{"id":7746,"date":"2020-07-19T06:00:27","date_gmt":"2020-07-19T10:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/?p=7746"},"modified":"2020-07-17T21:38:20","modified_gmt":"2020-07-18T01:38:20","slug":"blog-tour-the-lost-city-by-amanda-hocking-excerpt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/blog-tour-the-lost-city-by-amanda-hocking-excerpt\/","title":{"rendered":"Blog Tour: The Lost City by Amanda Hocking (Excerpt!)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"ubb-blog-tour-banner\"><a href=\"http:\/\/kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/category\/book-tours\" target=\"_blank\"><img src=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/The-Lost-City-Blog-Tour-banner-FB.png\" alt=\"Blog Tour: The Lost City by Amanda Hocking (Excerpt!)\"><\/a><\/p><p>Happy Sunday and welcome to my stop on the THE LOST CITY blog tour! I&#8217;m so excited because today I have an excerpt of the book to share with you! This book is truly amazing and I&#8217;m so so excited to for you to find out more about THE LOST CITY and Amanda Hocking!<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Triangle-Banner-Summer-2020.png\" alt=\"Divider\" \/><\/p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/The-Lost-City-Cover.png\" alt=\"Blog Tour: The Lost City by Amanda Hocking (Excerpt!)\" title=\"Blog Tour: The Lost City by Amanda Hocking (Excerpt!)\" class=\"ubb-cover-image alignleft\"><strong>The Lost City<\/strong> by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/reviews\/authors\/amanda-hocking\/\">Amanda Hocking<\/a> <br><strong>Series:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/reviews\/series\/the-omte-origins\/\">The Omte Origins #1<\/a> <br><strong>Published on<\/strong>  July 7, 2020 by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/reviews\/publishers\/wednesday-books\/\">Wednesday Books<\/a> <br><strong>Genres:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/reviews\/genres\/ya\/\">YA<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/reviews\/genres\/fantasy\/\">Fantasy<\/a> <br><strong>Pages:<\/strong> 400 <br><strong>Add to <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/48994754-the-lost-city\" target=\"_blank\">Goodreads<\/a> <br><blockquote class=\"ubb-synopsis\"><p><i>Nestled along the bluffs of the forested coast lays the secret kingdom of the Omte\u2014a realm filled with wonder...and as many secrets. <\/i><br \/>\nUlla Tulin was left abandoned in an isolated Kanin city as a baby, taken in by strangers and raised hidden away like many of the trolls of mixed blood. Even knowing this truth, she\u2019s never stopped wondering about her family.<br \/>\nWhen Ulla is offered an internship working alongside the handsome Pan Soriano at the Mimirin, a prestigious institution, she\u2019s jumps at the chance to use this opportunity to hopefully find her parents. All she wants is to focus on her job and the search for her parents, but all of her attempts to find them are blocked when she learns her mother may be connected to the Omte royal family.<br \/>\nWith little progress made, Ulla and Pan soon find themselves wrapped up in helping Eliana, an amnestic girl with abilities unlike any they have ever seen before\u2014a girl who seems to be running from something. To figure out who she is they must leave the city, and possibly, along the way, they may learn more about Ulla\u2019s parents.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\t\t<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">\n{\n\t\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\n\t\"@type\":\"Review\",\n\t\"datePublished\": \"2020-07-19T10:00:27+00:00\",\n\t\"description\": \"Happy Sunday and welcome to my stop on the THE LOST CITY blog tour! I'm so excited because today I have an excerpt of the book to share with you! This book is truly amazing and I'm so so excited \",\n\t\"publisher\": {\n\t\t\"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t\t\"name\": \"Kait Plus Books\"\t},\n\t\"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\\\/books\\\/blog-tour-the-lost-city-by-amanda-hocking-excerpt\\\/\",\n\t\"itemReviewed\": {\n\t\t\"@type\": \"Book\",\n\t\t\"name\": \"The Lost City\",\n\t\t\"author\": {\n\t\t\t\"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t\t\t\"name\": \"Amanda Hocking\",\n\t\t\t\"sameAs\": \"\"\t\t},\n\t\t\"isbn\": \"1250194687\"\t},\n\t\"author\": {\n\t\t\"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t\t\"name\": \"Kaity\",\n\t\t\"sameAs\": \"https:\\\/\\\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\\\/books\\\/\"\t},\n\t\"reviewRating\": {\n\t\t\"@type\": \"Rating\",\n\t\t\"ratingValue\": false,\n\t\t\"bestRating\": \"5\"\n\t}\n}\n\n\n\n\t\t<\/script>\n\t\t\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Triangle-Banner-Summer-2020.png\" alt=\"Divider\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-7753\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Read-an-Excerpt-Summer-2020.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Read-an-Excerpt-Summer-2020.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Read-an-Excerpt-Summer-2020-300x59.png 300w, https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Read-an-Excerpt-Summer-2020-768x150.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Prologue<\/strong><\/h1>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Ten Years Ago<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cTell me about it again,\u201d I entreated\u2014begged, really, in a small voice, small especially for a girl like me.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mr. Tulin, on the nights he had a little too much hot tea and brandy, would tell me stories of other, less fortunate babies. One had been left out for the wolves, another drowned in the icy river. Still another was killed by an <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">angakkuq<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, this time to be mashed into a paste for one of her potions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On the other nights, he\u2019d try to convince me there wasn\u2019t any time for a story. But I\u2019d beg and plead, and his eyes would glimmer\u2014already milky with cataracts, lighting up when he spoke about monsters. I would pull the covers up to my chin, and his normally crackled baritone would go even lower, rumbling with the threat of the monsters he impersonated.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I was never sure how much he\u2019d made up or what had been passed down to him, as he\u2019d weave through all sorts of patchwork folklore\u2014the monsters and heroes pieced together from the neighboring Inuit, our Norse ancestry, and especially from the troll tribe that Mr. and Mrs. Tulin belonged to\u2014the Kanin.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But I had a favorite story, one that I asked for over and over again.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This one I loved because it was about me, and because it was true.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWhich one?\u201d Mr. Tulin asked, feigning ignorance as he lingered at my bedroom door.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was dark in my room, except for the cast-iron woodstove in the corner. My room had been a pantry before I was here, before Mr. Tulin had converted it into a tiny bedroom. Outside, the wind howled, and if I hadn\u2019t been buried underneath the blankets and furs, I would\u2019ve felt the icy drafts that went along with all that howling.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe day you met me,\u201d I replied with unbridled glee.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWell, you turned out to be a big one, didn\u2019t ya?\u201d<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> That\u2019s what Mr. Tulin liked to say, particularly when I was scooping another helping of potatoes on my plate at the supper table, and <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">then I would sheepishly put half a portion back, under the sharp gaze of Mrs. Tulin.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But he wasn\u2019t wrong. I was tall, thick, and pale. By the age of nine I was nearly five feet tall, towering over the kids in the little schoolhouse.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once, I\u2019d overheard Mrs. Tulin complaining aloud to a neighbor, saying, \u201cI don\u2019t know why they chose our doorstep to leave \u2019er on. By the size of her, her da\u2019 must be an ogre, and her ma\u2019 must be a <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">nanuq<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. She\u2019ll eat us out of house and home before she\u2019s eighteen.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After that, I tried to make myself smaller, invisible, and I made sure that I mended all my clothing and cleaned up after myself. Mrs. Tulin didn\u2019t complain too much about me after that, but every once in a while I would hear her muttering about how they really ought to set up a proper orphanage in Iskyla, so the townsfolk weren\u2019t stuck taking in all the abandoned strays.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I didn\u2019t complain either, and not only because there was nobody to listen. There were a few kids at my school who served as a reminder of how much worse it could be for me. They were sketches of children, really\u2014thin lines, stark shadows, sad eyes, just the silhouettes of orphans.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cYou sure you wanna hear that one again, ayuh?\u201d Mr. Tulin said in response to my pleas.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cYes, please!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIf that\u2019s the one the lil\u2019 miss wants, then that be the one I tell.\u201d He walked back over to the bed, limping slightly, the way he did every time the temperatures dipped this low.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once he\u2019d settled on the edge of the bed, his bones cracked and creaked almost as loudly as the bed itself.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt was a night much like this\u2014\u201d he began.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cBut darker and colder, right?\u201d I interjected.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">His bushy silver eyebrows pinched together. \u201cAre you telling it this time?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cNo, no, you tell it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cAyuh.\u201d He nodded once. \u201cSo I will, then.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was a night much like this. The sun hadn\u2019t been seen for days, hiding behind dark clouds that left even the daylight murky blue. When the wind came up, blowing fresh snow so<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">heavy and thick, you couldn\u2019t hardly see an inch in front of your nose. All over, the town was battened down and quiet, waiting out the dark storm. Now, the folks in Iskyla had survived<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">many a winter storm, persisting through even the harshest of winters. This wasn\u2019t the worst of the storms we\u2019d faced, but there was something different about this one. Along with the cold and the dark, it brought with it a strange feeling in the air.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cAnd a stranger,\u201d I interjected again, unable to help myself.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mr. Tulin didn\u2019t chastise me this time. He just winked and said, \u201c<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ayuh<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and a stranger.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The old missus, Hilde, and I were hunkered down in front of the fireplace, listening to the wind rattling the house, when a knock came at the door.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hilde\u2014who scoffed whenever Tapeesa the angakkuq spoke of the spirits and monsters\u2014shrieked at me when I got up to answer the door. \u201cWhaddya think you\u2019re doing, Oskar?\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe\u2019re still an inn, aren\u2019t we?\u201d I paused before I reached the door to look back at my wife, who sat in her old rocker, clutching her knitting to her chest.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Well, of course we were. Her father had opened the inn years ago, back when the mines first opened and we had a brief bout of tourism from humans who got lost on their way to the mines.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But that had long dried up by the time Hilde inherited it. We only had a dozen or so customers every year, mostly Inuit or visiting trolls, but whenever I suggested we close up and move south, Hilde would pitch a fit, reminding me that her family settled Iskyla, and she was settled here until she died.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cCourse we\u2019re an inn, but we\u2019re closed,\u201d Hilde said. \u201cThe storm\u2019s too bad to open.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Again the knocking came at the door, pounding harder this time.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe got all our rooms empty, Hilde!\u201d I argued. \u201cAnyone out in this storm needs a place to stay, and we won\u2019t have to do much for \u2019em.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cBut you don\u2019t know who\u2014or what\u2014is at the door,\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hilde stammered, lowering her voice as if it would carry over the howling wind and out the door to whoever waited on our stoop. \u201cNo human or troll has any sense being out in a storm like this.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWell, someone has, and I aim to find out who it is.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I headed toward the door, Hilde still spouting her hushed protests, but my mind had been made up. I wasn\u2019t about to let anyone freeze to death outside our house, not when we had ample firewood and room to keep them warm.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When I opened the door, there she stood. The tallest woman I ever saw. She was buried under layers of fabric and fur, looking so much like a giant grizzly bear that Hilde let out a scream.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Then the woman pushed back her hood, letting us see her face. Ice and snow had frozen to her eyebrows and eyelashes, and her short wild hair nearly matched the grizzly fur. She wasn\u2019t much to look at, with a broad face and a jagged scar across her ruddy cheeks, but she made up for it with her size.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">She had to duck to come inside, ever mindful of the large bag she carried on her back.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cDon\u2019t bother coming in,\u201d Hilde called at the woman from where she sat angrily rocking. \u201cWe\u2019re closed.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cPlease,\u201d the giant woman begged, and then she quickly slipped off her gloves and fumbled in her pockets. \u201cPlease, I have money. I\u2019ll give you all I have. I only need a place to stay for the night.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When she went for her money, she\u2019d pushed back her cloaks enough that I could see the dagger holstered on her hip. The fire glinted off the amber stone in the hilt, the dark <\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">bronze handle carved into a trio of vultures.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was the symbol of the Omte, and that was a weapon for a warrior. Here was this giant troll woman, with supernatural strength and a soldier\u2019s training. She could\u2019ve killed me and Hilde right there, taken everything we had, but instead she pleaded and offered us all she had.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cSince we\u2019re closed, I won\u2019t be taking any of your money.\u201d I waved it away. \u201cYou need sanctuary from the storm, and I\u2019m happy to give it to you.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThank you.\u201d The woman smiled, with tears in her eyes, and they sparkled in the light like the amber gemstone on her dagger.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hilde huffed, but she didn\u2019t say anything more. The woman herself didn\u2019t say much either, not as I showed her up to her room and where the extra blankets were.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIs there anything more you\u2019ll be needing?\u201d I asked before I left her alone.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cQuiet rest,\u201d she replied with a weak smile.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWell, you can always holler at me if you need anything. I\u2019m Oskar.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">She hesitated a second before saying, \u201cCall me Orra.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt\u2019s nice to meet you, Orra, and I hope you enjoy your stay with us.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">She smiled again, then she shut the door. That was the last I ever saw of her.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All through the night, she made not a peep, which upset Hilde even more, since it gave her nothing to complain about. I slept soundly, but Hilde tossed and turned, certain that Orra would hurt us.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By the time morning came, the wind had stopped and the sun had broken through the clouds for the first time in days. I went up to check on Orra and see if she needed anything, and<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I discovered her gone.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">She rode in on the back of the dark storm, and she left before the sun.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Her room had been left empty\u2014except for a little tiny baby, wrapped in a blanket, sleeping in the middle of the bed. The babe couldn\u2019t be more than a few weeks old, but already had a thick head of wild blond hair. When I picked her up, the baby mewled, but didn\u2019t open her eyes.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Not until I said, \u201cUllaakuut,\u201d\u2014a good-morning greeting.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Then her big amber eyes opened. She smiled up at me, and it was like the sun after the storm.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThat\u2019s how we met.\u201d I beamed, and he smiled back down at me. Mrs. Tulin wasn\u2019t sure if they would keep me, so she wouldn\u2019t let him name me yet, but then they called me Ullaakuut <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">until it stuck.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt was quite the introduction,\u201d he agreed with a chuckle. \u201cOskar!\u201d Mrs. Tulin shouted from the other room. \u201cThe fire\u2019s gone cold!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI\u2019ll be right down!\u201d he yelled over his shoulder before turning back to me. \u201cWell, you\u2019ve had your story now, and Hilde needs me. You best be getting to sleep now. Good night, Ulla.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cGood night.\u201d I settled back into the bed, and it wasn\u2019t until he was at the door that I mustered the courage to ask him the question that burned on the tip of my tongue. \u201cHow come my mom left me here?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI can\u2019t say that I understand it,\u201d he said with a heavy sigh. \u201cBut she\u2019d have to have got a mighty good reason to be traveling in that kinda storm, especially with a newborn. She was an Omte warrior, and I don\u2019t know what kind of monsters she had to face down on her way to our doorstep. But she musta known that here you\u2019d be safe.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cDo you think she\u2019ll come back?\u201d I asked.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">His lips pressed into a thin line. \u201cI can\u2019t say, lil\u2019 miss. But it\u2019s not the kind of thing I would hang my hat on. And it\u2019s nothing that you should concern yourself with. You have a home here as long as you need it, and now it\u2019s time for bed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Chapter 1<\/strong><\/h1>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Home<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Emma sprinted into my room first, clutching her older brother\u2019s slingshot in her pudgy hands, and down the hall Liam was already yelling for me.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cUlla! Emma keeps taking my stuff!\u201d Liam rushed into my room in a huff, little Niko toddling behind him.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">My bedroom was a maze of cardboard boxes\u2014all of my worldly possessions carefully packed and labeled for my move in six weeks\u2014and Emma darted between them to escape Liam\u2019s grasp.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cHe said he was going to shoot fairies in the garden!\u201d Emma insisted vehemently.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Liam rolled his eyes and brushed his thick tangles of curls off his forehead. \u201cDon\u2019t be such a dumb baby. You know there\u2019s no such things as fairies.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cDon\u2019t call your sister dumb,\u201d I admonished him, which only caused him to huff even louder. For only being seven years old, Liam already had quite the flair for the dramatic. \u201cYou know, you\u2019re going to have to learn how to get along with your sister on your own. I\u2019m not going to be around to get in the middle of your squabbles.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cYou don\u2019t have to tell me that,\u201d Liam replied sourly. He stared down at the wood floor, letting his hair fall into his eyes. \u201cShe\u2019s the one that always starts it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI did not!\u201d Emma shouted back. \u201cI only wanted to protect the fairies!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cEmma, will you give Liam back his slingshot if he promises not to kill anything with it?\u201d I asked her. She seemed to consider this for a moment, wrinkling up her little freckled nose, but finally she nodded yes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI was never really going to kill anything anyway,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cPromise!\u201d Emma insisted.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cFine. I promise I won\u2019t kill anything with my slingshot.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He held his hand out to her, and she reluctantly handed it back to him. With that, he dashed out of the room, and Emma raced after him.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Niko, meanwhile, had no interest in the argument, and instead made his way over to me. I pulled him into my arms, relishing the way his soft curls felt tickling my chin as I held him, and breathing in his little-boy scent\u2014the summer sun on his skin and sugared milk from his breakfast.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cHow are you doing this morning, my sweet boy?\u201d I asked him softly. He didn\u2019t answer, but Niko rarely did. Instead, he curled up more into me and began sucking his thumb.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I know I shouldn\u2019t pick favorites, but Niko would be the one I missed the most. Sandwiched between Emma and the twins, he was quiet and easily overlooked. Whenever I was having a bad day or feeling lonely, I could always count on him for cuddles and hugs that somehow managed to erase all the bad\u2014at least for a few moments.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But now I could only smile at him and swallow down the lump in my throat.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This\u2014all the scraped knees and runny noses, the giggles and tantrums, all the love and chaos and constant noise of a house full of children\u2014had been my life for the past five years. Which was quite the contrast to the frozen isolation of the first fourteen and a half years of my life.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Five years ago, a Kanin tracker named Bryn Aven had been on an investigation that brought her to Iskyla in central Canada, and when I met her, I knew it was my chance out of that town. Maybe it was because of the way she came in, on the back of a storm, or because she was a half-breed. She was also blond like me, and that wasn\u2019t something I saw often in a town populated by trolls and a handful of the native humans of the area, the Inuit.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Most trolls, especially from the three more populous tribes\u2014the Kanin, Trylle, and Vittra\u2014were<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">of a darker complexion. Their skin ran the gamut of medium brown shades, and their hair was dark brown and black, with eyes that matched. The Kanin and the Trylle looked like attractive <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">humans, and the Vittra often did as well.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Omte had a slightly lighter complexion than that, and they were also more prone to gigantism and physical deformities, most notably in their large population of ogres. With <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">wild blond hair and blue eyes, the Skojare were the fairest, and they had a tendency to be born with gills, attuned to their aquatic lifestyle.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Each of the tribes even had different skill sets and extraordinary abilities. All of the kingdoms had some mild psychokinetic talents, with the Trylle being the most powerful. The Vittra and the Omte were known for their physical strength and ability to heal, while the Kanin had the skin-color- changing ability to blend in with their surroundings, much like intense chameleons.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Iskyla was officially a Kanin town, and the Inuit coloring wasn\u2019t much different from that of the Kanin. Most everyone around me had a shock of dark hair and symmetrical features. My noticeable differences had always made me an easy target growing up, and seeing the blond-haired tracker Bryn, I recognized a kindred spirit.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Or maybe it was because I could tell she was running from something, and I had been itching to run since as soon as I could walk. The Tulins had been good to me\u2014or as good as an elderly couple who had never wanted kids could be when a baby is dropped on them. But Mrs. Tulin had always made it clear that I would be on my own as soon as I was ready, and when I was fourteen I was sure I was ready.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fortunately, Bryn had been smart enough\u2014and kind enough\u2014not to leave me to fend for myself. She brought me to F\u00f6rening, the Trylle capital in Minnesota, and found me a job and a place to stay with friends of hers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When I had started as a live-in nanny working for Finn and Mia Holmes, they\u2019d only had two children with another on the way, but already their cottage was rather cramped. Shortly after I moved in, Emma came along\u2014followed by a promotion for Finn to the head of the Trylle royal guard\u2014and Mia insisted a house upgrade was long overdue.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This grand little house, nestled in the bluffs along the Mississippi River\u2014cozy but clean and bright\u2014had enough room for us all\u2014Finn, Mia, Hanna, Liam, Emma, Niko, Lissa, Luna, and me. As of a few months ago, we\u2019d even managed to fit in Finn\u2019s mother, Annali, who had decided to move in with them after her husband passed away last fall.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This home had been my home for years, and really, this family had been my family too. They welcomed me with open arms. I grew to love them, and they loved me. Here, I felt like I belonged and mattered in a way that I had never been able to in Iskyla.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I was happy with them. But now I was leaving all of this behind.<\/span><\/p>\n<h6 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Lost City<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0 Copyright \u00a9 2020 by Amanda Hocking and reprinted by permission of Wednesday Books.<\/span><\/h6>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Triangle-Banner-Summer-2020.png\" alt=\"Divider\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-7693\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/All-About-the-Author-Summer-2020.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/All-About-the-Author-Summer-2020.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/All-About-the-Author-Summer-2020-300x59.png 300w, https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/All-About-the-Author-Summer-2020-768x150.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-7754 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Amanda-Hocking-NEW-credit-Mariah-Paaverud-with-Chimera-Photography-194x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"194\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Amanda-Hocking-NEW-credit-Mariah-Paaverud-with-Chimera-Photography-194x300.png 194w, https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Amanda-Hocking-NEW-credit-Mariah-Paaverud-with-Chimera-Photography-661x1024.png 661w, https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Amanda-Hocking-NEW-credit-Mariah-Paaverud-with-Chimera-Photography-768x1190.png 768w, https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Amanda-Hocking-NEW-credit-Mariah-Paaverud-with-Chimera-Photography-991x1536.png 991w, https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Amanda-Hocking-NEW-credit-Mariah-Paaverud-with-Chimera-Photography.png 1291w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 194px) 100vw, 194px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"font_8\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>AMANDA HOCKING<\/strong> is the author of over twenty young adult novels, including the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">New York Times<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> bestselling <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Trylle Trilogy<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kanin Chronicles<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Her love of pop culture and all things paranormal influence her writing. She spends her time in Minnesota, taking care of her menagerie of pets and working on her next book.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-7694\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Follow-the-Author-Summer-2020.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Follow-the-Author-Summer-2020.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Follow-the-Author-Summer-2020-300x59.png 300w, https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Follow-the-Author-Summer-2020-768x150.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/hockingbooks.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Website<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/author\/show\/3486415.Amanda_Hocking\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Goodreads <\/a>| <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/amanda_hocking\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> | <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/amandahockingfans\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> | <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockingbooks.com\/blog\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Author Blog<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> | <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/aehocking\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pinterest<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Triangle-Banner-Summer-2020.png\" alt=\"Divider\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-7697\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Tell-Me-Your-Thoughts-Summer-2020.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Tell-Me-Your-Thoughts-Summer-2020.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Tell-Me-Your-Thoughts-Summer-2020-300x59.png 300w, https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Tell-Me-Your-Thoughts-Summer-2020-768x150.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Doesn&#8217;t this book sound amazing? I&#8217;ve added it to my tbr, have you added it to yours? Let me know in the comments and have a splendiferous day!<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-7699\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Well-Wishes-Candy-Fishes-Kait-summer-2020.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"320\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Well-Wishes-Candy-Fishes-Kait-summer-2020.png 600w, https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Well-Wishes-Candy-Fishes-Kait-summer-2020-300x160.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Happy Sunday and welcome to my stop on the THE LOST CITY blog tour! I&#8217;m so excited because today I have an excerpt of the book to share with you! This book is truly amazing and I&#8217;m so so excited to for you to find out more about THE LOST CITY and Amanda Hocking!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7747,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[484,1001],"tags":[2044,537,489,651,1900,462,2043,2046,778],"reading-challenges":[],"class_list":["post-7746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-tours","category-excerpt","tag-amanda-hocking","tag-blog-tour","tag-book-tour","tag-excerpt","tag-july-2020","tag-kait-plus-books","tag-the-lost-city","tag-the-omte-origins","tag-wednesday-books","book-author-amanda-hocking","book-series-the-omte-origins","book-publisher-wednesday-books","book-genre-fantasy","book-genre-ya"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/The-Lost-City-Featured.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7746"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7746\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7751,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7746\/revisions\/7751"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7746"},{"taxonomy":"reading-challenges","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reading-challenges?post=7746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}