Hi everyone!
I'm so excited to be taking part in the blog tour for CELESTIAL by S.E. Anderson! I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of this book, and I can't believe that it releases next week. If you haven't already, please
check out my review here.
S.E. Anderson kindly gave me the chance of choosing the excerpt for today's stop on her blog tour, and immediately, I knew which scene I wanted to excerpt. This is one of the lighter moments of the book, and it provides a great contrast with the life-and-death decisions that main character Sally has to make in this book.
The other reason I love this scene is because it reveals SO MUCH about the main characters, Sally, Blayde, and Zander. I love their interactions with one another.
Anyway, onto the excerpt:
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Answers to Prayers Aren’t Always
That Good
This
morning, I woke up with spoons.
Maybe I
should clarify: I was the small spoon. There were arms around me, holding me close
against a perfect chest, and as I awoke, the most perfect sense of well-being
flowed through me. I wanted to curl in away from the bright light that shone
directly in my eyes and just lie here, fully content, fully happy.
Then I
remember there wasn't anyone I should have been spooning and, poof, good
feeling gone.
I rolled
away from the arms, out from under the blankets, and into the cold of the
morning. Instantly, I pulled back the blanket as the chill brought goosebumps
to the surface. There was no memory of where I was, who was with me, or who was
supposed to be with me. I tried to open my eyes, but the light burned, making
everything look fuzzy. I reached out a hand, thwacking something soft. I had
the dreadful feeling that it might have been a face.
"Stop
that," came a mutter of muffled annoyance next to me.
"What
the?" I stammered as I watched Blayde slowly wake up beside me. She opened
her eyes and smiled at me, one of her twisted grins that showed too many teeth.
"Morning
sunshine." She grinned, and I had a sickening feeling in the pit of my
stomach.
"Oh damn,
Blayde," I said, "did we ...?"
"Did
we what?" She pushed herself up on her elbows. "I'm pretty sure I
didn't sleep with you. Why? If that something you see happening?"
"It's
just, well, you were spooning me?"
"Because
you asked me to."
"When?"
"Last
night."
"When,
last night?"
She
dropped her elbows and collapsed back on the bed. "When you got back, all
sandy and gross, from wherever you and my brother were off to," she said,
shuffling her shoulders in what I guess could have been a shrug. "A few
harsh words were exchanged a propos of this bed. Mainly, me not
wanting to move or share. I got here first, why should I move?"
"So …
what happened last night?"
"You
mean after the two of you stumbled in, you threatened to kill me again, and
told me that if I wasn't going to move, the least I could do was spoon
you?"
"Yeah?"
"Nothing."
Blayde grinned. "You just slept."
"And
why is Zander in the bed?" I asked, glancing one person over and seeing
Zander sprawled beside his sister. His gravity-defying
hair must have been as exhausted as he was because it fell on his face, shading
his eyes from sunlight. His face twitched; our voices must have woken him.
"He
was tired?"
"And
why is Nim here?" I asked, seeing the teen down the lineup. Somehow, the
four of us had managed to squeeze into the only bed. Exhaustion does silly
things to people.
"He
was here first." Blayde shrugged again.
"I
thought you said you were here first?"
"No,
I was first compared to you. And you felt bad about kicking the kid out."
"Don't
call me that," grumbled Nim, proving once and for all that he was awake.
"You're
fifteen, and I've lost track. You're all kids to me."
"Sally's
not that much older than me," he mumbled. "I think?"
"Stop
it, please." Zander sat up, taking the blankets with him. "We're supposed
to be putting a plan in place today to save thousands of people ... I think.
I'm not quite awake yet. I need coffee."
About CELESTIAL:
She wanted a holiday. They needed a chosen one.
Sally, Zander, and Blayde, accompanied by their new friend Nim, have only one request: no more bizarre distractions on their hunt for Earth.
But before their cells can complete a single jump, the team is shoved off course and crash into a dreary old temple. Worse yet, there seems to be some confusion over Sally’s face, as it looks exactly like that the local deity, Selena, goddess of the moon and omniscient absentee. Sally’s ticking every box on the ancient prophecies checklist.
Fresh off of her meds and riding the withdrawal, and Sally must choose between embracing the role of Goddess so as to protect the planet from mysterious Sky People, or being thrown in a Volcano. Not the best way to start a tropical vacation. It’s not going to be easy uniting warring factions, dealing with excitable whispering forests, or fighting both literal and figurative demons. Not to mention keeping up the appearance of divinity when all Sally wants is a nap.
Armed only with some high school improv’ classes and a basic knowledge of foreign pop songs, Sally must save the planet – before everything goes up in flames.
Don't forget to
pre-order CELESTIAL now!
Brave Thumbelina by An Leysen
