Feb 4, 2013

Review Tour & Giveaway: The Dream Slayer by Jill Cooper



GIVEAWAY!.....Jill will be awarding an Amazon $50 GC to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour and a second prize of an EBook Copy of Glistening Haven,a Dystopian Novel to another randomly drawn commenter during the tour.

Click here to follow the tour. Remember to leave a comment on each tour stop to increase your chances of winning one of the wonderful prizes!


BLURB: 

 In the young adult teen series Dream Slayer, Natalie Johnson has always dreamed she’s someone else; calm, beautiful, in control. A chosen warrior with a maniacal arch nemesis and a dreamy boyfriend, the type that can make your knees melt and your heart quiver.

 Real life is much different. She’s tormented by a bully and endures the sharp tongue of her father, but finds solace in her dreams.

 When her bully ends up dead, de ja vu from a dream hits her hard as everything around her begins to fall apart. Whatever killed Sarah in her dreams is now in reality, hunting her from the shadows. And it wants her dead.

 Somehow as the lines between reality and nightmare blur, Natalie must discover hidden strength to pull her friends and family back from the brink of madness.

Excerpt:


Tristan grabbed her arm. “Nat, what’s the matter?” he said, but his voice was drowned out by the throttled engine. Suddenly, the car was charging toward them. It swerved up onto the curb with Natalie in its sights.

 There was no time to react. She was going to be hit and she braced for impact by squeezing her eyes shut.

 “Nat!” 

 Tristan’s yanked on her arm, and they tumbled across the street into a stack of empty cardboard boxes. Natalie crashed right into a brick wall and fought the bile rising in her throat. The world spun in crashing waves as her vision fluxed in and out. Her head throbbed from the impact, but her heart was still unable to comprehend what had happened.

 Screeching tires heralded the car leaving scene. She rolled over onto her stomach and saw Tristan lying beside her. Natalie’s eyes followed the car speeding down the street with a stream of smoke coming out of its tailpipe.

 “It… didn’t have a license plate,” Tristan said. 

 Natalie’s chin quivered, and she quelled it by biting her lip. She closed her eyes and rested her head on her arm. If she breathed or moved, Natalie would vomit. 

 Tristan touched her cheek and rested his forehead against hers. “Are you all right?”

 “Yeah.” Her voice shook when she spoke. 

“Yeah, I’m good.” 

 “What a lunatic. Didn’t he see you?”

 Natalie’s chin quivered. “He saw me.”

 Tristan’s head snapped toward her. His eyes were wide, searching hers for an answer.

 “He swerved towards me.” Natalie’s voice was low to keep the tears back. She thought if she spoke any louder, there would be an unstoppable rainstorm. “He wanted to hit me.”

My Review:

The Dream Slayer is a good start to a new Young Adult series. Cooper does an excellent job transitioning the writing from real life Natalie to the dream Natalie. I enjoyed this concept of two alternate dimensions. Cooper’s writing style easily transitions between the two dimensions. I loved the witty dialogue and pop culture references.

 In real life, Natalie’s character lives in an abusive home with an alcoholic father and is bullied my peers at school. Natalie does not disclose her bullying to any adults. When she dreams, Natalie becomes an assertive, confident, and ass kicking female slayer. She protects her community from evil beings such as vampires and demons. When her real self becomes aware of her dream self, Natalie’s life changes. She realizes she is a paladin (slayer) and only she can protect everyone she cares about from their worst nightmare by defeating the powerful demon attempting to consume the crystal power source hidden in her town. Natalie and her sidekicks work together to save their own lives and the town. Along the journey, Natalie begins to believe in herself and her powers.

The Dream Slayer is a good read and I recommend this book.  I look forward to learning more about the characters, especially Natalie.



I received a copy of this book from the author for an honest review.

BUY LINK:



Author Info:

Jill Cooper loves tea more than coffee and is obsessed over finding that perfect recipe.She was born in 1977 and shared a room with her sister for 18 years. Early on she had dreams of writing romances and mysteries. It was something she did when most kids were trying out for softball or out riding bikes. She's always loved dark mysteries, but also enjoys a great comedy so she tries to include both these things in everything she writes, one way or another. She lives in Danvers, MA with two cats, a toddler, a husband, and a 1964 yellow taxi. Her life is chaotic, but fun. She can be contacted at http://www.jillacooper.com

            Author Links:            TWITTER        FACEBOOK

23 comments:

  1. Thank you for your review and for hosting me during this blog tour!

    Readers, was their a time when you were faced with hardship and found out you were stronger than you thought?

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    1. You're welcome! Thanks for allowing me to be part of the tour.

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  2. Thank you for an excellent review and excerpt.

    Kit3247(at)aol(dot)com

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, Ingeborg!

      Jill Cooper
      www.jillacooper.com

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  3. Great excerpt. I would love to read this! :)

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    Replies
    1. If you do, I'd love to hear what you think! :)

      Jill Cooper
      www.jillacooper.com

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  4. This book sounds so great. I love the idea of two different dimensions. It sounds like it combines a contemporary book with a paranormal book, giving readers the best of both worlds! I look forward to reading this. It has been added to my wish list and as soon as I finish my review books, that bad boy is mine! :) Thanks for featuring this author/book to me! I may not have heard of her otherwise.

    Best wishes,
    Marlena
    charmedpoms(at)yahoo(dot)com

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    1. I hope you like it, Marlena! The 'real' world does contain real world problems for Natalie, so you are right about the contemporary. I try to keep her grounded in each of the series so that there's a lot for people to relate to.

      Her family and relationship with her parents are very important to Natalie's journey.

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  5. How did you start writing?

    moonsurfer123(at)gmail(dot)com

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  6. What an exciting excerpt. Also a great review. Ya's will love this story.

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  7. Very good excerpt! What does it feel like to be a published author?

    emiliana25(at)web(dot)de

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    Replies
    1. It feels amazing! It never grows old :)

      Jill Cooper

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  8. Covers get your attention. This one sure does. :)

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  9. Thank you for the great review and excerpt. Adding this book to my TBR list. :)

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    1. Not sure if you need email or not: skizzles_22_hju at yahoo dot com

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  10. Yes, many times I have realized I am a lot stronger than I thought. I actually sometimes doubt myself even today, but I have been to h*ll and back in the past few years, and it really wasn't easy to drag myself out of that hole. I'm still continuing to drag myself out of that hole, and I have to remind myself every day to be strong and keep moving forward. To make matters worse, on top of all of the problems in my personal and family life, I recently had 2 major surgeries on my spine for spinal cord problems, which has left me severely disabled with a 3 year old to take care of. But I will keep fighting because I love my daughter more than anything.

    On a happier note, your book sounds like the type of book I enjoy so I have put it on my TBR list. Thanks for the giveaway as well!!!

    centerstagegirly AT yahoo DOT com

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    1. Hang in there. Stories like yours, keep us going! I have a 3 year old daughter too, so hats off to you. I know it's can't be easy. I hope you enjoy the book :)

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  11. I'm wondering how many book will be in the series

    marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

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    Replies
    1. There are 7. Right now I am writing the third in the series. I also hope to do short stories between each novel to 'fill in the blanks' so to speak.

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  12. I love the cover, who designed it? It captures well the dreamy aspect

    fencingromein at hotmail dot com

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! That's what I was going for :) His name is Neil Noah and is a freelance graphic artist.

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