Hi, friends!

This week is a special week for my expanded family. It’s release week for my book-friend Lindsay A. Franklin’s new book The Story Peddler! If you’ve been following my Instagram, you’ll know I’ve been excited about this book for a while now. Part of it is because I know a bit of the behind-the-scenes writing process and what was going on in the writer’s life. Mostly, it’s because this story is amazing!

The Story Peddler

Tir is a proud realm nestled between mountains and the Menfor Sea. It’s a land filled with tales of pink fluffhoppers, fierce mountain beasts, and brave men and women of old. But like most kingdoms, Tir has some dark secrets that don’t seem to want to stay buried in the past.

Seventeen-year-old Tanwen has a special knack for telling stories. She not only crafts them together with her words, she weaves their colorful threads together to form delicate crystal sculptures that she sells in the towns surrounding her village to earn her bread and butter.

Tanwen has one dream: To to get out of the one-horse town she grew up in and into the royal court in Urian as the master storyteller to the king. But when one of her story-peddling tours goes horribly wrong, Tanwen discovers selling stories can be a deadly business. Especially when her art threatens to reveal a truth that some in the kingdom would pay any price (including murder) to keep hidden away.

What will Tanwen do when she’s faced with the choice of fulfilling her life-long dream or speaking the truth—no matter to cost?

Why I love this story

One of the things I love so much about The Story Peddler is that it’s a story that feels familiar and brand new all at the same time. Because this is a book about a storyteller, there are stories inside the story. And each one is just as creative as Tanwen’s story itself.

I also like that, even though there are evil things happening in the Empire of Tir, the story isn’t dark like so many other books on the shelves right now. Instead, Lindsay Franklin fills the pages with enough light that even in the darkest moments, hope is still visible.

The Story Peddler is the first book in The Weaver Trilogy. And I have it on good authority (from @therealwombatman and his kitty siblings) that Lindsay is hard at work on Tanwen’s continuing adventure. Mom and Dad, there is a crush that develops in this story, but it’s not a kissing book! All the same, I’d recommend it’s most suitable for readers who are fourteen or older.

You can order it now through Amazon Books, Barnes & Noble, or Christianbook.com.

Overall, I give The Story Peddler 4.5 spicy dark chocolate eggs. Can’t wait to see what’s in store for Tannie and her friends next!

Special thanks to Enclave Publishing for sending me an advanced copy of The Story Peddler in exchange for a fair and honest review.