FF–Red Riding Hood by Victoria Schwab

**Today on Dark Faerie Tales read Trinity Faegan’s take on the Princess and the Pea fable and you could win a copy of The Mephisto Covenant**

I am very honored to have debut author, Victoria Schwab, here with us today, to celebrate the release of The Near Witch!

THE NEAR WITCH is itself a fairy tale, one about a town called Near, in which a stranger appears, and the next night the children begin to disappear from their beds. This version of LRRH features both the heroine of THE NEAR WITCH, Lexi, and her little sister, Wren. In THE NEAR WITCH, Lexi races to learn the reason for the disappearances before her sister becomes the next victim. In both stories, Lexi's keen senses, when mixed with protectiveness, make her a dangerous opponent. She's also pretty good with an axe.

Lexi in Little Red Riding Hood

Wren danced in circles and swirls through the woods, spurned on by her own music, her own games.
Lexi followed close behind, watched her sister and the trees and the spaces between and the slipping light, all with slow, sweeping glances. A leaf fell here, a branch cracked there, a bird alighted and another landed, and her sister danced on, and in the dusk, Lexi saw it all.

And when the dark shape cut between the trees, she saw that, too. She knew better than to slow, or worse, to stop.

The shape grew closer, seemed to bleed into the shadows made by slipping sun. Lexi's pulse quickened. Wren danced ahead, cutting in and out of sight. Something somewhere growled, but the woods were tapering, and soon they would be home.

Her little sister broke the treeline first, skipped into the yard. Lexi kept her own steps steady, calm, but a small sigh of relief escaped when she too reached the clearing. A breath that snagged in her throat when she heard the sound behind her. Something between a whisper and a word. Meant just for her.

Mine, it said. Mine.

The word curled around her shoulders.

"Hurry on, Wren," called Lexi, managing a smile. She forced her feet forward, away from the woods and the word and the spreading dark, to the small house that waited in the last pool of light.

Mine mine mine, growled the thing at the edge of the trees.

Wren slid inside, still caught up in her own games. Lexi locked the door behind her sister, pausing only to press her hand against the wood and pray that it would hold, before she reached for the axe on the chopping block beside the porch. The axe slid free, the grooves worn to her grip. Lexi hefted the glinting blade, and turned to face the forest.

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Thanks to Victoria’s publisher, I have one copy of The Near Witch to giveaway!

The Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children.

If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely, and always looking for company.

And there are no strangers in the town of Near.

These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life.

But when an actual stranger—a boy who seems to fade like smoke—appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true.

The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion. Still, he insists on helping Lexi search for them. Something tells her she can trust him.

As the hunt for the children intensifies, so does Lexi’s need to know—about the witch that just might be more than a bedtime story, about the wind that seems to speak through the walls at night, and about the history of this nameless boy.

Part fairy tale, part love story, Victoria Schwab’s debut novel is entirely original yet achingly familiar: a song you heard long ago, a whisper carried by the wind, and a dream you won’t soon forget.

Purchase: Amazon

Interested in winning this book?

• This giveaway is open to US only

• To enter, just leave a comment letting me know what you think happened to the wolf

• You can to earn an extra entry (1) by spreading the word, please provide link in a second comment

• Tweet: #FantasticFables Read @veschwab 's take on Red Riding Hood | Win The Near Witch http://www.tyngasreviews.com/2011/08/ffred-riding-hood-by-victoria-schwab.html #giveaway PLZ RT

Ends September 7th, 2011.

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Victoria loves fairy tales, and folklore, and books that make her wonder if the world is really as it seems. She loves writing about doors, and places between, and the cracks where reality slips into something darker, stranger, and invariably more interesting.

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Posted by Tynga at 08:18

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Tynga is a 32 years old mom of two, from Montreal, working as a lab technician in an hospital specialized in heart disease. In her free time, she enjoys reading all things Paranormal and photography.

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