VBT & #Giveaway: Awaken by Lauren Wagner
@Archaeolibrary, @GoddessFish, @LoloWags,
#SpeculativeFiction, #Action, #Adventure,
Natalia has embraced the choice of her people. She is honored to have been chosen as their human sacrifice and will surrender her life to the Gods. She awaits the call of her people for that final moment, living a life of solitude until it’s time. But then her death is stolen from her—she is kidnapped by her own guards and forced into an eternal slumber. Hundreds of years later—now—Natalia is woken in a world that’s completely unfamiliar. The archaeological team was not looking for her. They were looking for Estancia, the lost city of gold, and Natalia agrees to guide them. While they journey through the treacherous jungles of Argentina, Natalia stumbles upon the alarming truth of her past. Her life’s prophecy must be fulfilled to restore balance to her people, but only she can decide whether that balance is worth her death.
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I wake to a set of ocean blue eyes filled with disbelief and a smooth, unyielding face. Shock holds his cheeks tight. His lips purse together.
I am dreaming, I tell myself. One more moment and the dreams will subside. I will take another scale and my dreams will diminish. But until then, I remain in a daze. Confused with magic or maybe poisoned with despair, I feel my body move, but only in acute awareness. My muscles scream at me as my toes curl and my fingers stretch. I have a vague memory of moving my head from side to side. My eyes search for the Keeper, in fear he might stop this intrusion, yet I find only stone in a glorious lizard shape that reaches to the far end of the cave. He, as well as his magic, has gone.
The blue eyes belong to a man. Not yet filled to his height, but no longer built like a boy. Strange clothing falls too loose on his frame. His dirty shirt tucks into ripped pants held by a worn leather belt. Grime covers his pale skin. His hair is short and rumpled at the top of his head.
A man drops from the sky next to him and speaks a language not of my own. I listen for my breath. In or out. But in my shocked silence, I feel my heartbeat.
If someone gave me a free plane ticket, I would immediately book a flight to Peru and climb my way up the Andes Mountains. My final destination? Machu Picchu.
The Incan Empire inspired much of Awaken and became the center of my research. There is nothing I would love more than to step foot in a place so rich in history and yet profoundly intertwined with my imagination.
The Incan Trail from the nearest town takes four days and three nights. This would be nearly identical to Natalia’s trip, the main character in Awaken. To walk in the footsteps of a character from Awaken would be more magical than I could ever imagine. Steep snow-capped mountains surrounded by thick tropical rainforests? Cloud forests? Ancient ruins aligned with the stars? Who could want to miss out on that?
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Lauren Wagner’s love for reading started as a young adult after discovering her town’s public library. After carrying out piles of books at a time, and re-reading them over and over again, she discovered her love for writing. She writes fantasy and science fiction as well as post-it notes about her future stories. Awaken is her debut novel.
She grew up in the western suburbs of Chicago where she presently resides with her husband and two children. She currently teaches upper elementary students to love and obsess over written works of art.
Amazon buy link: https://www.amazon.com/Awaken-Lauren-Wagner-ebook/dp/B09RHCBRYP/ref=sr_1_1
Lauren Wagner's author page: https://cinnabarmoth.com/lauren-wagner/
Twitter: @LoloWags
Tour hosted by: Goddess Fish Promotions
