Blog Tour Review of, Curse of the Beast, by Ashley Lavering

 

Product Details:

• Title: Curse of the Beast (Book 1)
  
• Author: Ashley Lavering
• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Silvermist Publishing LLC (July 17, 2012)
• Genre: YA Paranormal
• ISBN-10: 0985570318
• ISBN-13: 978-0985570316
• FTC FYI: I was given a free e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

Book Description:

A dark shadow stalks the night, watching her—waiting to claim what is his.

Seventeen-year-old Tayla Jonas longs for a simple life, but after a traumatizing family loss, she is forced to be both mother and sister to her cousins while caring for her mentally unstable aunt. Moving to her grandma’s quiet town of Cody, Wyoming, Tayla finds some normalcy with her quirky green activist friend, Chel, who spends no time converting her to vegetarianism.

A few weeks into her new school, Tayla catches the eye of Kyle Harrington—the high school quarterback and resident millionaire—who can seduce any girl with his charismatic charm, including Tayla. But Kyle is anything but what he seems.

Walking through City Park, Tayla is unaware that an ancient curse has her in its crosshairs. The silver moonlight illuminates the path to her van, sprinkling shadows like evil twinkling eyes. Tayla’s skin prickles, and she turns. Something—or someone—is watching her.

A powerful werewolf steps from the shadows. An iridescent blue chord shoots from him and slams into her stomach, dissolving instantly. Pain wracks her body, and she tries to scramble to safety, but his silver eyes freeze her in place as the curse binds them together. The chord settles deep inside her body, coiling with dread around her heart.

Dismayed by the prospect of a werewolf for a shadow, Tayla fears for the safety of her friends and family. How will she keep the werewolf’s insatiable hunger in check? Her plans for a vegetarian lifestyle quickly dwindle away, and Tayla wrestles to fit her frazzled life back together—piece by piece. But what she didn’t expect was her attraction to the werewolf or the power of the full moon.

Will Tayla be strong enough to survive the Curse of the Beast? Or will it consume her like so many before? Find out in the first installment of this unique retelling of Beauty and the Beast.

My Review:

I love reading fairytale retellings. When I found out that this book was a modern retelling of one of my favorite fairy tales, Beauty and the Beast, I couldn't wait to read it. It has a little of everything in it: romance, magic, angst and a massive cliffhanger that leaves you jumping up and screaming because you have to wait until the next book to find out what and why? Don't you love it when an author does that to you? It truly has a great mix of the fairy tale and paranormal, with some very creative twists.

As a reader you feel for Tayla and all that she has struggled with in her life. You of course, love her hunky boyfriend Kyle, who is full of surprises!  You have the best friend, Chel, who plays off of Tayla very well. There is also the bad girl, Natalie, that you would love to smack as she walks by.

 For those of you that are just plain tired of vampires, and want a furry man (a werewolf!) to star in your dreams, this book is for you. Curse of the Beast is a great first novel from Ashley and you will of course be waiting anxiously for book 2 to come out. 

 

 ***Enter to Win Your Own Signed Copy of Curse of the Beast here at Ashley Lavering's blog: You have 8 days to enter.***

Curse of the Beast   Blog Tour Schedule:

July

Friday, 27th—Amber’s Supernatural and YA Reviews

·        Book Review and Giveaway of a free ebook, a deck of Curse of the Beast playing cards, and a swag bag

Saturday, 28th— Jagged Edge Reviews

·        Author Interview

Sunday, 29th—I am a Reader, not a Writer

·        Giveaway of a Signed Paperback copy of Curse of the Beast and swag bag

Monday, 30th—Intoxicated by Books

·        Book Review

Tuesday, 31st— Blkosiner's Book Blog

·        Author Interview and Giveaway of a free ebook, a deck of Curse of the Beast playing cards, and a swag bag

August

Wednesday, 1st—Enchanted Writings

·        Character Interview

Thursday, 2nd—The Stubby Pencil

·        Book Review and free ebook

Friday, 3rd—The Non Reluctant Reader

·        Author Interview and Giveaway a free ebook

Saturday, 4th— Why not? Because I said so!

·        Book Review

Sunday, 5th—Creative Thoughts

·        Giveaway of a Signed Paperback copy of Curse of the Beast and swag bag

Monday, 6th—Epilogue

·        Character interview and Short except from Star Cursed book 2

Tuesday, 7th—Debbie’s Inkspectations

·        Author Interview

Wednesday, 8th—Once Upon a Twilight

·        Book Review and giveaway

Thursday, 9th—A Dreamland Teenage Fantasy

·        Book Review and Giveaway a free ebook.

Friday, 10th—Fire Star Books

·        Author Interview and Giveaway a free ebook and a swag bag.

Saturday, 11—Read Between the Lines

·        Book Review and Giveaway of a free ebook, a deck of Curse of the Beast playing cards, and a swag bag.

About the Author:

A nomad at heart, I currently claim Nevada as my home. I have a wonderful husband and two young children that put up with my “writing time.” When I’m not pondering on a spell that will magically calm the ferocious winds that plague the air around me, you can find me, with notepad in hand, frantically jotting down ideas in those short moments between caring for my girls. Art and science have always been my yin and yang. Throughout my college career, I shifted between the two, but in the end I graduated with a Bachelors of Mathematics and Science from the University of Wyoming. Charging into adventures and discovering something new has always been a passion of mine, but as a teenager I use to run screaming from a reading or writing assignment. Looking back, the irony isn’t lost on me. Now you can’t catch me without a book in hand or without an open word document. Every time a new idea pops into my mind my heart races and my hand twitch to write it. In that moment, I have my writer's high and pray it will sustain me through thousands of hours of revision.