To Defy a Dream

A Second Chance Romance Sleeping Beauty Retelling

De: Mary Mecham

Narrado por: 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

Interesting Sleeping Beauty retelling

This was such an interesting take on Sleeping Beauty. I haven’t read many retellings of sleeping beauty because she’s normally just asleep and doing nothing through them. BUT this pulls you into the “dream world” itself leaving Princess Aurelia to attempt to save her people, her brother, or her love. This story was captivating, I listed to it on audible, but will be buying a physical copy also.

The Narrator did an amazing job, I don't do too many audible books, she kept the book run and enjoyable I finished it all in one sitting.

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!

A beautiful and short romance!

I was skeptical that I could get invested in a
book that was only just over 4 hours long, but I
did and I loved it! the characters were easy to love and the plot twist was very unexpected! The lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers-again romance was tender and sweet and the plot just flowed so naturally.

As much as I wanted it to be longer, I feel like the whole story just worked and asking anything extra would have been unnecessary.

I would definitely recommend this book! Especially if you're looking for something short and sweet. The perfect stand alone romantic fantasy!

Amazing

What an amazing tale! This twist on Sleeping Beauty had a Genii in the mix, as well as a very satisfying ending. I really appreciate how this author does not write spicy scenes, but uses human drama and difficult (and funny) situations to add interest instead!

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!

Such a wonderfully fast-paced, mysterious retelling

Such great world building and mystery throughout! The author is so good at that in all her books.

This one was a fast-paced, mysterious retelling of Sleeping Beauty and I loved the fun twist. The second chance romance was done really well and I loved all the emotions behind it. Aurelia and Everett had this great push and pull to their relationship. One thing I love about Mary Mecham's writing is that she always surprises me. I never see the twists coming and it was the same here. I loved the surprises and twists she adds to her stories.

I read this as an audiobook and I thought the narrator did a fantastic job. You really felt immersed in the story as she was narrating.

good

Loved it !! this story. the narrator is so fantastic it's like your really there!! good overall

Intriguing and unique

This was such an interesting Sleeping Beauty retelling. It felt so unique! The characters all felt multi-dimensional, and the story felt pretty complex for such a short story. An intriguing and wonderful read!

Good narration

I just finished the audiobook version of this as a reread. The narrator did a great job and, to tell the truth, I liked it better the second time around than I did the first.

Original review back from October ‘23:

To start off, the title of this book is perfection. It almost feels like a play on words and those get me every time. This is a good story; I enjoyed it, but I did waver on whether to give it 4 or 5 stars. It feels a bit dark compared to what I typically prefer to read; normally I enjoy retellings that are lighter. The dream world is also called Gehenna, which makes it a bit too real for me, I guess. There is, of course, the happily ever after (and it’s beautiful) so that was a big redeeming factor. I also cannot ignore that stunning cover and some of the scene descriptions in the book certainly do not disappoint.

Violence-wise and just overall theme-wise, upper teen would be safe. Romance-wise, I was mostly satisfied (it was almost too swoony for me, but I think it passes muster, lol).

While I did receive an Advanced Reader Copy of this book, the thoughts and opinions above are my own.