Blog Tour: Thorn by Intisar Khanani Excerpt & Giveaway

Hey everyone! Today, Booktastic Reviews is taking part in a blog tour! Following is the synopsis of YA fantasy novel, Thorn, an excerpt and a giveaway, plus more about the author! Enjoy! :D

Princess Alyrra’s strength lies in silence. Scorned by her family, she avoids the court, spending her time with servants. When her marriage is unexpectedly arranged with the prince of a powerful neighboring kingdom, Alyrra feels trapped. As the court celebrates her match, dark rumors spread about the unexplained deaths of the women of her new family. Alyrra beginsher journey with mounting trepidation. Betrayed while traveling, she seizes an opportunity to start a life away from court.

Walking away from a prince whom she doesn’t know should have been easy. But from the moment she sets eyes on him, Alyrra realizes that her freedom could cost him his life. Without any magical defense of her own, she is plunged into a lethal game of sorcery and deceit. Now Alyrra must decide whom she can trust and what she’s willing to fight for—before her silence proves fatal.

Excerpt:
“Why has the king come to visit us, then?”
Daerilin tosses back the last of his wine and waves his goblet in the air. “To find a bride for his son, little princess. How would you like to marry the Menaiyan prince?”
My chest feels hollow. I force myself to breathe, to keep my expression still. From the corner of my eye, I can see the king’s long-fingered hand lifting his goblet. He speaks with my mother quietly; I can only just catch the faint lilt of his voice, the resonating strangeness of his accent.
“We are hardly a strong ally for them,” I whisper.
“Perhaps they’re just looking for a mouse to snap up,” Daerilin replies as the servant fills his goblet. “Their women do seem to die young. They wouldn’t want to upset their closer allies by accidentally killing off the bride.” Daerilin smirks. “I daresay no one would raise an outcry if something were to happen. To you.”

Giveaway: CLOSED
Now, on to the fun part! One lucky winner will receive a signed Thorn bookmark. Oh, and it's international! The giveaway will close on the 6th June 2012 (the winner picked using Random Number Generator) and all you have to do to enter is fill out this form! Good luck! :D

More About The Author:
Intisar Khanani grew up a nomad and traveler. Born in Wisconsin, she has lived in five different states as well as in Jeddah on the coast of the Red Sea. She first remembers seeing snow on a wintry street in Zurich, Switzerland, and vaguely recollects having breakfast with the orangutans at the Singapore Zoo when she was five. She now resides in Cincinnati, Ohio, with her husband and young daughter. Intisar writes grants and develops projects to address community health with the Cincinnati Health Department, which is as close as she can get to saving the world. Her approach to writing fantasy reflects her lifelong passion for stories from different cultures. She is currently writing a trilogy set in the same world as Thorn. This is her first novel.