Dancing with Deception

Dancing #0.5

by Andrea Heltsley

How far would you go to keep your nightmares a secret?

Wendy has been struggling with vivid, chilling nightmares that leave her exhausted and horrified. What will Wendy do to protect her secret when she discovers her nightmares are real? Death is coming and he’s coming for her.

Read the chilling prequel novella to the paranormal romance, Dancing with Death.

Dancing with Deception- Free
Dancing with Death- Available Now
Dancing with Demons- Available Now
Dancing with Disaster- Coming soon
Dancing with Destiny- Coming soon

***UtopYA Con 2014 and Penned Con 2014 best novella nominee***

Genres: Young Adult, Paranormal, Fantasy, Short Stories, Novella, Paranormal Romance, Mystery

54 pages, ebook

First published April 23, 2013

About the author

Author, biologist, book nerd, and Greyhound lover.

Reviews

[Marjorie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Given To Me For An Honest Review


Andrea has given us a great prequel novella. It is about a young woman who has extremely horrifying nightmares. Because of these, she knows that death is coming for her. What is she going to do? By reading this novella you will be ready to read the paranormal romance, Dancing with Death. Great Read. I recommend to all.

[Christie Rich · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was sucked into this story right away. It's both creepy and enthralling. I kept wondering what would happen and why Wendy had the dreams/premonitions that would haunt anyone.

Wendy was a great character, and felt her age. Many times, when protagonists are young teens they feel too old to me, as if their reactions are more of what a twenty something would do.

This isn't the case with Wendy. She makes mistakes and decisions that are realistic for a young teen.

This is a great introduction to Wendy's world and a great intro to Dancing with Death, which I've finished and really enjoyed, as well.

There are many questions that are answered in the next installment. Andrea Heltsley is a talented author with a vivid imagination. There were moments of real creeptastic flare that sent shivers through me, times when I laughed, and times when I was so frustrated with Wendy because she is just a girl, who needs to learn who she is.

If you enjoy paranormal, you will likely enjoy this book. It's a great way to sample the series because, if I understand right, it's free everywhere. I love it when an author gives the reader a chance to see if a story fits and this did for me. I can't wait to read the rest in the series.

[Pamela Ebeler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dancing with Deception is a very interesting tale of a teenage girl, Wendy, who is having recurring nightmares. These nightmares are disturbing since they are very descriptive of murders that keep happening in the woods around where Wendy lives, what is even more disturbing to Wendy are the warnings that come from the victims all aimed towards Wendy herself....warnings for her, but Wendy can't figure out what to do with the information she has been given. How can she stop a murderer if the cops can't even seem to do that? She has no idea. How can she expose her friends to the horror she is living with? She can't, so she doesn't tell them.

Wendy, outside of her nightmares, seems to be a typical teenage girl. She is secretive with her friends, she downplays being tired all the time, she is using lies to cover up the truth. Who would believe her anyway?

This is a short intro to the story line, that just seemed to pull me into the story. I felt as if I was right there, trying to decipher what the clues are and how to change what seems to be happening all around Wendy. I can't wait to read what is next in this series.

[Ashley Byland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dancing with Deception is a prequel to Dancing with Death. Both books are on tour for this awesome tour, I decided to start with the prequel, to give me a good back story to this series. I haven't had a chance to read Dancing with Death just yet, but from what I read with Dancing with Deception, I am in for a good ride.

Wendy is suddenly suffering from horrible nightmares of murders of young women, and who leave her with a sinister message, that death is coming for her. But why? This prequel introduces you to Wendy and how her nightmares started. She doesn't think anything of her nightmares until the first one comes true. Scared to tell her secret, her nightmares continue and start to take a toll of her life.

This book made me very excited to read this series. I want to know what happens with the nightmares and I need to know why death is coming for her, and why is he killing all these other innocent girls. This is a great prequel, and if you haven't started this series and want to, start with this book, I just have a feeling it'll help understand Wendy a lot better!!!

[Stacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
This story follows a teen girl, Wendy, who inexplicably begins to have nightmares about a serial killer who has been murdering young girls near her town. The twist is, each of the murdered girls has a chilling message for Wendy; telling her that the murderer is coming for her.
This is a novella, so it is decidedly short and sweet. Not sure why the author included the random cute guy who asked her to the dance, never to be heard from again...unless we will be seeing him again in the full book #1. Also, not sure why she wouldn't tell her friends about the creepy and prophetic dreams that have been plaguing her for years, and the parents were never seen/heard from.
Overall, not a bad story, just brief and full of unanswered questions. Guess that's why it's .5 in the series, huh? Definitely not for those (ahem, like me, apparently) who like instant gratification. But it does get you geared up to read the full set.

[Erin Danzer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wendy has some serious issues when trying to sleep: she sees the murders of girls her age happening around her small college town. To make it worse, each of the dead girls gives her a warning that chills her to the bone.

I have to say, I wasn't sure what I was getting into when I began reading this. Sure, I'd read the blurb, but I wasn't sure because I'm not a huge murder/mystery fan. But Andrea Heltsley changed that about me. Her descriptions in this book of what happens to the girls is enough to give me nightmares, but the story itself was intriguing enough to keep me reading until the end. My only complaint is that this story felt a little anti-climactic because it is literally a set-up for the novel, Dancing with Death, coming out very soon. Just when things got interesting and Wendy decided to take matters into her own hands, the story ended. I was very happy that I read this just a week before the novel comes out.

[Step Into Fiction · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me very excited to read this series. I want to know what happens with the nightmares and I need to know why death is coming for her, and why is he killing all these other innocent girls. This is a great prequel, and if you haven't started this series and want to, start with this book, I just have a feeling it'll help understand Wendy a lot better!!!

Read full review at Step Into Fiction

Review completed by: Ashley

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dancing with Deception paints an interesting picture for a series. Wendy is having nightmares, they are bloody and terrifying…but they start to come true and she can’t help but be involved. People are dying and she’s starting to look suspicious, so she keeps it all a secret even though it’s putting her life on the line. I definitely enjoyed it overall, even though it took a lot of suspension of belief to get on board with Wendy not breaking and telling someone. Also we have a case of “missing parent” syndrome, which is always a bit annoying. But overall it’s a short and sweet taste of the story to come!

[Beth Cutwright · Rating 3 out of 5]

I purchased this prequel from Amazon for free and at this writing it is still free. It's only 54 pages and reads very fast. It's definitely a chilling read as Wendy, the main character goes from being a sophomore in high school to her Senior year having very disturbing nightmares about a series of serial killings in the woods near their town. It prepares us for the book, Dancing with Death which will be released May 29th and yes, I'm gonna get it as I must know ......
the rest of the story (Paul Harvey's blurb).

[Darci · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great novella and had me dying to connect my Kindle to amazon to get the next book! The whole 54 pages I was hooked and I can't wait until the mystery of Wendy's nightmares is unveiled. It set up the suspense and mystery perfectly for book 1 in the series. So far I really like Wendy's character and her best friends are really cool too. They seem like they will be very important in the books to come. Definitely excited to jump right into Dancing With Death and the best part it is FREE right now so you can get a taste of the series!

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novella lays the groundwork for the Dancing series. I think you could read the first book (Dancing with Deception) without reading this and have no problem knowing what is going on but this gives more background on the main characters and events leading in to the first full length book.

A good story, I'm giving it 4 stars as it is the foundation of the series and I expect that the full length novels will get 5 stars from what I have already read of Dancing with Deception. I'm so glad I have discovered this author and look forward to reading anything she writes.

[chucklesthescot · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wendy is having scary dreams about a killer who is targeting young women-and when one dream comes true and that girl is murdered, Wendy feels helpless.

Nothing wrong with this book. It was well enough written, the concept was good and there was nothing bad in it. I just didn't connect with it and it wasn't really my book. I guess I'd say that I found it a bit too slow, the same fault I have with a lot of current YA books.

Judge the book by checking out the other reviews on Goodreads which will be more helpful to you.

[Julie Baswell · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story revolves around Wendy, a 17 year old normal girl. But is she really normal? She begins to have vivid dreams of a man killing girls. Problem is, it all comes true. Not wanting to sound crazy she never reveals these dreams, not even to her best friends. Even more frightening is that each girl reanimates long enough to give her a foreboding message, he's coming for you.

The only thing I didn't like about this book was how it ends. It doesn't. I mean, its like it was just cut short, up in the air. Don't give me a mystery without an ending, or at least stop it with it coming to a head.

[Sónia Tigol · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book tells the story of a teen girl, Wendy, who inexplicably begins to have nightmares about a serial killer who has been murdering young girls near her town. To make it worse, each of the dead girls gives her a warning that chills her to the bone. The story was intriguing, exciting and some parts were really scary. I really liked this book .

[Cyndi Goodgame · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book after I read book one...still loved it. You are very ready to know what's next for Wendy when you leave this novella. If I'd have read it first, I'd have totally been hooked onto the side vibes of Jackson, her best friend, and what makes him tick.

Great read!

[Miranda Kavi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Creepy awesome! I couldn't read it at night!

[Jordan Deen · Rating 5 out of 5]

holy crap... this one is creepy! ♡ 《runs off to start next one》

[Angela(demonsangel) Fitzgerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

My review is available on Audible.

I absolutely loved this story. It's a short story or novella but the author has written a wonderful story.

[Meranda · Rating 3 out of 5]

An informative introduction to the main character and the story-line that just leaves you wanting more.

[Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

First off, the cover is a-maz-ing! Wow!

After being drawn in by the beautiful cover, I was really digging this because of how short it was. I love, love, love shorts. Get in, get a good story, get out.
I didn't know until I added this on GoodReads and after I was 51% finished that this was part of a series.
That being said, this could pretty easily stand on it's own. And I think that's a plus when it comes to novellas.

I had read this in a grocery store while my family was shopping for Thanksgiving stuff. I get easily bored when in grocery stores (and any other stores that don't sell books), I really wanted a short that was exciting and to make the time pass faster. And Dancing with Deception did that.
It's creepy and nicely paced. It gave me chills once or twice.

But the reason I gave this two stars is because of the main character. Wendy was spacey, boring, lacked self confidence, and acted like those stupid girls in horror movies.
She went into the woods, alone, at dark, in a dress and heels, with a girl-killer on the loose. What the heck?

It's hard for me to get behind a female character that doesn't embody good female character.


Overall, Dancing with Deception is a nice short and it did get me entertained while my family shopped, I didn't feel like the main character was the kick ass girl I wanted her to be.

[JenniferJ]

This was a short story consisting of around 50ish pages and while there was a good bit of death and mystery packed into those pages it just fell a bit flat for me. I didn't have a chance to really feel anything for the characters one way or another. I couldn't understand why Wendy didn't reach out at least to her close friends for help when the nightmares began. Had it been me I would have been terrified to have my dreams become real especially with absentee parents and having to stay alone at night all the time. Everything just felt so disconnected and choppy and when it seemed things were beginning to start making sense it just ends. I felt like I had hit a brick wall and ended up with far more questions than answers.

[A Book Vacation · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm sorry to say that this prequel didn't spark my interest like I had hoped. For me, it moved too quickly, jumping years in a short span of time, and I felt like too much was left unexplained or unsaid. I realize this is a prequel that is supposed to just give readers a taste, but in terms of fluidity, I just didn't feel like there was enough to make me connect with the characters or really get into the story. There is a lot of repetition, and the fact that the MC refuses to tell anyone what's happening to her, not even her besties, irked me.

[Terri · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to admit, not my favorite read. It started out a bit slow and really didn't pick up for me until close to the end. I just couldn't get into this one the way I had wanted to. Though the story line was interesting and I'm curious to read more, I don't think the prequel novella was a good place to start. I'm going to try reading #1 in the series before I give up on the story.

[Bella Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The only good about this book is the death warnings from the dead towards the main female character. Other than that and though it seems interesting it seems like every other book about gifted teenager....

[Flosi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Here we go again...the "novelettes" are beginning to get on my nerves. If you want to write, please finish it before trying to publish!