Today I’m excited to participate in the Bookstagram & Creative Tour for Dragon by Midnight by Karen Kincy hosted by MTMC Tours. This exciting new YA Cinderella Retelling was published on September 1st, 2021!
Alright, without further ado, scroll down for Cinderella’s Bed & Breakfast Menu design + to learn more about this amazing read & to enter a fantastic international giveaway!
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Dragon by Midnight by Karen Kincy
on September 1, 2021
Genres: Fantasy, YA, Romance
Pages: 240
Format: Paperback
Goodreads
Buy on Amazon|Book Depository
Source: Author, MTMC Tours
I received this book for free from Author, MTMC Tours in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
When the clock strikes midnight, Cinderella turns into a dragon.
Her dream twisted into a nightmare, she flees from the ball into the wilderness. Cinderella’s only hope? Sikandar, a sorcerer banished from a faraway land, who promises to break the dragon curse. Even at her most beastly, he finds beauty within her. But he’s hiding his own dark past, and saving Cinderella might be his last chance of redemption.
Together, Cinderella and Sikandar must untangle dangerous secrets and deadly magic before happily ever after is forever out of reach.
Dragon by Midnight features sweet romance, twists on fairytales, an obsession with breakfast, and a cinnamon roll hero who’s too good to be bad.
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Why you need to read Dragon by Midnight
“I know what it’s like to lose everything,” he said.
“How do you keep going?”
“Losing your past can’t stop you from finding your future.”
Dragon by Midnight is a a charming combination of fairytale retellings that I highly enjoyed reading! It was fast paced, humorous and quite entertaining that it was difficult to put down. In this story, we start by meeting Cinderella at the ball, and she has a purpose: to save/recover her childhood home, Umberwood Manor, from her evil stepmother. However, at the stroke of midnight, her plans get completely squashed as she inexplicably turns into a …DRAGON?!! And that’s where me meet Sikandar, a sorcerer from Azurum, that watches the terrible ordeal and promises to the Queen of Viridia to recover Cinderella from her curse in exchange of the Jewel of Oblivion that he so desperately needs.
Eventually, Sikandar manages to track a distraught and very much confused Cinderella and giver her his word to help her out in the process and break the curse she unfairly was given. Their friendship and easy banter was definitely a highlight for me in this story. I found both characters likable and I enjoyed how they both slowly start learning each other’s past and found a true friend since I thought they were very lonely.
In this story you will find friendship, love, curses, traveling, kingdoms, a lovable dragon, a misunderstood sorcerer, a Prince Charming not so charming, a jinni, an academy of magic, a university of magic, lots of delicious food, unfulfilled dreams and new dreams. I had a lot of fun reading Dragon by Midnight, it captured my attention from the very first pages and continued to be as engaging to the very end. So to all who enjoy fairytale retellings, this one might be for you!
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Cinderella’s Bed & Breakfast Menu!
As part of our tour stop, I decided to design a Dragon by Midnight Menu! One of Cinderella’s dreams is to open her own Bed & Breakfast and she wishes to one day cook lots of delicious food for her guests. What an amazing dream, even Sikandar started to dream of one just by listening to her talk. 😂❤️ So I decided to create a menu for her! Ok, it might not be her ideal menu, BUT it is based on the food that was talked about in Dragon by Midnight and let me say there was A LOT of appreciaction for food in this book (I get hungry just by thinking about it!). So here it it! Let me know what you think!! 🤩
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Author Q&A with Karen Kincy!
Hi Karen! Thanks so much for chatting with me today about Dragon By Midnight! Can you tell us a bit about your publishing journey and how Dragon By Midnight went from first idea to finished novel on our shelves?
Dragon by Midnight started as an idea: what if Cinderella turned into a dragon at the stroke of midnight? I love fairy tale retellings, and I wanted to explore what would happen if Cinderella couldn’t simply be sweet, innocent, and pretty to find her happily ever after. If she turns into a dragon, she’s forced to act with more agency and learn unladylike things such as ferocity and revenge. I also knew I wanted this to be a fantasy romance, though not with Prince Charming, but with a sorcerer named Sikandar who comes from a villainous family. Sikandar turned into something of a cinnamon bun despite his dark past.
What is your favourite vs least favourite thing about the writing process?
I love falling for a new idea! I hate actually having to finish writing the book once I’m about 20,000 words into the manuscript. I start doubting myself and feel like I have zero idea what I’m doing.
Are there any other fairy tales you’d love to retell someday?
I love the fairy tales that the Brothers Grimm collected, in their dark, old form. I’m especially fond of Little Red Riding Hood. I also have an idea for a sapphic rhinemaiden / evil princess fantasy romance on the backburner.
Favourite writing advice?
Write what you want to read! If you’re obsessed with a story and your characters, that passion shows when you write it.
And lastly! What are some of the best author moments you’ve had so far?
Once, I had movers helping to pack my things. I have way too many books, so one of the movers became a dedicated book packer for the whole day. It turns out that she had read my first series of YA paranormal books! I was seriously shocked since I’m not at all famous lol.
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INTL Tour-wide Instagram Giveaway!
Head over to my Instagram account to enter the tour giveaway where one lucky reader will win a $50 USD Amazon gift card!
Ends on January 15th, 2022. Winners will be announced on @mtmctours’ Instagram account.
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Tour Schedule:
January 3
@paperfury – Bookstagram & Book Blog
January 4
@gcreads04 – Bookstagram
January 5
@thereaderandthechef – Bookstagram & Book Blog
January 6
@annoying_sidekick_thoughts – Bookstagram
January 7
@thyme4fairytales – Bookstagram & BookTok
January 8
@readresa – Bookstagram
January 9
@nelthewhichcraftsbooks – Bookstagram & Book Blog
January 10
@DreamingInPages – Bookstagram
January 11
@per_fictionist – Bookstagram & Book Blog
January 12
@mariannareads_ – Bookstagram
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Hosted by:
About Karen Kincy
Karen Kincy writes books when she isn’t writing code. She has a BA in Linguistics and Literature from The Evergreen State College, and an MS in Computational Linguistics from the University of Washington.
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