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Albert Camus

Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.

Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Things are not what they seem - Black Snow (Birds of a Feather #4) by Lena North

Black Snow is the fourth book in the Birds of a Feather series, a young adult/coming of age series with paranormal elements, full of laughter, mystery, and romance.


Description:

Published: October 24th, 2017

Snow’s best friend is a bird. An osprey, to be specific.

Everyone knows Snow’s parents died a long time ago, and she has perfected her happy smile and girly giggle so no one suspects that she hides a darker side of herself deep inside. No one, except her bird – and Nick, who always seems to know how she feels.

Then Hawker Johns blackmails her into joining his covert group of protectors. The imposing sheriff from Norton sends Snow to the Islands to investigate Jamie Jamieson, one of her friends and a man she dates casually, and once the first fury has passed, she’s eager to go. Mostly so that she can come back and shove Hawker’s suspicions down his throat.

Things are not what they seem on the Islands, though, and when Snow has been shot at, almost drowned and fallen through the roof of a cave, she starts thinking about her life, and her past.

Then she suddenly finds herself in a situation where she has a tough choice to make. Will she follow her heart or the pull from her family and friends? And will she ever find peace with her past?

Black Snow is the fourth book in the Birds of a Feather series, a young adult/coming of age series with paranormal elements, full of laughter, mystery, and romance.

EXCERPT

I found the ledge, and it was barely wide enough for my toes so I couldn’t stand on it for long. The arm holding me up started to burn, and I looked around frantically for somewhere to go.

“Snow,” my bird said. “Big rock. Have to jump, one arm’s length to the right, one head up.”

I looked and thought I saw the outline of the overhang she was talking about. The rock had hit my shoulder, but the numbness had subsided, and I clenched the hand a few times. It seemed to be working. Then my left foot slipped, and for a few seconds, I thought I’d fall, but I managed to hold on and find the ledge with both my feet again.

“Almost there,” Nick said.
Was he crazy? He was coming up right underneath me, something that was against all common sense.
“Get out of the way, Nick,” I repeated. “If I fall I’ll crash right into you.”

He didn’t stop, and my body was screaming at me to do something, so I made up my mind. Then I made sure my safety rope was loose enough, bent my knees as much as I could, tightened all my muscles, and jumped straight into the darkness.

My hands gripped the overhang firmly, and I held on.
“Twist legs right. Another rock,” the osprey said calmly.
I did, and felt my knee hit a rock, bent the leg upward and over it, and heaved myself up over the edge.

“I’m secure,” I called out to Nick and was met with a resounding silence. “Nicky?” I shouted.
He couldn’t have fallen because I would have heard, so why wasn’t he answering?
“Good,” he suddenly rumbled out of nowhere. “Is there an anchor there somewhere?”
My hands slid along the cold, hard rock and found another rusty piece of metal. I yanked it a few times, and it seemed to be safe, so I secured my rope to it.

“Yeah,” I said. “Do you want my rope?
“Yeah,” he echoed.

The overhang was big enough for both of us to sit on. I leaned my back against the mountainside and tilted my head a little to nudge his broad shoulder.

“That was fun,” I murmured.
He snorted out something unintelligible, and I giggled. It wasn’t my fake giggle, it was a real one, from happiness and adrenaline.

About the author:
The proper way to put it here would probably be to describe how I love to play with our two big dogs, adore my fantastic daughters and how much I love to read.

Another way would be to use my imagination and then I would be a super powerful warrior woman, think Xena the warrior princess (though with less tacky clothes). Or when I think of it, maybe I’m actually more of a Hercule Poirot (sans the suit and moustache). Or maybe I’m like Aragorn, strong and cool and then I might get to meet Gandalf! Or I could be Bella’s pretty cousin and snap Jacob up in a second (yeah, I’m so not team Edward), or wait, maybe I could be like one of them heroines in historical novels who swoon all the time. I’ve always wanted to swoon…

Well, I guess you get how my mind is working (or not working, some say).

Anyways, I like to write. Stories, adventures, romantic and happy stuff mixed up with sorrow and hardship, and bit of laughter here and there because the way I see it – life is way too short to go around feeling grumpy.


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