From Goodreads: "I loved this book. To me is it a very loose reimagined world of Sleeping Beauty, but that is a good thing. It kept me guessing and really kept me on the edge of my seat. I stayed up late reading as I just had to know what happens next. I loved the unique idea that Kaitlyn came up with to make this story very unique."
Published: February 17th, 2015
Will his kiss be enough to revive her frozen heart?
Once Upon A Time meets La Femme Nikita in GATHERING FROST, a dystopian romance from bestselling author Kaitlyn Davis that reimagines the classic fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty.
Jade was only a little girl when the earthquake struck. Before her eyes, half of New York City disappeared, replaced by a village that seemed torn out of a storybook. Horses and carriages. Cobblestone streets. A towering castle. And, above all, a queen with the magical ability to strip emotions away.
Ten years later and Jade has forgotten what it is to feel, to care...even to love. Working as a member of the queen's guard, she spends most of her time on the city wall staring at the crumbling skyscrapers of old New York. But everything changes when the queen's runaway son, Prince Asher, returns. Jade is tasked with an unusual mission--to let the Prince capture her, to make him trust her, and then to betray his secrets to the crown. In return, she'll earn her freedom. But life outside the queen's realm is more than Jade bargained for. Under Asher's relentless taunts, her blood begins to boil. Under his piercing gaze, her heart begins to flutter. And the more her icy soul begins to thaw, the more Jade comes to question everything she's ever known--and, more importantly, whose side she's really on.
GUEST POST
Five Ways My Sleeping Beauty Is Way Cooler Than The One We Grew Up With!
Okay, I have to start by admitting that I am totally Disney obsessed and think each princess is absolutely perfect in her own way! I may be partial to Belle and Ariel, but Sleeping Beauty is still a Disney classic I could rewatch again and again and again!
But when updating a fairy tale, a writer is allowed to take liberties—and take liberties I did! Jade, the sleeping beauty in my novel, is completely different than the Aurora we all know and love! She's tougher, more modern, and made for a post-apocalyptic world. So here are five ways I think my princess kicks some Disney ass :)
1) She's not in a spell-induced coma during the major action! Jade's curse isn't one of actual sleep—it's her heart that is cursed. It's frozen over and she's in an emotional sleep—unable to love, but still able to kick butt during the entirety of the novel!
3) She doesn't need a prince to fight her battles! Jade can slay her own dragons, thank you very much! She's independent and a fighter, and pulls off some pretty awesome actions scenes during the course of the novel!
4) No fairy gifts of beauty or song! Jade is just a plain old human, no extra magic-induced gifts or fairy friends! She has to rely on her own strength to overcome the battle ahead!
5) Character growth takes center stage! While princess Aurora pretty much remains her kind beautiful self from start, to curse induced sleep, to finish—Jade has a tough road to overcome and she changes a lot along the way, all for the better. And those are the characters I enjoy reading about the most!
So you might be wondering now, how is Jade like sleeping beauty at all? Well, you can read Gathering Frost and find out! But I will say this—they both wish for more with their lives, they both miss their families, they both have adventurous spirits, they both fall under an evil curse, and without giving too much away, true love's kiss might be involved a little bit too :)
EXCERPT
The world ended on a Saturday in spring. Beautiful. Sunny. The sort of afternoon that pulled New Yorkers from their hibernation, urging them to shed their floor-length coats and stiletto boots, to let the sun kiss their pale skin once more.
When the earthquake began, my mother and I were in Central Park. "Pedal!" I remember her shouting. "Pedal!" And I did. My little legs pumped in circles, my heart lifted as I felt her fingers release the bike, and suddenly I was riding on my own. For the first time. The breeze whipped against my grinning cheeks, stinging my eyes.
But then the ground shook. The earth began to tremble. And I had no hope. In a flash, I was on the ground, sandwiched against the concrete as screams rose around me. Darkness stole my vision as my mother's arms encircled me, hugged me closer. Teeth chattering, I tried to be strong. But tears leaked from my eyes, the cries of a baby. Shame burned my chest.
Time passed but my young mind had lost count. Minutes. Hours. I still don't really know. But when the ground stilled, I woke to a new world.
My mother was frozen with shock, so I had to pull against her hold, straining to see. Over her shoulder, south, I saw smoke and ash rising like clouds over my skyline. The trees looked gray, the sky washed out. Faint outlines of buildings were only just visible through the fog, a mix of skyscrapers still standing or leveled to the ground.
I looked at my mother. Her arms had fallen mutely to her side. I'll never forget her green eyes, pulled so taut I swore they were about to snap. Her lips were just slightly open.
"Mommy?"
But she didn’t hear. Something behind me had her so transfixed that even her only child, her little girl, could not shake the alarm.
So I turned.
New York was gone.
Like a line driven through the ground, we stood on one side with the past while our future rested a few feet away. A future that was backward in time.
Atop a hill, a giant castle rose from the ground, surrounded by green lawns where apartments used to stand. At its base were stone houses, smoking from fires. Horses. Carriages. Carts. And people. People dressed in dull brown clothes looked at us just as we looked at them—confused and terrified.
And then she appeared.
Her gown sparkled in the sun, brilliant red popping against a dull backdrop, cinching in at the waist and then expanding into a magnificent skirt billowing in the breeze. Silky white gloves encased her hands. Jewels dripped around her thin neck. Pins held her hair so that it curled elegantly down her back, and resting right above her forehead was a golden crown.
My eyes went straight to her.
A princess. I knew she would save us. I had seen it before, so many times, so many princesses saving the day.
I ran to her, crossing the threshold without hesitation as my mother screamed at me to come back. My mom was an adult. And adults didn’t believe in these things. I knew she would see my side if I could just get the princess to help us.
She knelt as I approached. A wide inviting smile spread across her face. Her arms caught me.
"What is your name child?" Her voice was warm. It soothed me, relaxed me, filled me with hope.
"Jade."
She brushed my bangs from my forehead, kissed it softly.
"Would you like me to help you? To make all of your fears go away?"
"Yes!" I wanted to run to my mom, to show her she didn’t need to be afraid. The princess would help us. But I couldn't. Something stopped me.
A hand pressed against my chest, pricked my skin.
I looked up at the princess, struggling to break free of her hold, when a freeze snatched my heart, so cold that it burned. I tried to speak, but I was frozen. My limbs grew heavy, my lips felt fat, my vision started to spot.
"Don't worry, little Jade. I'm just putting you to sleep for a little while. You'll wake up soon."
I did. In a cell with other frightened girls. But I never felt the same. Icy. That's what some of us started calling it, this feeling like our hearts won't thaw. Even a fire doesn't warm me. I am hard. Frigid. Emotionless. Sometimes I think I must still be caught in a long dream.
But time has only made me tougher.
Now I know the princess by another name, Queen Deirdre, the Ice Queen.
And I wish I could say I was the hero of the story. A resister. A rebel. Someone who lived to bring an end to the queen who stole my childhood—my mother, my life, my very world.
But I'm not.
I'm not the good guy.
I'm the one who puts the good guys in their graves.
About the author:
4 comments:
Congratulations on your book release! I love dystopian and romance so this book is right up my alley! Thank you for putting it in the KU program!
thx u for hosting :)
Thank you for joining the Gathering Frost book blitz!! I'm happy to see that some of your fans enjoyed learning about my new release :)
Sounds like a great book!
Post a Comment