Thanks so much for having me! Please enjoy this exclusive excerpt from The Lost Year, book three in the Secrets of Neverwood trilogy. As the oldest foster brother to return to Neverwood, Devon had a difficult time finding his place in his new family. Things have since settled with Cal and Danny, but a new troubling mystery is unfolding…

An Exclusive Excerpt from The Lost Year

by Libby Drew

“You okay?” Devon gave Nicholas’s shoulder a brisk shake.

Nicholas answered in a voice soft with awe. “I thought I saw…”

Devon bit his tongue. “What?”

Lowering his gaze from the window, Nicholas said, “A floating woman.”

What could he possibly say to that? Regrouping, he steered a stunned Nicholas up the walk and onto the porch. “Okay, no big deal. You’re tired. Time for bed.”

“Wait.” Nicholas shook free of his hold as they reached the front door. “What the hell was that?”

“I didn’t see anything.”

“Really.” Nicholas’s vibrant eyes flashed in the weak glow of the porch light. “Because you seem pretty quick to brush it off. Too quick. I know what I saw. Are you trying to be funny, playing some kind of trick on me?”

Anger and indignation bubbled up at Nicholas’s accusation, but Devon squashed it. There had been something in the attic window. A ghost, in fact. But he couldn’t admit that. He held up both hands in surrender, tempered his tone and called on his professional voice. “Look, Nicholas. You’re tired. You’re stressed. I don’t know what you think you saw, but I promise there’s nothing in this house that’ll hurt you. You’re welcome to go sleep in your car, but there’s a warm bed on the other side of this door and probably a hot meal in the morning. Your choice.”

He set his face in a mask of indifference, eyes blank, mouth straight. The urge to keep Nicholas close probably wasn’t healthy, but Devon didn’t care. He couldn’t work out the strange twist of emotions the other man brought out in him. Desire, yes, but there was more than that. Each time he tried to pin it down, put a name to it, the feeling dissipated. Much like Audrey.

Hinting at any of this to Nicholas was out of the question. That would be cracking his heart open to a person he barely knew and didn’t trust.

Nicholas held his eyes for another tense second, then deflated. He rubbed his palms over his eyes. “Yeah, okay. Sorry, I just—you’re right. We should go to bed.”

Christ, Devon could’ve done without that visual. “Right. Let’s find you a place to lie down.”

He chose the room next to his own, for no other reason than it had a proper bed and wasn’t buried in construction material. “You’ll be all right?” he asked again before retreating to the door that connected the spaces. Watching Nicholas sit on the edge of the mattress and smooth a distracted hand over the comforter almost undid him. “I’m next door if you need anything.”

The words penetrated Nicholas’s fog. He smiled, his eyes tired and confused, but no less brilliant than usual. “Thanks. I’ll be fine. Good night.”

“Good night.”

On that note, Devon fled to his own dark and empty quarters.

About Secrets of Neverwood

Three foster brothers are called home to Neverwood, the stately Pacific Northwest mansion of their youth. They have nothing in common but a promise to Audrey, the woman they all called mother—that upon her death, they would restore the house and preserve it as a home for troubled boys.

But going home is never easy.

Cal struggles to recover from past heartbreak, while Danny fears his mistakes are too big to overcome. Devon believes he may never break down the barriers that separate him from honest emotion.

On the path to brotherhood, they discover the old mansion holds more than dusty furniture and secret passageways. Audrey’s spirit still walks its halls, intent on guiding “her boys” toward true love, and an old mystery stirs up a new danger—one that could cost the men far more than just the house.

You can purchase each story individually or buy them all in one anthology:

Secrets of Neverwood #1 – One Door Closes

Secrets of Neverwood #2 – The Growing Season

Secrets of Neverwood #3 – The Lost Year

Secrets of Neverwood – Anthology

About Libby Drew

Libby Drew glimpsed her true calling when her first story, an A.A. Milne /Shakespeare crossover, won the grand prize in her elementary school’s fiction contest. Her parents explained that writers were quirky, poor, and often talked to themselves in supermarket checkout lines. They implored her to be practical, a request she took to heart for twenty years, earning two degrees, a white-collar job, and an ulcer, before realizing that practical was absolutely no fun.

An avid supporter of gay rights, Libby donates her time to the Trevor Project and organizations that work to support marriage equality.

You can find Libby at: Website | Blog | Twitter | Goodreads

Libby has kindly offered up a chance to win an eBook copy of the Secrets of Neverwood anthology, which includes the three novellas: One Door Closes, The Growing Season, and The Lost Year. The giveaway starts now and ends July 6, 2014 at 11:59 p.m. To enter, just click the link below!

Rafflecopter Giveaway

Please be aware that the only way to enter the giveaway is to click the Rafflecopter link above. Any comments on this post will not count towards entering the giveaway, except to verify your Rafflecopter entry.

Don’t forget to check out Nikyta’s review of One Door Closes by G.B. Lindsey, Susan65′s review of The Growing Season by Diana Copland and Heather C’s review of The Lost Year by Libby Drew to see what they thought of the stories in the anthology!

Good luck!