MJ's Book Blog and Reviews: Release Blitz ***Sherwood Rogue by Kristi Cramer***

Kristi Cramer’s Sherwood Rogue is LIVE. Travel back in time with Kay in this Robin Hood inspired historical romance. Grab your copy today!

BLURB

As a child, I didn’t have imaginary tea parties. I was an outlaw fighting alongside the greatest rogue in Sherwood Forest, the notorious Robin Hood. The stories kept me sane when I had no control. They freed me from a bleak existence of abuse and neglect. If life taught me anything, it was that living was hard, and only the dreams you made happen came true. At nineteen, living at my uncle’s cabin in the Oregon Cascades, my life was anything but the fantasies of my childhood. I was free, but I was alone. I was surviving. Until I hiked into the mountains and carelessly challenged the universe to notice me. A door made of white light appeared in front of me, compelling me to step through. How was I supposed to know one step would change my life forever, in the most unexpected of ways? I took it. I stepped through. Into the greatest trials, both physical and emotional, I’d ever face—into another time and unknown world that would test my strength to my core. I would fight… I would kill… I would love... Most of all, I would live.

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RELEASE PARTY

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ADVANCE PRAISE FOR SHERWOOD ROGUE

Kristi Cramer never fails to amaze me and this has become one of my favourite books ever. ~ Riah Pilling This is a fast paced, unpredictable, adventure novel. I never thought I’d enjoy a time travel book but that just makes this fantasy adventure even better! And there’s a romance aspect that just adds to the overall, compelling, enchanting excellence of Sherwood Rogue. ~ Katy Kitchin (Katy’s Book Ramblings)

EXCERPT

In the morning, I woke to Robin’s hand on my shoulder. He raised a finger to his lips and beckoned me to follow him out of the camp. We walked through the forest and emerged at the river downstream from where Much and I had fought. Still bleary-eyed with sleep, I rubbed my face, trying to wake up. Robin was silent, so I watched the water, drowsy, not really thinking about who stood beside me. I wished I could strip off my clothes and wash myself in the pre-dawn freshness, but thoughts of bathing vanished when I remembered where I was. I waited for Robin to speak first, afraid to ask why I was with him, worrying more with each moment that passed. “Much tells me you have quite a hand for the quarterstaff,” he said at last. He sat on the riverbank and motioned for me to join him. “He told me that, too,” I agreed, still wary as I settled beside him. “He said you caught him looking away, played him up on it, and threw him.” “I did.” “You don’t sound like you’re too proud of it.” He threw stems of long grass into the river, watching them float away. “It’s not my nature to be proud, sir.” He was after something. I could tell. “You should be. It’s been a long time since anyone has thrown Much, except John.” “I was lucky.” “But you can see people’s weaknesses, know how to get behind someone’s guard. That takes a good eye and a sharp mind. Use it.” I looked at him keenly for a moment, different thoughts crossing my mind. “You didn’t bring me out here to talk about quarterstaffs and fights.” “Like I said, a sharp mind.” Robin looked at me. I shifted my gaze away from his, unused to hearing compliments. “No, I didn’t. Some of my men are a bit...concerned about your background. I won’t mention any names, but they’re not sure about my decision to let you join us. I’m curious about you myself.” “So you want to hear all of it.” I sighed. I knew I couldn’t go on forever without telling someone. But how much should I reveal? “If I tell you,” I said, still debating where I should draw the line, “and hide nothing, I would rather you didn’t share it with any of your men. I will abide by your decision.” “You have my word.” His tone suggested he was intrigued. “That’s all I ask. First, I must ask a question.” “Yes?” “What do you think about women?” “What?!” “Do you believe women should be allowed to do what they set their minds to, or should they only bear children and keep homes?” Robin thought for a moment, looking at me with that probing stare of his. “It depends on what they set their minds to,” he said carefully, watching. “Why do you ask?” I knew at that point he had a good idea why and was only waiting to hear it. I took a deep breath. “Because I am a woman.” Robin’s stare intensified. I wanted to shrink away from his gaze and hide somewhere, but I held out, staring back at him. I couldn’t back down. Not this time. There was too much to lose. The look on his face was hard to read. I saw disbelief, but I couldn’t tell if he was angry or not. After a long moment, my stomach growled, breaking the tension. He looked away, gazing out over the river. “Tell me why you are here.” I looked down at the ground, forming the words in my head. “I am here because I’ve always dreamed of being here. My dream came true. I am a woman, yes, but there is more. What I have to say sounds impossible, but it is the truth.” I hadn’t decided to tell him all of it until that moment. “I come from a land called America, as I said. You haven’t heard of it because it hasn’t been discovered yet. I come from the future, Robin.” I looked up to see his reaction to my words, but his face was a mask as he looked out over the river. “Continue,” he said, his voice hard. I didn’t stop to think of a story. This time, I spoke from my heart. “In my world, Robin Hood, I am an outcast.” I emphasized the name his outlawry had given him, hoping he would see some common thread to bind our lives together. “I don’t fit anywhere. I live in the mountains and come down twice a year for supplies. I spend the rest of my time hunting, learning to survive. I am alone because no one wants to understand me and be my friend. In my world, I am a very lonely person.... “But here, in this world, in this time, I finally feel like a whole person. Except for the fate of being female, I might have been born in this time to be what I could be here. But I am from the future. And why not? Stranger things have happened. Man has walked on the moon. He flies in metal birds that weigh tens of thousands of pounds. He splits atoms. He can speak to someone thousands of miles away. Why not fall through a door in time? If you could see what the future is like, Robin, my being here would not surprise you. “And you.... In my time, you are a legend in storybooks my mother read to me. I dreamt of joining your men and working my way to fame like yours. To experience the reality....” I broke off my rambling with a sigh and gathered my thoughts. “I have dreamt so well, it has become reality for me. I can’t tell you how I come to be here—I don’t know myself—but here I am.” I didn’t voice my greatest fear. Maybe I am still at home, in a coma. Or maybe I am dead. It would be a cruel cosmic joke if I woke up now when all I wanted was to stay. I waited for his response, unsure what would happen next. I had let my nerves do some of the talking and didn’t know if I had said too much...or too little. I wanted so much for him to believe me. Robin turned to look at me, his face flushed. “You are jesting, trying to distract me from the fact you are a woman.” “No, sir,” I insisted. “As impossible as it seems, I’m telling the truth.” His stare intensified, stripping away any chance I had of misleading him. I could almost feel him flipping through pages of information in my mind as he judged my every reaction. “Then you are a witch?” I jumped at the implication. “No!” “But to come as you have said, there must have been strong magic.” “I don’t have magic, Robin, but it must be magic that sent me here. It must have been the challenge. Yes. That’s as good an explanation as any.” “What do you mean?” He eyed me with suspicion. I blushed slightly. “I was standing there, on the knoll, burning inside with spring fever. I had been thinking of you and yelled out that I was there, that I was alive....” The feelings of that moment came back. In retrospect, I thought myself extreme, my challenge quite foolish. If the answer hadn’t been to send me through time.... “And then I was here. I don’t want to leave.” I’ll be more careful when next I dare the universe to notice me, I added silently. “Magic is strong, Kay. Never underestimate the power of wishes. Or perhaps someone here called you. But as you say, you are here.” Nodding, I held my breath, not daring to speak. “And because you have told me the truth, you may stay. I don’t understand it, but I believe it is truth.” His eyes glazed over for a moment. “I have so many questions about my....” He shook his head. “Your secret will remain with me. But because you are a woman, I would test your strength.” “How, sir?” I blurted, relieved and anxious all at once. “I would cross staffs with you.” He smiled.

AUTHOR BIO

When Kristi isn’t riding her Harley or working her day job, you can find her in front of her computer, hammering out exciting suspense stories, or chatting around on social media. Although she has honed her writing craft for 30+ years, she only published her first book in 2012. Her strange and varied work history - having held jobs from a hotel housekeeper, a car wash attendant, an insurance underwriter, an electronics assembly line worker, a data entry tech in auto parts warehouse, a blueberry nursery shipping coordinator, a local delivery driver, and a truck driver and owner of her own trucking company - gives her a broad base from which to build her characters and storylines. Now a billing specialist for The Arc of Lane County, she supports those who care for people with disabilities while she pursues her writing career in earnest. She got married for the first time at 38, skipped being a mommy and went straight to Grandma. Turns out it’s best for everyone that way.