Three Sleeping Beauties Blog Tour: Twisted Dreams ~ Review

My apologies everyone.  First off, I was supposed to post this review on Wednesday, but I mixed up the days and posted Poison Kiss that day.  Secondly, this is super late because the power went out and with out it, I have no internet.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

“I, Calandra, of the Wingans, do bestow upon you, the Princess of Hanover, a gift. You have been given long life. I cannot interfere with that, but when you are sixteen years of age, you will prick your finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and fall into an everlasting sleep.” She stepped closer so that she could be heard only by Liesel and her parents. “Then you will at last see the truth. Be wary. Be wise. Your fate rests upon yourself.”

On her sixteenth birthday, Princess Liesel Rosanna falls victim to a sleeping curse—but wakens in another world, a prisoner of war. As the bait in a trap for her fiancé, the crown prince of Hanover, Liesel longs to escape back to the fairy tale world. The world where she is only wanting a true love’s kiss to set everything to rights.

As situations quickly grow dire, Liesel must choose which story to live, which life is real. The fate of her country rests on her decision.

This was a well done re-telling.  Rather unexpected at times too.  It took a while for me to figure out what exactly was going on, but that was a good thing.  I felt that the characters and plot were well balanced and the plot was completely unique...or at least, I've never heard of another re-telling done in this manner.  My favorite character was Matthew, and I would love to see him get a fairytale re-telling of his own. 

 *hint hint, Morgan*

This was also the first of Morgan Huneke's books I have ever read and I am looking forward to reading more.

Morgan Elizabeth Huneke is a homeschool graduate who lives in Georgia. She has enjoyed creating characters and writing stories since early childhood. Books have always been a big part of her life, never more so than when working at the local library. Her other interests include reading, playing and teaching piano and violin, and politics. She is the author of Across the Stars and The Experiment as well as the Time Captives fantasy trilogy.

You can connect with Morgan on her website, blog, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest.  

You can find Twisted Dreams on Goodreads and Amazon.

To learn more about this blog tour, visit Kendra's blog, Knitted By God's Plan.

 

Three Sleeping Beauties Blog Tour: Poison Kiss ~ Review

 

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review

  

Sleeping Beauty doesn't always go the way you expect.  In this amusing retelling, the heroine is cursed to die by True Love's first kiss.  And the Hero isn't exactly your normal 'fairytale Prince' either.  Mixed in are also a few other fairytale characters you might recognize!

This was, as I said, a very amusing retelling.  Kendra has a delightful talent of taking multiple fairytales and mixing them together in a very unique way.  I did feel like she focused more on plot development then character development, but it's a short story so that doesn't bother me very much.  It was simple, but complicated, clean and sweet and suitable for all ages.  My little siblings loved it and it's one that I'm definitely going to keep around.

Kendra E. Ardnek is a homeschool graduate who picked up a pen at an early age and never put it down. The eldest of four, she makes her home in the Piney Woods of East Texas with her parents, younger siblings, giant herd of giraffes, and honor guard of nutcrackers. 

You can connect with Kendra on her website, blog, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

“Ah, now you’ve done it, boy,” came a silky, unfamiliar voice, and the princess’s large, blue-gray cat bounded onto the arm of the couch.

“You – did you just talk?” asked Edmund. First a sleeping princess, and now a talking cat?

“I did,” said the cat, licking his paw. “My vow of silence is at its end.”

“Are – are you a shapeshifter?”

“Oh, dear me, no!” The cat started preening its whiskers. “I am the Great Puss of the Boots. Perhaps you’ve heard of me? I eat shapeshifters for breakfast.”

Three Sleeping Beauties Blog Tour: Morgan Huneke ~ Interview

Hello People!!  It's the first day of the Three Sleeping Beauties Blog Tour!!  Today I bring you an interview with Morgan Huneke, author of Twisted Dreams.

Why did you choose to retell a fairytale? Why did you choose Sleeping Beauty?

It’s actually kind of a boring reason. I wanted to enter the Rooglewood Press Five Magic Spindles contest. I’d thought about writing a retelling before, largely because of previous contests, but also because I like fairy tales and retellings. However, I never had any good and coherent ideas before. And honestly, if the contest wasn’t on Sleeping Beauty, I probably never would have picked that one. It was never my favorite fairy tale and the Disney movie drives me crazy (they get so many plot things wrong when you compare it to the original and the structure is terrible). Writing my own version gives me a chance to redeem the story in my mind. :)

What inspired the unique plot twists you incorporated?

Doctor Who. When I decided to try to enter the contest, I brainstormed a list of possible twists. One was “what if the enchanted sleep is actually a good thing?” That somehow merged with the Doctor Who episode “Amy’s Choice,” where the characters keep flipping back between two places and have to try to figure out what’s a dream and what’s real. I took that concept and ran with it. Is the fairy tale real? Or is the sci-fi world where Liesel is a POW real?

What is your favorite fairytale?

That would probably be Rumpelstiltskin. I’m not entirely sure why, but it’s always fascinated me. Maybe it’s the spinning. I’ve long had a bit of an obsession with spinning and weaving. There’s so much that’s intriguing about that fairy tale, so much that can be explored. Cinderella is also special to me, though.

Do you plan to retell any more fairytales?

That’s still a bit up in the air. I’d like to, certainly. I have a story idea about Will and Liesel’s eldest daughter (this story actually predates Twisted Dreams) that I’m considering working Rumpelstiltskin into. I just have a few problems to resolve, such as how to work in the fairy tale, and what the actual plot of the book is. I’d also like to write a Cinderella, a Beauty and the Beast, and maybe a Little Mermaid someday, but I don’t have any good ideas yet.

Is Liesel modeled on you or someone you know?

Not particularly. For all my characters and stories, I pull elements from personal experience and observation—it adds an element of realism—and Liesel is no exception, but she’s less like me than most of my female leads. For the main trio in Twisted Dreams, I did more to take things as they are in the later story and extrapolate it backwards to figure out how they got there than I did to take inspiration from myself or people I know. Though I did get subconscious inspiration for Will and Liesel’s interaction from watching engaged couples interact.

You can connect with Morgan on her website, blog, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest.  

You can find Twisted Dreams on Goodreads and Amazon.

To learn more about this blog tour, go to Kendra's blog, Knitted By God's Plan.