Title: One Little Nightmare Series: Of Gods and Monsters Author: Dawn Darling Genre: Dark Fantasy Romance Publisher: Dawn Darling Release Date: October 31st, 2023 Format: eBook, Paperback Pages: 267 A paranoid schizophrenic with a dark passenger lurking in the...
Title:
One Little Nightmare
Series:
Of Gods and Monsters
Author:
Dawn Darling
Genre:
Dark Fantasy Romance
Publisher:
Dawn Darling
Release Date:
October 31st, 2023
Format:
eBook, Paperback
Pages:
267
A paranoid schizophrenic with a dark passenger lurking in the shadows.
A broken Siren who would give anything to end her curse.
A mystery girl with the traumas of her past written on her body.
A Beautiful Nightmare
Brooks wakes in an insane asylum with a broken wristwatch and no memories. He spends colorless days ignoring beautiful hallucinations and adrenaline-inducing nights fighting the monsters inside, but theyre only the beginning. After a mystery girl shrouded in secrets and painted with scars appears in the asylum, Brooks wakes from a vivid nightmare to discover that not all is as it seems. As plague looms and patients disappear, Brooks works against the clock to uncover the shattered pieces of his past, but what he finds may mean the downfall of Olympus.
A Sinister Dream
Damned to a glass prison, Xia has never known a life of freedom. The Gods of Olympia covet her Siren song and when she's not dancing for them, she's feeding The Lord of Nightmares her soul. Solace is found only with the man she meets in her dreams, but he doesnt even think shes real. Pity, because Brooks is the only one who can save her.
Pandora's Box has been opened and an evil moves in the asylum that even the gods cannot contain.
You couldnt trust the word of anyone, but you most certainly couldnt trust the word of an immortal god. Theyve had too long to decorate the blade sticking from your back.
The Hive is proud to be working with Fabled Fantasy Events for Romantasy BookCon 2024 and in my research of their attending authors I found Dawn Darling and her debut novel One Little Nightmare. It is described as a dark romantic fantasy woven around Greek mythology and honestly it was a no-brainer to pick this one up.
Brooks is a resident in St. Dymphnas Home for the mentally unwell, and with no memories from before his stay he has only the voices in his head to keep him company. His Dark Passenger is a looming presence that he must resist for fear it will take over his body and unleash unknown chaos around him. His Siren, however, is a comfort he feels reluctant to hold on to, she brings him peace, but communicating with her only furthers the appearance that he is the paranoid schizophrenic they claim him to be, and deserves the inhumane treatments he receives.
Our Siren is a caged beauty, kept for her song which can unleash destruction and tormented by a darkness that feeds off her torture. She makes an unlikely connection with the voice in her head, who is scared to believe she is real. As reality becomes harder to bare she leans on that voice in hopes that pretending with him will finally bring her peace.
For what its worth, Siren, I would let the stars fall from the sky and watch the world burn before I let anyone take you from me.
Our Mystery girl is brought to St. Dymphnas and Brooks is immediately intrigued, she is beautiful in a broken way, with the stories of her trauma embedded on her skin. As they build a complicated friendship it makes Brooks start to look beyond his supposed illness and question the happenings within the asylum. It starts to become apparent that there is more happening within the bleak walls of his home than meets the eye.
She reached out and the moment her scarred hand touched his cheek the expanse of the universe imploded with a shudder. Words froze upon their lips, and the darkness within their souls rejoiced.
I know I am not the only one that sees Greek Retelling and gets an excited little tingle in their brain at the prospect of being reacquainted with the stories I devoured in school. One Little Nightmare took everything I was expecting and transformed it into a gothic and atmospheric experience that will stay with me for years. The imagery she was able to capture was truly breathtaking, invoking deep emotional connections with the characters.
When we meet the Fates, the scene Dawn Darling painted with her words was a beautiful tribute to myths that have been immortalized for centuries. This is my official request for art prints of the fate Clotho, who loved humanity so much that she gave herself to the tree of life, suspended in animation so that it may feed off her for eternity.
Brooks broke my heart as he fought against himself over and over. The desire to be healed meant saying goodbye to the Siren who was his only real comfort. But if he acknowledged she was real, and that his dreams werent delusions created by an illness, then he would have to accept that everything he has come to know is a lie. I cant imagine the internal struggle of trying to come to terms with finding out that the reality you know, is the illusion.
I could not have been more impressed with Dawn Darlings debut novel One Little Nightmare, The intricacy of this story speaks to a true gift of storytelling where words melt from the page and you are lost within the world she has built for us. If you are looking for a dark romance that will sweep you away on a journey like you have never seen before, I highly recommend getting acquainted with Ms. Darling. I know I have found a new auto-buy author and I will be waiting with bated breath for the sequel!
Congratulations on an amazing debut!
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