A Dream Within A Dream: Barren Blog Tour: Excerpt + Giveaway

Hey everyone! Welcome to my stop on the Barren blog tour! I have a great excerpt from the book to share with you - and don't forget to enter the giveaway! To follow the rest of the tour, click on the banner above.

Barren

Author: Elizabeth Miceli

Genre: New Adult

Release Date: October 6, 2015

Publisher: Swoon Romance

Description:

*** PUBLISHER’S ALERT: MATURE CONTENT WARNING ***

Recommended for ages 16+. Includes scenes that depict drug use, teen sex, and sexual assault.

This book contains mature content and depiction of a seventeen-year-old girl’s rape at the hands of another student. It is a chilling first person point of view account of something that occurs across the country at parties just like the one depicted in this story, and we wanted the fictional account to feel raw and as devastating. We also understand that these scenes may be difficult and uncomfortable for some. We recommend this novel for readers ages sixteen and older.

“I cried, praying for him to finish. I closed my eyes and tried to envision myself somewhere else… somewhere where I was happy. I thought of my family all piled around our tree on Christmas morning. I thought of singing with my band. I thought of Caitlin and me baking cookies and watching movies together. But after just a few seconds of pretending, Mike would hit me or thrust deeper, and I would be back in reality. I was being raped. I was all alone. I was a damsel in distress. And there was no one there to save me.”

Seventeen-year-old Stacey Lorenzo’s poor self-esteem has always consumed her. When significant weight loss leaves her still feeling powerless and with an eating disorder, she turns to partying to cope. Things go from bad ot worse when she is raped, a crushing blow to her psyche from which she may not recover. Stacey drugs, cuts, and hooks up with countless guys in an attempt to dull the pain. But if Stacey doesn’t find a way to face her demons and overcome her fears, she might find herself in a hole so dark, even love won’t be able to pull her out.

Barren is written by debut author Elizabeth Miceli. It is a devastating and dark account of one girl’s plummet to the very bottom of the human experience and the horrific and petrifying road to recovery and self-worth.

I felt its sharpness against my finger … It could definitely do some damage. I could run this thin, rigid object against my white skin, and it would turn red. I could make myself bleed. I knelt down on the floor, trying to find a good spot to try it out on. My arm was too open to the public. My stomach was used all too often. My legs though … they were rarely seen and I’d never cut them before. They were the perfect spot. I sat in the tile shower and stared down at my flesh. I brought the blade to my skin and pressed down hard, harder until it pierced. I dragged the razor over my skin, making the cut deeper and thicker. The cut ran from about six inches above my kneecap to the top of my thigh. As I continued to slice my skin, my mind cleared. My heart stopped beating for just a second … and everything went quiet. My thoughts. My surroundings. I couldn’t even hear the water hitting the tile. I stopped thinking about Mike, his fingers that were forever on my skin. I stopped thinking about the way I’d treated Frank, one of the only sweet guys who had ever taken me out on a date. I stopped thinking about the fact that I had to stick my fingers down my throat to confront my problems. Everything paused.

For about ten seconds it was just me, the blade, and the blood flowing down the tile to the drain.

Elizabeth hails from the smallest state with the biggest heart. She started off at The University of Akron and then transferred to the University of Rhode Island. She is a double major in both Psychology and Human Development and Family Studies. Although she loves writing- she also has a passion for helping others which is why she is studying to become a sex therapist/couples counselor. Elizabeth loves spending time with her family and friends, singing, eating everything Italian, and baking cookies. She is “in love with love” which is probably why the driving force in almost everything she writes is romance. When she’s not getting lost in her characters she can be found waiting for her prince charming in her North Kingstown, Rhode Island home.

Connect with the Author: Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Buy Link: Amazon