To Defy a Dream

A Second Chance Romance Sleeping Beauty Retelling

By: Mary Mecham

Narrated by: Tawnya Rollingson

What if Sleeping Beauty pricked her finger on purpose? Princess Aurelia’s kingdom is plagued by the Eternal Slumber, a disease progressively ensnaring the minds of her subjects. After Aurelia wishes for the means to revive her brother, her sinister fairy godmother presents an ominous solution: Aurelia must stab herself with a poisoned spindle.

Accepting this fate plunges Aurelia into a nightmare where victims of the Eternal Slumber are being held hostage by a dark djinni. However, Aurelia’s brother isn’t the only familiar face she finds herself reunited with; Everett, the love of her life who mysteriously disappeared years ago, is there as well. As the djinni’s power grows, Aurelia must decide who to save before the djinni escapes and enters the waking world.

Failing on her quest could trap her in the dream world forever. Will she forgo her chance at a happily ever after and protect her brother, or will she choose to rescue herself and the man she loves?

No matter who she chooses, someone will be doomed to remain in the nightmare that never ends.

©2023 Mary Mecham (P)2025 Mary Mecham

Sleeping Beauty is a damsel who distresses others.

I felt this story started out a bit slowly, which meant it took a bit longer for me to get into. However, once I felt fully immersed in the world and story, I absolutely loved it. It's a very original take on Sleeping Beauty with her choosing to sleep to save others.
I love that Aurelia works to take action to save her family and her kingdom. She is definitely one of Mecham's trademark females in being a damsel that distresses others. She doesn't take anyone's crap and knows her own worth, even if she questions that within herself sometimes.
Everett is a swoony love interest that needs a second chance because in doing what he thought was right, he really screwed up. But he works hard to be better and make up for his mistakes.
Many of the side characters add some fun sass and definitely add to the story, I'm just terrible with names. However, I loved the different personalities shown and the oomph they gave the story.
The swoon towards the end of the story was definitely my favorite. I loved guessing the plot twists coming, and of course the Happily Ever After I'm always rooting for makes every minute worth it.
This is the first time I've listened to a story narrated by Rollingson but I thought she did a great job and I look forward to listening to more books narrated by her!

An amazing story!

Mary Mecham has done it again! She has spun out an incredible fairytale retelling and I just loved how determined Aurelia was! I was on the edge of my seat, smiling, shocked, and laughing pretty hard at some points, and the romance is spot on in this! The world building was also very well written! Also, shout out to Tawnya Rollingson for her amazing performance, it was a job well done! Please do check out this story, it’s so worth it!