Sleeping Beauty Paperback – August 15, 2012

This has a really weird story line but I really enjoyed it. It will surprise you.The characters are definitely original and give great body to the story. I’m definitely going to look for more by this author.

I like contemporary romantic suspense best when the plot contains an irresistable hook, the characters are immediately fun and recognizable, and the humor almost makes you forget that there's some darker mystery to be solved. When it comes to Sleeping Beauty: Check. Check. Check.This is Lothlorien's second novel. The first, The Frog Prince, was a lighthearted and straightforward rom-com, with a sarcastic, irreverent brand of humor that catapulted the book above its basic Cinderella story plotline. With Sleeping Beauty, Lothorien has taken the formula that worked in Frog Prince (fun characters, crackling dialogue, and laugh-out-loud moments that will have you in tears), thrown in a high-concept idea, and layered on a bizzarre mystery to boot.We find out right away that the main character, Claire Beau, has a medical condition that makes her suddenly sleep and black out for weeks at a time. It's when she goes to see a neurologist who specializes in these type of sleep disorders that she meets arrogant (but sexy of course!) Dr. Brendan Charmant. There is the expected attraction/antagonism between them that only grows when she sees him again at a sleep lab for more testing. From this point the novel takes a clever turn as Claire enters one of what she calls her Sleeping Beauty "episodes." When she "wakes up" seven weeks later, not only does she not remember anything that has transpired during her "episode, her world turns completely upside-down (and I'm not giving anything away here because the gist of it was in the book description), beginning with a memorable scene in which Dr. Brendan Charmant lets himself into her apartment with a key, calls her "babe" and nonchalantly acts like they're dating (scaring her to pieces in the process).I say the novel takes a "clever turn," because the reader has no choice but to believe completely in Claire's confusion. The book is written in first-person and we're literally seeing the world through her confused, doubting eyes. Just when she thinks she's got everything figured out, and has given herself permission to be in love with Brendan Charmant, her world flips on its head again and the story takes another turn. Throughout the novel are elements that risk becoming too dark, but Lothlorien handles them deftly, giving them the weight they deserve without breaking the spirits of the characters wrapped up in Claire's "walking nightmare," and without turning off readers who may be looking for the laugh-a-minute romp that was The Frog Prince.Of course the "mystery" is solved, but I'll admit that as I approached the end of the novel, I was doubtful that there was any way that the plot elements could be tied up in a way that would spare the hearts of the characters I had grown to care the most about. At the risk of sounding overly sappy, I will say that the last chapter and the epilogue of Sleeping Beauty are big pay-offs for whatever doubts I held in that regard.As was the case with Frog Prince, Sleeping Beauty is smartly-written, with a strong but vulnerable main character who has interests that don't involve shopping or hunting down a man. Frog Prince took readers from Colorado to Austria while Lothlorien's main character sprinkled the story with amusing sex-research anecdotes. Sleeping Beauty will have you discovering (and loving) Los Angeles film sets, the California surf scene, and day hikes on bombing ranges in the Catalina Islands. (As a L.A. resident, the latter was a particular treat of local geography that I was completely unaware of). I was also fascinated by the particulars of Claire Beau's "Sleeping Beauty Syndrome," a disorder that turns out to be absolutely real!I was one of the earlier readers of The Frog Prince when it came out last year, and I was apprehensive about whether or not Lothlorien could meet or beat a book I loved as much as I loved Frog Prince. Rest easy, people.

AMAZING!!! I couldn't put them down!Ok this review is going to be a little different because it is about 2 books and yes I read both of them and loved them! Sleeping Beauty and Sleepy Beauty Wakes Up are basically the same book but with alternate endings! I loved reading them! So now on to the review.Claire is a woman who has issues about waking up in strange places like on sidewalks and just random places. She goes to several doctors to find out what is going on and all of them tell her she has narcolepsy which one of her doctors doesn't agree with so she is on her way to see a children's doctor. On her way she has one of her episodes and wakes up to a guy telling her that she should be wearing a helmet. Now Claire is a petite woman who could pass for a minor so she is use to the way people treat her like a child and it aggravates her. So when she gets to the doctor's office she makes the nurse mad because she tells her that she isn't a minor. Then kicks the doctor's partner out because he hadn't read her charts. So when her actual doctor comes in laughing about her spunk and starts asking questions about her symptoms and what is going on. The doctor decides that Brendan (her partner) will be doing a sleep study on Claire the next night. So Claire calls her brother's boyfriend Devin to come pick her up and take her home. Devin is a surfer who has a degree in computer science and takes care of Claire while her brother is out with his band. So Devin knows what happens before one of her episodes and knows that Claire doesn't remember anything except what she is told. So when he finds out about the sleep study and he knows that one of her episodes that takes her out of commission for weeks is about to happen he asks if she told the doctors all of the symptoms. Which includes sexually attacking any guy that is around to the point of violence. Claire is very modest of this and just ignores it. So she goes to the sleep study and then blacks out.Here is where the books start to separate and you get 2 different stories about how her life plays out and I have to say that my favorite book is Sleepy Beauty Wakes up. To give you an overview of both books Claire attacks Brendan at the sleep study but she also is very attracted to Devin and has went after him too. Devin who is really bisexual has some issues with his feelings. So it all depends on who you want to see Claire end up with. The books has very comical twists and turns and the dialog will have you laughing. I couldn't put them down and I read Sleeping Beauty first and just kept hoping for the other guy. So I read the other book and fell in love with that one too!I rate these books a 4.5 stars for keeping me interested and making me want to read the other book just to see how it was different.

Really easy reading. I thought the sleep condition was really unusual and although at times I didn't get her reactions I really enjoyed reading the book and found it an easy read.Apparently some readers thought she ended up with the wrong man at the end but for me I thought that the ending was just right

I really didn't know what to expect when I bought this book, but it was EXCELLENT!Brilliant descriptions, great detail, fantastic characters - a real page turner that I couldn't put down.I look forward to reading more by Elle Lothlorien

I enjoyed reading this as with the other books written by Elle Lothlorien the characters were uncomplicated and the plots easy to follow. I found the story funny and loved how interfering the mother was.

Really enjoyed this book and i would have given it 4 1/2 stars if i could have, interesting subject matter and i can see why the author felt it necessary to write an alternatve ending BUT after reading both books i must admit that i prefer the original ending (this one )

An interesting twist on a romantic novel. A little bit long winded causing a loss of interest in the characters three quarters of the way through otherwise a novel approach