Charming by Krystal Wade blog tour with excerpt and giveaway @KrystalWade
We have a different type of fairytale retelling with today's tour stop. Welcome to the Charming by Krystal Wade blog tour. There's an except of this new Young Adult novel and a tour-wide giveaway.
Krystal Wade is back with a spine-tingling retelling of Cinderella!
In this edge-of-your seat, tension filled retelling of Cinderella, a vengeful schizophrenic pulls sixteen-year-old Haley Tremaine into his dark world. She must make a choice: save her abusive, alcoholic father and bitter little sister and allow the only people who've treated Haley like family to die, or seek out the killer and save them all.
Krystal Wade is back with a spine-tingling retelling of Cinderella!
In this edge-of-your seat, tension filled retelling of Cinderella, a vengeful schizophrenic pulls sixteen-year-old Haley Tremaine into his dark world. She must make a choice: save her abusive, alcoholic father and bitter little sister and allow the only people who've treated Haley like family to die, or seek out the killer and save them all.
YA horror, romance
Paperback/eBook, 208 pages
Expected publication: October 6th 2014 by Curiosity Quills Press
They say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and that's great . . . as long as you don't die.
Sixteen-year-old Haley Tremaine had it all: top-notch school, fantastic family, and a bright future, but all of that changed when an accident tore her family apart. Now, an alcoholic father, a bitter younger sister, and a cold headstone bearing her mother’s name are all she has left.
Chris Charming has it all: a powerful CEO for a father, a prestigious school, and a fortune at his fingertips, but none of that matters when he lands a reputation as a troublemaker. Struggling to follow in his father’s footsteps, he reaches out to the one person he believes truly sees him, the one person he wants: Haley.
Little do they know someone's determined to bring the two together, even if it means murder.
“Since you’ve refused all offers to run away and leave this town behind, you could try this.” Christine took a hit of her thinly wound joint, winked, then held it out for Haley. Like tonight would be any different from the other five hundred times Christine had offered.
“Not happening.” But maybe, just maybe, being high would make walking through the squeaky front door hurt a little less. Maybe the pot would snuff out the anger and fear that burned and spread like uncontrolled wildfires in Haley’s head when Dad yelled, when he grunted disgusting noises because she took too long to clean his mess or get him another beer, and when Jocelyn just sat there and watched.
Dad’s favorite. Dad’s favorite because he thought she chose him instead of Mom the night she decided to leave. Dad didn’t know the truth. Jocelyn didn’t either.
“Not today, anyway.” Hopefully that day never comes.
“Always helps me get over my issues, but suit yourself.” Tucked into her too-large, red and black flannel jacket, Christine finished off the awful smelling joint with a shrug, then jogged across the cracked asphalt, hundreds of jagged tar lines holding the road together like band-aids. She forgot to say goodbye. As usual.
Haley stood on the side of the street between the power lines and her yard covered with a thick layer of pine needles and red leaves, the closest thing Deerfield Massachusetts had to a sidewalk. She stared through the yellow glow of the streetlamp Christine ran under, waiting for her to walk into her house. Once she did, Haley jogged up the few steps to her front porch, pulled open the screen door, took a calming breath, then walked in. No one was waiting. The only greetings she received were sounds of the late-night news reporting the most recent murder, the smell of stale beer, and that ever-unsettling panic in Haley’s chest, the panic that never went away while under the same roof as Dad.
Backpack slung over one shoulder, she ditched her plain black work shoes next to the pile of others by the door and crept through the house that didn’t appreciate anyone creeping around. The worn floorboards rattled with every step, despite Haley’s efforts to place each foot gently in front of the other. She passed the kitchen on her way down the long hallway. The cramped space was a mess of dirty pots and pans sitting and crusting on the stovetop, trash overflowing the can and spilling onto the floor, empty plates scattered on the table. All left for Haley to clean. All left for Haley to worry over.
On the way to her room, Haley paused by the arched opening leading to the den. Dad and Jocelyn sat in each other’s company, watching TV as so many normal families would. But did all those families take advantage of one member? Did they pretend like that member didn’t exist unless they needed help with something? Or was Haley the only lucky one?
“Deerfield police found Jeremiah Woodson dead this morning along the bank of the Connecticut River. Investigators say he suffered a bullet-wound to the head and are searching for clues.”
About Krystal Wade:
Keep up with the tour by stopping by one of these fabulous sites:
- Sept 29th ~ Fresh Fiction (Guest Post) and Reader Girls (Spotlight w/Excerpt)
- Sept 30th ~ Coffee Books & Art (Guest Post) and A.K. Morgen (Spotlight w/Excerpt)
- Oct 10th ~ A Creative Mind (Review) and Bending The Spine (Spotlight w/Excerpt)
- Oct 12th ~ Elizabeth Seckman, Author (Guest Post)
- Oct 13th ~ Paranormal Book Club (Spotlight w/Excerpt)
- Oct 15th ~ Kindle and Me (Spotlight w/Excerpt & Review) and Eliza Tilton (Spotlight w/Excerpt)
- Oct 16th: Summer Weir (Spotlight w/Excerpt)
- Oct 17th ~ Lisa's Book Lair (Guest Post ) and Epic Narrative Book Reviews (Guest Post)
Hi Krystal! I had not heard of this book before today, but I am super excited to read it. How did you come up with this alternate to Cinderella? What was your inspiration for it?
ReplyDeleteHi Lori! I just responded to this, but my comment seems to have disappeared into outer-space. Let's see if I can remember what I wrote. I can't wait for you to read Charming. This book means so much to me. I drew on a lot of personal experiences, on a lot of the pain I kept locked inside while growing up, to write the story. That was the inspiration behind Haley's broken home-life. But the story itself...well, it kind of took me by surprise. A friend and I were talking about fairy tale redux ideas for HER, and I suggested she, "OR....to be really crazy, you could mash up a story (movie) like SAW and Cinderella." She responded with that would be great if she wrote horror, to which I said, "Horror is simple..."
DeleteI quickly rattled off a very messy and loose plot idea, then set it aside to finish edits on another book. :-)
How do you feel when you finish reading your own books after a while? :3
DeleteDepends on which book. I love re-reading CHARMING, and every time I open it a smile forms on my face. :-) When I go back and read the first book I ever wrote? I cringe and think, horrified, did I actually write that? Writers grow, learn more and more with each book, and are constantly evolving. It's only natural to never want to look at an older novel again.
DeleteI love books based on fairy tales!
ReplyDelete