It has finally released! Beast of the Night (A Fairy Tale Retelling)

Well, friends, today is the big day. Beast of the Night is out in the world for all to read, and the Book Release Tour begins! But first, I wanted to share with you a little about how this book came to be and the inspiration behind it.

The setting for this book is a fictional town in the Alps, more specifically the Austrian Alps. When I was little, my family lived in Italy for a time, and while there, we took many road trips across parts of Europe. One of my favorite places was Salzburg, Austria, a charming city with a grand view of the sharp, green Alps. If you know of The Sound Of Music movie, this was where much of it was filmed. In fact, we took the bus tour to go and visit The Sound of Music film locations!

Another really cool thing in Salzburg are the salt mines. It was a great experience going down into the deep mountain tunnels and seeing where the miners used to work. We got to ride on a boat across the most still and quiet underground lake I’ve ever seen, and then ride down a slide which miners used to use to reach places more quickly.

There was so much to see and do in Salzburg, that the beautiful city quickly captured my heart, and I knew that one day I would love to write a story that was inspired by this area.

A Beauty and the Beast retelling with an Austrian twist and a new breed of curse.

A one-armed, practical girl. A rude lord hiding a curse. A dark secret with the town’s fate hanging in the balance…

When Rosen moves to Freudendorf—a secluded town in the Alps—with her dad, he vanishes on her when the debt collectors come to call: taking her into slave labor in his place. As if that wasn’t bad enough, just when all her hopes and dreams for a normal life are ruined, a frail butler purchases her and takes her to serve Lord Varick, who currently resides in the forbidden castle near the salt mines where the Beast of the Night is said to roam.

Varick is handsome, with an attitude that’s the exact opposite. The servants aren’t human, and the castle itself is an ugly wreck. But if Rosen cannot solve the dark secret spreading beneath Freudendorf, and the curse holding Varick’s cold heart, then both they and the town will fall prey to a waiting evil—and worse, even lose their memory of it.

Purchase your copy:

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | GOODREADS

I’m running an Instagram Challenge this week: 11th-20th! Join in the fun using the prompts on the graphic below. And feel free to copy and share this graphic around!

The Book Release Tour links and schedule are at the end of this post. Today’s stop is over at Jenelle Schmidt’s for her book review of Beast of the Night!

Excerpt: Beast of the Night

“What is Lord Varick like?” Rosen found herself asking, wanting to fill the silent void while navigating the eerie, dim castle.

Licht and Butler Sterbetod shared a look.

“You didn’t tell her?”

The aged butler’s neck creaked as his head slowly shook.

“Well then.” Licht brushed the sides of his vest, mouth working. “Varick is…is… How should I put it?” The nymiad made an effort to think.

“Difficult,” Sterbetod wheezed.

“Ja. Extremely difficult.” Licht nodded. “Try not to take anything he says to heart,” he advised in a quiet tone.

Rosen glanced between them, her palm getting sweaty.

“It’ll be fine, I’m sure,” Licht whispered, which didn’t make her feel any better, then tapped on the door. “Master Varick? The butler has arrived with the new worker you requested.”

Several seconds of silence passed, and then faint footsteps could be heard drawing near, and the ornate door swung inward.

Dim light from the room beyond combined with Licht’s flames to illuminate a figure standing tall in the doorframe.

Rosen’s breath caught in her throat.

If a human could embody the words “royal beauty,” this was him. Perfect sharp nose and symmetrical features. Cat-like eyes and thick eyelashes black as night. Hair a dark waterfall cascading down in wavy layers brushing the tops of firm shoulders, an his skin alabaster white. Lord Varick stared down at her, his eyes catching the lamplight.

“Master Varick, may I introduce Miss Rosenrot.” Licht bowed with a wave of an arm.

Rosen made her best attempt at a curtsy, trying to halt the rapid beating in her chest. He was gorgeous. She didn’t know a man could be called gorgeous.

His perfect lips parted to speak.

She held her breath, waiting for his elegant words.

“A human girl?” he said.

Rosen paused mid-curtsy. His tone didn’t sound quite so pleasant as his appearance promised.

“I tell you to bring me a new nymiad servant—a male servant. A nymiad male servant. And instead, you bring me a human girl? A—human—girl?” His princely features distorted into a rude frown. “What is wrong with you, Sterbetod? Why can’t you ever do things right!”

Rosen’s jaw dangled, flabbergasted.

“But, Master…” Butler Sterbetod wheezed, one hand over his chest. “A feminine touch will…do this castle good. She is a…hard worker, and…this place needs serious care or…else it will fall apart.”

Varick’s expression remained sourly unchanged.

“And I already…paid for her service…”

“You threw my money away on that?” The young lord pointed a long finger at her, no doubt taking in her half-missing arm.

Rosen snapped out of her daze. “Did you just refer to me as a that? Excuse me, but I am not a that.”

“Shut up! Go away!” he shouted.

The door slammed in her face before she could finish.

She blinked at the polished wood, then turned her neck to look at Licht and the butler. “Did he just—? Did he really—?”

“…Difficult,” the butler concluded.

Rosen ranted and raved. How could a lord behave in such a way?

“Even street children have better manners! I won’t stand for being treated like this—debts to be paid or not. They’re not my debts, anyway. I’ll run away and become a nun!”

Book Purchase Links:

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | GOODREADS

Book Release Tour:

Visit these lovely blogs on their date for Beast of the Night reviews and spotlight posts!

June 11th

rawlse.wordpress.com – opening

www.jenelleschmidt.com – review

12th

bookslesstravelledreviews.wordpress.com -review & spotlight

13th

elizabethdragina.files.wordpress.com -review

15th

www.hsjwilliams.com/blog -spotlight

16th

www.djedwardson.com -spotlight

17th

www.rachaelritchey.com -review

18th

www.hlburkeauthor.com/blog -spotlight

19th

Sarah Ashwood -spotlight

20th

twitter.com/justviews -spotlight

21st

www.kylerobertshultz.com -spotlight

22nd

christinesmithauthor.com -review

www.jlmbewe.com/blog -review

23rd

thepagedreamer.wordpress.com -spotlight

24th

triciamingerink.com/blog -spotlight

25th

 theworldofthewriter.wordpress.com -review

26th

wordsofhannahkay.wordpress.com -review & spotlight

rawlse.wordpress.com/blog -closing

 

 

 

 

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