{"id":259,"date":"2023-04-29T20:54:49","date_gmt":"2023-04-29T20:54:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jrkniss.com\/?page_id=259"},"modified":"2023-04-30T05:27:20","modified_gmt":"2023-04-30T05:27:20","slug":"whisked-away-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jrkniss.com\/?page_id=259","title":{"rendered":"Whisked Away (Book 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Excerpt<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Somewhere in that thin line that exists between awake and asleep Samantha Sutter heard a voice.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><em>Are you real Sam. Are you out there&#8230;.Somewhere?<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">And Samantha answered. <em>Yes.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"559\" height=\"90\" src=\"https:\/\/jrkniss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/images-2.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-266\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jrkniss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/images-2.jpeg 559w, https:\/\/jrkniss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/images-2-300x48.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 559px) 100vw, 559px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>         <\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Rebellious princess Josephine Stanford and bookworm Samantha Sutter are two very different girls from two extraordinarily different worlds with one incredible secret\u2014they dream solely of the other. Every thought. Every emotion. Every physical sensation is shared.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>The rebel princess Josephine Stanford lives within a gilded cage in Tandria, one of three Kingdoms on Cepheus\u2014Kingdoms ruled by the Marked, gods amongst men whose Virtues curse them from feeling an ounce of human emotion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yet she knows not why her bars are so heavily bolted nor what she is actually being protected from. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That is, until her beloved late father\u2019s Treaty is revealed, which will end a cold war by binding her in a loveless marriage to the Marked prince Nathaniel Montgomery, son of her country\u2019s sworn enemy. But Josephine longs for the same magical, unbreakable connection her parents shared.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Plain Jane Samantha Sutter (AKA Schitzo Sam) of Simsbury, Connecticut, is simply hoping to survive high school. Once protected by her larger-than-life older brother, she now lives with her head down, hiding in the shadows. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Invisible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Desperate to avoid the trauma of her past and that infamous nickname\u2014a name she fears will return with her brother\u2019s departure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That is, until Simsbury High\u2019s newly-crowned prince, Zachary Knight, takes notice of her and the very magical, unbreakable connection Josephine longs for is instantly forged. But Zack is a prime piece of high school real estate\u2014and the social property of Samantha\u2019s malevolent tormentor. Even acknowledging him would disrupt the finite balance of the high school hierarchy and put a target on her back&#8230; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>one placed there by the same tormentor who wouldn\u2019t hesitate to send her to the psych ward. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Again.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>But things aren\u2019t always as they appear, and a dream isn\u2019t always just a dream. A question whispered in the darkness sets a destined course when it is miraculously heard, and, in turn, answered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sam and Jo discover the other is very real, and they are both Enlighteneds, magical beings gifted with an element by Mother Nature. Together they embark on a mystical quest brimming with questions and danger, but unbeknownst to them, they aren\u2019t walking this journey alone; Nathaniel and Zack are tethered to this as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A shimmering golden thread binds them all together\u2014one that had mysteriously snapped more than 300 years ago.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/jrkniss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/images-1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-265\" width=\"559\" height=\"90\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jrkniss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/images-1.jpeg 559w, https:\/\/jrkniss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/images-1-300x48.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 559px) 100vw, 559px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-large-font-size\">Whisked Away <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size\"><strong>CHAPTER ONE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Secrets and Flames<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/jrkniss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/vintage_12-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-262\" width=\"144\" height=\"144\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jrkniss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/vintage_12-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/jrkniss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/vintage_12-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/jrkniss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/vintage_12-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/jrkniss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/vintage_12-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/jrkniss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/vintage_12-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/jrkniss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/vintage_12.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 144px) 100vw, 144px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size\"><strong>-MCMXCV-<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A dancing flame flickered, dried lavender burned, wax dripped. Hildy\u2019s candle should have welcomed slumber. It should have brought forth peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It&nbsp;<em>should<\/em>&nbsp;have swept me to my blissful Utopia.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It&nbsp;<em>should&nbsp;<\/em>have delivered me to&nbsp;<em>her<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I laid beneath the thick crimson covers, my eyes following the dim light playing against the cold stone walls, my mind adrift\u2014unlike the ship Lastain was poorly concealing within our port.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I tossed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My anger simmered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I turned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My mind plotted.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The lessons learned within the confines of my gilded cage had been immense\u2014my formal education excluded\u2014yet one lesson rose above its cackling sisters, the memory of it still bleeding like an open wound: secrets killed. And the secret ushered into Stanford Castle under the cloak of darkness a fortnight ago only furthered this foreboding lesson, along with my sleepless state.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lastain was keeping secrets. Secrets I was determined to uncover, along with confirming the presence of a familiar face. His wicked game of hide&nbsp;<em>not<\/em>&nbsp;seek was both cold-hearted and cruel. His reasons were a mystery. Yet his game was about to be uprooted\u2014tilted on its axis and exposed by a rage-filled princess. I simply needed a plan.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And Kostas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rain began to pelt against vibrant stained-glass windows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wind howled through Stanford Castle\u2019s long-reaching arches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then, like a gift carried within the breeze, the image of her arose.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My anger subsided and tired eyes closed, the promise of her presence allowing my mind to drift and slumber to take hold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>High school was such a Pandora\u2019s box, yet she would walk this battlefield not alone. While her protector\u2019s departure had left her feeling hollow and vulnerable, I knew there would be others standing to take his place to assist her.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One with a home cooked meal. One with words of encouragement.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And one with hair products.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Excerpt Somewhere in that thin line that exists between awake and asleep Samantha Sutter heard a voice. Are you real Sam. Are you out there&#8230;.Somewhere? And Samantha answered. Yes. Rebellious princess Josephine Stanford and bookworm Samantha Sutter are two very different girls from two extraordinarily different worlds with one incredible secret\u2014they dream solely of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-259","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jrkniss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jrkniss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jrkniss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jrkniss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jrkniss.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=259"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/jrkniss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/259\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":356,"href":"https:\/\/jrkniss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/259\/revisions\/356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jrkniss.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}