She’s the One Who Can’t Keep Quiet [Excerpt]

Do you know what your problem is?

Welcome to the March 24th stop on the excerpt tour for She’s the One Who Can’t Keep Quiet by S. R. Cronin with Goddess Fish Promotions. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for more great exclusive excerpt spotlights and don’t forget to enter the giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.

If you frequent this blog then you already know I’m a huge fan of this series, but just in case:

• Book 1: She’s the One Who Thinks Too Much – 4 Star Review
• Book 2: She’s the One Who Cares Too Much – 4 Star Review
• Book 3: She’s the One Who Gets in Fights – 5 Star Review, Excerpt Tour
• Book 4: She’s the One Who Doesn’t Say Much – 5 Star Review, Excerpt Tour
• Book 5: She’s the One Who Can’t Keep Quiet – 5 Star Review
• Book 6: She’s the One Who Won’t Behave – Cover Reveal

Please note that this post contains affiliate links, which means there is no additional cost to you if you shop using my links, but I will earn a small percentage in commission. A program-specific disclaimer is at the bottom of this post.

About the Book

She’s the One Who Can’t Keep Quiet
War Stories of the Seven Troublesome Sisters Book Five
by S. R. Cronin

Published 14 January 2022
Cinnabar Press

Genre: Historical Fantasy
Page Count: 245
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!

Do you know what your problem is?

Celestine, the fifth of seven sisters, is tired of hearing about hers. Father thinks she’s frivolous because she likes pretty clothes and caters to the crowds in the taverns who adore her music. Mother thinks that because she’s the most social daughter in the family, she can’t keep quiet about anything.

They’re both wrong. Celestine hides a secret she has kept for most of her life.

As the family beauty and a talented musician with a lyrical voice, she has the best prospects for marriage to a prince. When such a liaison never happens, people assume Celestine is too choosy. But even in somewhat tolerant Ilari, a daughter hates to disappoint her family. How can she tell them she’s in love with a princess instead?

Lucky for Celestine, all her sisters are obsessed with an invading army headed to their realm. Celestine would rather ignore the threat and enjoy the freedom their lack of attention gives her. But, her voice can unlock a power that may help save Ilari. And the woman she loves is determined to fight these invaders. And her family, for all their talents, seems clueless about how to motivate the masses.

Celestine knows she can inspire the citizens of Ilari to do what needs to be done. Is it time to put her inhibitions aside and use her voice to save those she cares about?

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Excerpt

“I’ve decided I can’t let my group down like this. I’m leaving,” I said at breakfast, defying them to challenge me.

“No. You’re not.” Dad glared back. My outright defiance hit more of a nerve than I expected. “We’ve been more than tolerant about the way you girls come and go; I can’t imagine other parents putting up with such from two older unwed daughters. But not today. Your mom has done a lot of preparing and this special time means a lot to her. You will stay, or leave and not come back.”

He’d never made such an outright threat, not to any of us, and I doubted that he or Mom would stick to it. I considered calling their bluff. It would make a mess of my life, though, while if I simply stayed and tolerated their stupid holiday, this would all go away in days.

I’m not proud of it, but I decided to do what was easiest. I gave up with a sigh.

Mom made a nice meal and poured full glasses of her best dinner wine, but the conversation lagged as they prodded Olivine and me to talk. They wanted to know more about our friends. Our pursuits. Our prospects. It took a while to figure out this was no celebration.  It was a well-disguised interrogation.

I simmered inside but noticed Olivine remain spooked. I needed to stay strong. I barely touched my wine. Drink little, say less.

The next day Mom and Dad kept up their relentless attempts to engage us as they insisted we help them with meaningless little tasks. The evening brought more food, more wine, and more questions. Again Olivine and I said little and consumed less. We each made our excuses to go to bed shortly after nightfall.

In the morning I threw my things into my saddlebags and left before breakfast. I had another concert that night and I intended to be there without discussing my whereabouts, or anything else, with anyone.

The holiday had made one thing clear. I had to pay more attention to my coins and find a way to move off the farm. Young women of my social status seldom did such a thing, but I could learn to act like a girl from a less well-off family. I would not ever miss another performance for this kind of nonsense.

About the Author

Sherrie Cronin is the author of a collection of six speculative fiction novels known as 46. Ascending and is now in the process of publishing a historical fantasy series called The War Stories of the Seven Troublesome Sisters. A quick look at the synopses of her books makes it obvious she is fascinated by people achieving the astonishing by developing abilities they barely knew they had.

She’s made a lot of stops along the way to writing these novels. She’s lived in seven cities, visited forty-six countries, and worked as a waitress, technical writer, and geophysicist. Now she answers a hot-line. Along the way, she’s lost several cats but acquired a husband who still loves her and three kids who’ve grown up just fine, both despite how odd she is.

All her life she has wanted to either tell these kinds of stories or be Chief Science Officer on the Starship Enterprise. She now lives and writes in the mountains of Western North Carolina, where she admits to occasionally checking her phone for a message from Captain Picard, just in case.

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Giveaway Alert!

S. R. Cronin will be awarding a $20 Amazon or B&N gift card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

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