Showing posts with label Asleep. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Asleep. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

BOOK BLAST: Asleep by Krystal Wade - Excerpt + GIVEAWAY!

AsleepBlast

Hello readers! Are you looking for your next read? Well, let us help make things easier for you!

Welcome to the Book Blast for

Asleep by Krystal Wade

presented by Blaze Publishing!

Check out the teaser below, and be sure to enter the giveaway found at the end of the post! As a special treat, we've got another book that may tickle your fancy... What is it?  Read on, dear reader, read on!

AsleepCover

"To cure fear, you must use fear."

Rose Briar claims no responsibility for the act that led to her imprisonment in an asylum. She wants to escape, until terrifying nightmares make her question her sanity and reach out to her doctor. He’s understanding and caring in ways her parents never have been, but as her walls tumble down and Rose admits fault, a fellow patient warns her to stop the medications. Phillip believes the doctor is evil and they’ll never make it out of the facility alive. Trusting him might be just the thing to save her. Or it might prove the asylum is exactly where she needs to be.

add to goodreads

Asleep by Krystal Wade
Publication Date: February 16, 2016
Publisher:  Blaze Publishing

Purchase Links: BAM | Chapters | Amazon | B&N | TBD


What Readers Are Saying

"This was hands down one of the best thrillers I've read in a long while." -  Martina McAtee, Author

"It's amazing how this book can bring so many emotions out of me and leaves me being a sobbing mess in the end!" - Gina, A Thousand Books

" It is 100% a book that you need to experience completely for yourself." - Lauren, Wonderless Reviews


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excerpt

That was the first time he’d spoken her name, and she would have celebrated the fact she’d made a connection with someone—anyone—had her world not been spinning.
“Betty just gave me something before I came outside.”

“Something’s changing, something big.” He nodded once, agreeing with himself most likely. “You’re like me.”

The sounds of the door opening and closing, the women squabbling near the oak tree over who drew the better picture in the dirt, and people’s feet crunching on the gravel path leading to the door all felt trapped inside her head, loud and somehow touching her, upsetting her system more. God, even the smell of antiseptic made it out here and into Rose’s nostrils...

“I think I’m going to throw up.”

“You are.” Phillip gently placed his hand on her back and rubbed small circles. “And they’ll get you.”

“I don’t understand. What’s changing? Why do you keep saying I’m like you? Who’ll get me?"

He was paranoid. Crazy. Unpredictable. Yet part of him seemed to know things, to understand, to want to help. How much of what he said was real? How much was just crap made up in his head?

“Different. Everything’s different. Except it’s not. And you . . .” He fell to the ground with Rose as she began vomiting. Phillip held her hair back and talked softly, the lunatic whispering, “It’s okay,” a couple times and touching her raw wrist before continuing, “I wish you never had to fall asleep again.”
About-the-Author2
Krystal Wade

I’m happily married to the love of my life (don’t gag) and raising three beautiful children in the gorgeous state of Virginia. We live just outside Washington, D.C., and every day I wake up to find myself stuck in traffic trying to get there.

The horrid commute gives me plenty of time to zone out and think about my characters in full, brilliant details (I’m a safe driver; don’t worry). Stories give me a way to forget about the sometimes smelly strangers sitting next to me on the fifty mile trek into town (I pick up hitchhikers every day. True story. Check out www.slug-lines.com if you don’t believe me).

I’ve been a part of organized hitchhiking for nearly fifteen years, but that’s just one small aspect of my oh-so-large life. When I’m not working, commuting, or chasing after my three children (four if you count the man), you can usually find me outside talking to my chickens like they’re the cutest things in the world (they are), or training my amazing dogs how to herd said chickens (which they love), or curled up on the sofa with a good book (why can’t that be 100% of the time?).

I hope you love my stories (or just like them a little; that would be okay, too). And I hope that one day you find your passion, because there’s nothing in life better than doing what you love while surrounded by people you love.



YOU MAY ALSO WANT TO CHECK OUT...


Because I Love You

Eight weeks after sixteen-year-old Andie Hamilton gives her virginity to her best friend, “the stick” says she’s pregnant.

Her friends treat her like she’s carrying the plague, her classmates torture and ridicule her, and the boy she thought loved her doesn’t even care. Afraid to experience the next seven months alone, she turns to her ex-boyfriend, Neil Donaghue, a dark-haired, blue-eyed player. With him, she finds comfort and the support she desperately needs to make the hardest decision of her life: whether or not to keep the baby.

Then a tragic accident leads Andie to discover Neil’s keeping a secret that could dramatically alter their lives, and she's forced to make a choice. But after hearing her son’s heartbeat for the first time, she doesn’t know how she’ll ever be able to let go.

add to goodreads

Because I Love You by Tori Rigby
Publication Date:  May 17, 2016
Publisher:  Blaze Publishing

Purchase Links: BAM | Chapters | Indies | Amazon | B&N | Kobo | TBD
giveaway2

Complete the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win!




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Monday, August 12, 2013

Asleep (Fairy Tale Collection #2) by Elizabeth Darcy - Ashley's Review

*I received this book as an eARC from NPC Books on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Amazon | Goodreads

Title: Asleep
Author: Elizabeth Darcy
Year Published: 2013

My Pre-Reading

Synopsis: 
**Note: This book contains some mature content**


A reimagining of the sleeping beauty tale.

When her beloved Prince Devaran is abducted from her parents’ castle during their engagement announcement ceremony, Princess Jessmyn vows that nothing will stop her from bringing his abductors to justice. Rescuing Dev won't be easy, and Jess will have to form an alliance with the other Realms if she's to win the most important battle of her life.

Imprisoned in a forbidding tower, Dev tries to find a way to warn Jess of the perils she’ll face. Weakened by deprivation and by the drugs administered by the madwoman who kidnapped him, Dev drifts between sleep and consciousness. As he relives cherished moments spent with Jess, Dev wonders if he’ll ever again be with the woman he loves.

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Review: Fairy tale retellings are my favorite types of stories. I love when an old, classic story is rewritten in a fresh new way, with new characters and new situations. And this book does exactly that. Instead of the Princess being the "sleeping beauty", Prince Dev is captured and made to sleep against his will. Then, his bride-to-be and warrior princess Jess decides it's up to her to rescue him from the clutches of the evil woman who took him.

But honestly, that's about where the similarities to Sleeping Beauty end. Dev isn't cursed from birth by a villain as awesome as Maleficent, he's not hidden in the woods in the hopes that he'll never touch a spinning wheel, and he doesn't sleep until his true love comes to kiss him awake. There's no "Prince Charming" that just randomly decides to swoop in and save him. So this is basically a VERY loose reimagining of the Sleeping Beauty tale.

I think I would have liked this book more if it hadn't been presented as a Sleeping Beauty tale. I spent too much of the time looking for similarities than I spent appreciating the differences. I love a strong heroine, and Jess is just that, but she didn't really get many opportunities to show her strength. Everything is just too easy for her - thy figure out fairly quickly who took Dev to begin with, the troops they need basically just fall into their laps. they know exactly where Dev is being held, and then Jess manages to find Dev with little to no problem. She goes through a lot emotionally, but I found those parts to be pretty tedious. I wish we had been able to see more of her training her troops or leading them into battle or something. 

I felt the same way about her mother, the warrior queen Farah, and her future brother-in-law, Tanvir. These characters had so much potential, but we just don't learn much about them. With the little bit of information we had bout Tanvir, I found myself liking him more than I liked Dev. I think it was just because I could relate more to him (he's very logical and always has his nose stuck in a book).I loved Farah in the scenes she was in, but I wish we had gotten to learn more about her past and about how she became such a kick-ass warrior queen. The minor characters are nice, but they're very underdeveloped. At least in my opinion.

For me, the beginning of this book was very slow. It took me until about halfway through to finally get into the story, and I think a lot of that had to do with how many flashbacks there were to how Dev and Jess fell in love. I mean, it's interesting, and I usually love flashbacks, but there were just too many too often for my tastes. The next 40% of this book was great - the pace picked up and we got to see some action and learn a little bit more about the villain. And then the last part was just... WTF. The way the villain was defeated seemed like a HUGE cop out, and very out of character. I found myself very confused as to why and how things happened the way they did. And then after Dev is taken home, the rest of the book just seems unnecessary. It's very epilogue-y, and sappy feel-good epilogues really annoy me. This book should have ended like 4 chapters before it actually did. 

I think, going into this book, I had too many expectations about this being a Sleeping Beauty story and that's why I ended up so disappointed with it. I didn't hate it, but it just wasn't what I thought it was going to be and what I hoped it would be, and I found myself skimming more than reading. I think someone looking for a fantasy romance YA book would enjoy this, as long as you go into it not looking for all the things to be Sleeping Beauty related. Just take it for ed by kings and queens and split into world ruled by kings and queens and split into  world ruled by kings and queens and split into Five Realms. I wanted to like this book so much, but I can only give it a 2/5. 


--Ashley

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Asleep (Fairytale Collection #2) by Elizabeth Darcy - Ashley's Pre-Reading

*I received this book as an eARC from NPC Books on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

AmazonGoodreads

Title: Asleep
Author: Elizabeth Darcy
Year Published: 2013

Synopsis: 
**Note: This book contains some mature content**


A reimagining of the sleeping beauty tale.

When her beloved Prince Devaran is abducted from her parents’ castle during their engagement announcement ceremony, Princess Jessmyn vows that nothing will stop her from bringing his abductors to justice. Rescuing Dev won't be easy, and Jess will have to form an alliance with the other Realms if she's to win the most important battle of her life.

Imprisoned in a forbidding tower, Dev tries to find a way to warn Jess of the perils she’ll face. Weakened by deprivation and by the drugs administered by the madwoman who kidnapped him, Dev drifts between sleep and consciousness. As he relives cherished moments spent with Jess, Dev wonders if he’ll ever again be with the woman he loves.

Why?: I love a good fairytale reimagining! I haven't seen many out there for Sleeping Beauty, so I'm curious to see how this story gets an update. Or has a new spin. It looks like the Prince is the "damsel in distress" in this story, so it ought to be interesting to see how Darcy handles that. Also, it looks like this is a second book in a series but has no relation to the first one... so I hope I don't get really confused. 

Expectations: I expect something pretty different from the original. A strong heroine who has to go on an adventure to rescue her prince, some romance, maybe a dragon or two. I'm kind of hoping the "mature content" warning doesn't cover the whole book, but who knows. I hope it's just a couple of scenes or something minor like that, because I'm not really looking for an explicit book.

Judging a book by its cover: The cover isn't really anything special to me. I mean, it looks like a fairy tale book. I'm not sure I would pick it up if I saw it somewhere on a shelf. I don't think it would stand out enough to warrant my attention.


--Ashley