27 April 2020

Something I Am Not | Excerpt + Giveaway

JustRead Publicity Tours

ABOUT THE BOOK


A father who never loved him. A woman who stole his worth. A brother he couldn’t protect. Where does someone run in the face of his deepest shame?

Billy McQueen works hard to keep his life together … and concealed. At seventeen, he dreams of an escape from the barroom, his father’s manipulation, and the advances of his father’s girlfriend. However, on his eighteenth birthday, he is introduced to a younger brother he never knew he had. An eight-year-old, barely capable of navigating the distorted and corrupt world of his father’s boxing club. Billy realizes in order to protect his little brother, he can never leave.

After discovering a battered young woman in the back shed of the club, Billy uncovers the true nature of his father’s activities. Before he can share it with the sheriff, Billy is kidnapped by his father and sold to a wealthy old maid who imprisons him on her yacht in the Gulf of Mexico. His death is fabricated and his little brother used as leverage for his compliance.

In order to secure his freedom, Billy must fight for it. To save his little brother who is next in line for the slave trade… he must die for it.

Publisher: Lighthouse Publishers of the Carolinas
Release Date: January 25, 2019


EXCERPT

Two weeks passed, maybe three, since I set foot on The Damsel, and nothing had taken me from her deck. The days found their rhythm, each one blurring into the next, as I lapsed into a cold detachment I learned to live in the moment, for nothing else existed behind or before me … How well I learned to silence the pain until it shivered and lay still behind the walls of dormancy. What shell of a man, and barely a man, I had become.

For the yacht’s mistress, I represented merely a shiny toy, a shelved plaything. I stood when ordered, sat when commanded. She dressed me like a paper doll, ushered me into this room or that one, fed me rich foods, and then sentenced me to work it off. I rubbed her wrinkled hands and bloated feet. Mixed drinks and passed truffles. I read to her when her eyes tired and escorted her to bed, garnished with a good night peck on the cheek. And all the while, the hands on the clock never marked the hour, and we floated and bobbed out to sea like an engorged baroness taking respite before next course.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cher Gatto is the award-winning author of Something I Am Not. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and their five teenaged children. Together, she and her husband founded a kids’ ranch in Mexico (www.ranchoelcamino.org) and a recovery ministry (www.recovery-hub.org) based in NJ. Cher also launched the ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) NY/NJ chapter to support other writers in her area and currently serves as president.

Visit her website: www.journeywithwords.com and sign up for her newsletter and monthly blog for inspiration and encouragement.


GIVEAWAY


(1) winner will receive a $25 Amazon Gift Card!

Be sure to check out each stop on the tour for more chances to win. Full tour schedule linked below. Giveaway will begin at midnight April 27, 2020 and last through 11:59 PM EST on May 4, 2020. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
TOUR SCHEDULE

6 comments:

  1. Sounds like a good book.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Really enjoying the intro.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This sounds really interesting and the cover looks great.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous27/4/20 22:32

    Thank you for sharing! - JustRead Tours

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thank you for the giveaway opportunity.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks for sharing the excerpt!

    ReplyDelete