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The Dreaming Beauty JustRead Blog + Review Tour Welcome to the Blog + Review Blitz for The Dreaming Beauty by Anneka R. Walker, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: The Dreaming Beauty Series: Standalone follow-up to The Masked Baron Author: Anneka R. Walker Publisher: Covenant Communications Release Date: July 11, 2022 Genre: Clean & Wholesome Romance / Historical / Regency / Fairy Tale Once upon a dream, two cursed people fell in love . . . Tansy White doesn’t want to end up alone like her three aunts who raised her, but when she is betrayed by her would-be betrothed, she fears she might never change her fate. At her aunts’ suggestion, she seizes the chance to visit Rose Cottage, the country home of her late mother. For years, dreams of the cottage have haunted Tansy, and she is convinced it holds the answer to her hidden past. But after getting caught in a terrible storm, she meets a man who is just as determined as she is to learn all her secrets. Marcus Taylor, brother to the Duke of Westmorland, is also troubled by vivid dreams. On a sleepless night, as a tempest rages outside his brother’s estate, he makes a discovery far more mysterious than any dream: a young woman, cold as ice, lies unconscious in the library, and he is sure she is the key to solving his problems. When she wakes, what begins as a shared quest for information turns into an unexpected friendship. As they piece together the fragments of their pasts, they discover a tangled web of lies, and their feelings for each other become just as entwined. But is their love as strong as their dreams . . . or their fate? PURCHASE LINKS*: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BookBub

ALSO AVAILABLE

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Anneka Walker is an award-winning author raised by a librarian and an English teacher turned judge. After being fed a steady diet of books, she decided to learn about writing. The result was a bachelor’s degree in English and history. When she isn’t dreaming up a happy ending for a story, she is busy living her own with her husband and adorable children.

Connect with Anneka by visiting annekawalker.com to follow her on social media or subscribe to email newsletter updates.

TOUR GIVEAWAY

(1) winner will receive a $25 Amazon gift card, The Dreaming Beauty, signed book plate, matching bookmark, stickers, and button!

Full tour schedule linked below. The giveaway begins at midnight August 15, 2022 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on August 22, 2022. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.

ENTER GIVEAWAY HERE https://widget.gleamjs.io/e.js

Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!

*NOTE: This post contains affiliate links.

My thoughts about The Dreaming Beauty

What a moving and delightful read! In The Dreaming Beauty, author Anneka Walker combines the charm of Jane Austen’s novels with the gothic secrets and suspense of those of the Brontë sisters–and the locales enjoyed by both. Although I sensed both of those worlds as I read The Dreaming Beauty, the characters and the story are Anneka Walker’s own.

Orphaned Tansy White lives with her three aunts (Aster, Iris, and Daisy) in Yorkshire. When a dream awakens her with urgency, she races to town to see with her own eyes the thing that it had foreshadowed: the man she had planned to marry in an intimate embrace with another young woman. At this moment, her aunts decide that it is time to finally take Tansy to the Lake District, to Rose Cottage, where her mother had lived before she had died.

Tansy’s family is a bit odd, or perhaps eccentric would be a better word. And Tansy herself is plagued at times with terrible dreams; although her dreams aren’t all nightmares. In fact, she painted her most beautiful painting after dreaming of its location. However, Tansy doesn’t live in an era (post-Napoleonic wars) when others would consider that anything but mental illness. And that would send her, she’s afraid, to Bedlam, the asylum for the mentally ill whose very name inspires terror. So she endeavors to keep that part of her a secret.

In the Lake District, Marcus Taylor (Oxford professor) is stewarding his brother’s estate. He has suffered from nightmares for years, and as a result avoids his bed as long as he can each night. And when a restless night sends Tansy out on a walk in the forest lane near Rose Cottage, she’s surprised when a cold rainfall catches her unawares. She’s suddenly lost–as well as drenched. (Did I mention she is only in her nightgown?) She finds a large home and makes her way in through the unlocked door…and to the nearby room where the coals of a fire beckon her. She thinks she will rest for just a moment…

And that’s where Marcus finds her, frozen, barely breathing, and with a fever. What a meeting!

Marcus befriends Tansy and her sisters. But what secrets exist on both sides! What is the cause of Marcus’s nightmares? Why does Tansy know so very little about her parents? Who is the dowager duchess who lives sequestered on the duke’s land? And who is leaving threatening notes on Tansy’s doorstep?

I absolutely loved The Dreaming Beauty! Anneka Walker tells her tale in a way that is both unhurried yet captivating; she is a masterful story plotter. Her characters are captivating, too! I loved Marcus, with his abilities to ferret out secrets and to spot liars…yet he is gentle and noble in his treatment of others. Tansy also is not in any way a typical Regency heroine. She is brave and wise, never one to simper at the attentions of men. She knows her own worth. But still, when they meet! Wonderful.

Get yourself a copy of The Dreaming Beauty. If you’re at all fond of Regency or gothic novels, you will love this beautifully-told tale. And don’t forget to enter the giveaway, listed above!

Enjoy! –Wren

Disclaimer: I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the author. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.