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

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!

Fun twist on a classic tale!

This is a truly unique retelling of Sleeping Beauty! Just like all the rest of Mary Mecham's books, there's enough elements of the original fairytale that the story is familiar, but enough differences and twists that it's fun, exciting and fresh!
I loved all the characters, and the plot was well paced and never felt slow. The fact that I binged 80% of this book in just one afternoon speaks to how entertaining it is! I would have finished the whole thing, except adult responsibilities kinda got in the way, lol.
I'm also just a sucker for any story with good, strong and loving sibling relationships!
Highly, highly, recommend!

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.

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!