Heppe-Smith PublishingHeppe-Smith Publishing

See the Route through Thistle’s eyes.

Get Quills & Quiet — a free bonus story told entirely from the hedgehog’s perspective — when you join the Last Route reader community.

Free PDF + ePub 2,500 words One sitting Thistle POV
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Thistle the hedgehog tucked in a courier bag by lantern light

A quick taste

Dark leather. Old ink. The ghost of a hundred letters pressed into the seams. This is the world inside the bag, and it is enough. Not silence — never silence.

What you’re getting

Quills & Quiet

A short story set during the events of Dead Letters (The Last Route, Book 1) — told from a perspective you won’t find anywhere else in the series.

  • Approximately 2,500 words
  • Delivered as PDF + ePub
  • Sent after double opt-in (email confirmation)

It’s a single sitting… and it may change how you see the Route.

No spam. No fuss.

When you join, you’ll get:

  • The bonus story (straight away, after confirmation)
  • Occasional updates when new Last Route books release

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The Last Route is cozy fantasy about a failed mage turned postal courier, impossible communities, and a hedgehog with secrets. Warm endings. Found family. Slow-burn sapphic romance. No cliffhangers.

Start with Dead Letters

The post always gets through — even to places the world has forgotten.

Read the blurb See all books
Book cover of Dead Letters: a spilled bundle of letters and envelopes on a coastal cliff at sunset, a hedgehog peeking out among them, a lighthouse on the distant headland.Book cover of Snowbound: a figure in a long coat walks through deep snow toward a small cottage glowing with lamplight, pine forest under a wintry sky.Book cover of Spring Forward: two figures stand on coastal rocks at twilight looking up at a tall lighthouse against a dramatic spring sky.Book cover of Midsummer Delivery: a bonfire blazes in a wildflower meadow at twilight, figures gathered around it, distant village under a summer sky.Book cover of Return to Sender: a courier walks an autumn lane toward a smoke-curled cottage, fallen leaves underfoot and golden trees overhead.Book cover of The Deep Paths: a snowy forest opens onto a small glowing archway at the end of a path, dark winter trees framing the scene.Book cover of The Second Summer: a hedgehog dozes in a courier bag among wildflowers, a summer village with figures gathered by a winding river behind.Book cover of The Courier's Wedding: two figures embrace under a garden arch at sunset, a hedgehog perched on a chest in a lavender-filled foreground.Book cover of The First Year: a courier walks a sunlit autumn path down to the coast, a leather bag at her side with a hedgehog peeking out among letters.Five Years Home (The Last Route, Book 10) cover

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