,’ that followed him down the field. The
wildly cheering fans were oblivious to the way their words propelled him to
work harder to escape.
By
the time he was a Junior in high school, he was the captain of the football
team. It was a small school, but he did everything he could to excel. Those who
knew him best could tell he was going places. He had a handsome, outdoorsy look, and an old school
charm that increased his popularity with students and staff alike. But no
matter what he did to distinguish himself, no matter how many activities he
took on, the nickname refused to disappear.
Sometimes
he wondered why his mother had chosen the name Tucker. There were thousands,
maybe even millions of names out there to choose from. She could have called him
something basic like Daniel, something old school like Milton, or something
snobbish like Harold. He would have accepted a name connected to some other
profession like “Hunter” or “Walker” or some inanimate object like “River” or “Sky.”
Frank Jr. even sounded decent. But being Tucker the Trucker seemed the worst
fate. It was a name that shouted to him that he was ordinary, through and
through. It was like a stamp on his forehead stating his destiny.
At
the end of football season, Tucker was busy sending applications to schools
around the country. He looked at programs in physics and mechanical
engineering. He sought out information about philosophy and art programs. He
applied anywhere that had a quality football program that could potentially
sponsor his fees and allow him to explore whatever dream came into his head.
There were so many options once he got out into the world. Endless
opportunities swarmed in his head. He would go somewhere far away. He would
introduce himself as Tuck, or use his middle name, Wyndham, which was his
mother’s maiden name. No one would
have the chance to conjure up the old curse. It would be a fresh start.
Then,
on a Tuesday afternoon in the middle of a history exam, his teacher put his
hand on Tucker's arm and told him he was to go to the principal’s office immediately. When he saw his
mother standing there, her face white, her hands clenched, he knew the
unthinkable had happened. He had never figured out how to tell his father that
he loved and respected him. Now he was
gone, and there would be no chance. They all knew the risks involved in the
timber industry, but when it came down to it, the shock was more than Tucker
had ever imagined possible.
The
rest of the school year went by in a haze.
He still worked hard in his classes, still filled out his university and
scholarship applications, but there were days when he found himself staring
blankly out the window for hours on end, unconscious of the passing time.
It
was his mother who got him out of his funk.
She needed him to step up and be the man now that his father was gone.
There was no life insurance, and the social security payments were scarcely any
help. There were house payments to make, and feeding a kid the size of Tucker
was far from cheap. He was forced to get a job on a summer construction crew.
Thankfully the pay was good, and the men were friendly. Living in a small
community had benefits. Frank Kenworthy had been a well-respected man. Everyone
wanted to help out his son in this hard time.
Even
as Tucker worked on the crew he realized that he was going to have to fight
even harder to pay for school. A full ride scholarship was the only possibility
he had of getting out of the hole he found himself in now. He wondered what his
mother would do without him, or if she would be willing to leave the home she
had
always known and move to the city.
Two
weeks before the start of summer everything changed. Tucker was helping to
prune some trees from around power lines when a branch swung the wrong
direction and sent him falling twenty feet to the ground. The injury was not
life threatening, but it was the end of his football career. He would be unfit
to play his senior year, and there would be no opportunity for major
scholarships.
________________________________________________________________________
ABOUT
THE AUTHOR:
Sarah
has been writing stories for as long as she has been able to form letters with
a pencil. She has traveled the world, taking photos, gathering ideas and
experiencing places and cultures that help to shape her creativity and landscapes.
She currently lives in Oregon with her husband and their dog. She is also the
author of One Week in November. For more information about Sarah, you can
connect with her through Instagram account
@transientdrifter.
AUTHOR
LINKS:
Blog:
http://www.transientdrifter.blogspot.com
Instagram:
http://www.instagram.com/transientdrifter
________________________________________________________________________
GIVEAWAY:
<a
id="rcwidget_9hr4onbd" class="rcptr" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/050c6a3b18/"rel="nofolow"
data-raflid="050c6a3b18" datatheme="classic"
data-template="">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
_______________________________________________________________________
Tour
Schedule:
July
31st:
Charlotte
(http://taleasoldastime31.wordpress.com)
August
1st:
Jordan
(http://www.readbyroe.com)
August
2nd:
Paige
G.(http://www.popthebutterfly.wordpress.com)
August
3rd:
Kira
(http://thelonelybookclub.blogspot.com)
August
4th:
Elizabeth
(http://www.instagram.com/throneofshatteredbooks)
August
5th:
Jen
(http://www.happylilbooknook.com)
August
7th:
Donna
(http://www.instagram.com/thetallented)
August
12th:
Jess
(http://xlittlebookwormx.wordpress.com)
Blog
Tour Organized by:
Happy
Lil Book Tours
*Hosts
were provided with a copy of the book for review purposes in exchange for their
honest reviews and opinions.*
