Rockstar Book Tours: Guest Post & Giveaway ~ A Beast So Beautiful (Carlyle Labuschagne) (US Only)

YABC is thrilled to be hosting a spot on the A BEAST SO BEAUTIFUL by Carlyle Labuschagne Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out our post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

About the Book:

Title: A BEAST SO BEAUTIFUL

Author: Carlyle Labuschagne

Pub. Date: April 4, 2021

Publisher: CHBB Publishing

Pages: 231

Formats: Paperback, eBook

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, TBD, Bookshop.org

Read for FREE with a Kindle Unlimited Membership!

A darkness falls over the land when the Queen of Rurith dies.

Consumed with grief, King Ivar blames their son, Prince Leif, for her demise, and locks him away in the castle.

The Prince is left in total despair, until a girl, with hair the colour of a red sunset and green eyes shows him mercy.

For six years she visits him in secret, giving him hope where none existed before.

But Ruith hides many treacherous things that threaten to bring the Kingdom to its knees.

Until the Prince and his beastly curse are released. 

YA Books Central

Top 5 favorite scenes and why.

Scene one: 

“For the briefest of moments, horse and beast stand side by side, overlooking the skyline as the last of the rays’ streak across the earth in a display of blues and oranges…” 

Why is this one of my favorite scenes? 

I loved writing this scene because it felt so natural to me, so peaceful. I was there with two beings at peace, and in the bliss of acceptance of each other regardless of what brawls might have brought them to this place – this state of existence. Some humans would search their entire lives to find those few moments where being grateful actually holds so much weight. Grateful for the struggles, the hardship and the inner battles that brought them to this one moment in time that they would not share with anyone else, or want to be anywhere else. The power of holding on to that blissful moment obliterates all the past wrongs and gifts the wonder to lay waste to the worry of the troubles ahead.  

Scene two: 

Leif’s eyes study his father’s face; he looks so pale and helpless, his crown askew on his head, his beaded beard bloody. King Ivar’s lips part as he whispers so only those very close can hear. “I’d rather die than be saved by a thing as disgusting as you.” 

The anger in Prince Leif rises at those brutal words, the cruelty he has shown his own son coils in his gut. The prince smirks in response. “I will not let you die today.”

 In the echo of Leif’s breaking bones, his wings sprout to full length, spanning the length of two grown men. His heels dig in deep as the strength of the beast in him lifts his father’s body from the ground, taking off in the wind, and in no time, the only evidence of his existence left behind is his pawed footprints in the snow.

Why is this one of my favorite scenes?

The words uttered by the prince, ““I will not let you die today.” Is a life changing event for him, he holds his father’s life in his hands, he for once has the power over his father. These words might seem merciless, because there could be a hidden meaning behind it – Does Prince Leif want him to suffer rather than die on the battlefield? Or is the meaning in his words stating,  it is I who chooses when you will die, or simply is he the kind Prince Leif he is known to be and assures his father he still cares, and the King will reign another day. I think it means all of the above. This is one of those times when your character surprises the creator.  Because deep down inside not even him can honestly know why he did it, out of love, approval he knows is futile or because he can’t imagine any other way.

Scene 3 :-Dance floor scene, his father has overnight healed and took back the castle, taken Avelyn the princes, his son’s childhood love and placed her on the matching throne But Leif will seize every kind of moment to prove leading a kingdom is not by fear, but by kindness.  

“Their daughter shoots up, the paws of her chair scraping against the stone floor. “Please, Prince,” she bows her head. “It would be of great joy to me to dance.” 

Away from the table, they stand under the light where he sees a smile playing on her lips as the room falls silent, it would appear she likes the attention. But there is something else in her stare, too. In the small quake of her body, and in the stiffness of her shoulders. Leif picks up the uneasy beat of her heart. 

“Not what you expected?” he smiles down at her as they bow. 

She shakes her head. 

“You were expecting, fangs and claws, wings perhaps?” He pushes his shoulder forward and turns his head to look down his spine of his back. “I don’t see wings, can you?”

At that, she smiles.

“Good.” He gives a broad smirk and lifts his palm, hers coming out to touch his, she says, “I don’t quite know what I was expecting.”

 “You didn’t think I’d be so human-looking?” He states as they circle around each other. 

“No, Prince.”

Why this is one of my favorite scenes : This instant Prince Leife awoke he knew everything had had worked so hard for, relationships, pride in the kingdom, and so much more all unraveled away the moment his father awoke from his poisons wound. In mere hours his father took back the love of his life, established a courtship wedding between Prince Leife and their enemy Kingdom. But he is not that little boy who will be manipulated. He was in all honesty excited to see how he could out play his father and not make it the spectacle his farther intended his son would make,  but he will be the Prince he so aspired his entire life. When he took the hand of the once former enemy princess’ and presented himself very human like, his intent was of utter pureness.

He countered here, asked her what she wanted and told her boldly what he wanted. He was not into deceit and he would prove it across all of the lands. He shocked all of the guest, more so his father that he was able to hold his tempest and silently defy his father’s trap.

Scene 4: – 

With careful study, King Ivar takes a foot closer to his son, turns to constrict his view. “You deserve everything coming to you, beast.” 

Leif’s eyes shift, taking in the dark blue eyes of his father. For the first time, he sees something he had been unable to for a very long time. He sees immeasurable hurt echoing in his father’s glare.

 Taking a breath, he opens his mouth, wanting to speak to that part of his father he had glimpsed for the first time since his mamma’s death. His father straightens his coat, looks toward the room, the bitterness returning to distort his face into the hard features of a man eaten by a loss he could never recover from. 

“My bride awaits.”

“Father.” Leif’s voice is a desperate plea of a nine-year-old boy who had lost his mamma and wants nothing more than to seek comfort from his father. 

Ivar turns, unexpectedly so. Leif falters, forgetting everything he’d just wanted to say. He did not expect his father to heed his call. Ivar takes a slow step toward him. Leif is a head taller than his father, but still feels worlds smaller when his father looks him straight in the eye, and honest words touch his resolve. 

“If you ever want my forgiveness. If you ever want to make up for the loss of the love of my life, to fix a broken man. This is how. You will marry the Taffel princess. The magic of their people is the only thing that will keep your curse at bay.”

Scene 5: 

Her eyes dart past him, she takes a deep breath. “I don’t know why, but I trust you.” 

Then she turns to study him. Leif doesn’t feel threatened under her scrutinizing gaze. “Can I trust you?” 

He hopes her intentions are true. Because of late, everything he ever built, every person he had ever trusted had turned against him at the empty promise of riches to each Kingsman. Everyone but Avelyn. 

“I might,” she says without a smile. 

“I have an idea,” Leif rakes his hand through his hair. “You are afraid of me, still.” 

Astrid’s eyes don’t meet his when she says, “It would be foolish not to be.” 

With a long, exhaled breath, he stands closer to her where he picks up the accelerating beat of her heart. “I can hear the beat of your heart.” She looks up at him. “I have keen sense of smell and can feel when people approach without seeing them.”

“Why are you telling me these things?”

“If you know more about me, perhaps you can trust me enough to tell me…”

“I hope you are not using me, Leif.”

The use of his name settles some of his fears with her. If she sees him as an equal, he can build an alliance, even a friendship with her perhaps. A slight blush touches his cheeks. “It is not the only reason, Astrid. I need allies I can trust.”

“You would trust me only after mere moments of meeting me? Keeping me hostage by the confession of my secret.”

“I trust you.” His brow furrows in angst. “But you are mistaken to think me a spiteful man.”

“But you are your father’s son, and his spite and bitterness has deceived our kingdom many times.”

Leif looks down when he says, “I have proven to be unlike my father.”

The moment hangs between them in utter silence as both of them are in deep thought.

Astrid shift her body to face him. “Is there a way to control your beast?”

He studies her, he wants to tell her what he knows, and his beast comes out at dire situations and retracts out extreme heart ache. But given recent events, he knows secrets have a way of controlling him. “I have not found one yet, no.” He knows it’s a lie, but he needs to keep somethings to himself.

“I think people are scared of you, that is why you can’t trust anyone. They are motivated to act by fear. When you are different, people cannot accept you. They don’t understand anything if it does not fit in with their idea of normal. They will hurt you every chance they get. You need to watch your back, Leif.”

The fondness for this scene stems from how quickly they find it to speak easily and openly with each other although they just met. They both have something in common – they love someone else, and are highly disagreeable in their union. Swapping secrets of each other cements a trust and in it blossoms the hope of working together to plot for the same outcome. To be with the one’s they truly love. In this passage there is also truth to the words.

About Carlyle Labuschagne:

Carlyle is a South African USA Today Bestselling,  award-winning, and international bestselling author with a flair for mixing genres and adding loads of drama to every story she creates. she has traveled the world with her books in hopes of connecting with all kinds of book-loving people, to learn as much as she can from other book cultures with the hopes of bringing the knowledge back to her home country.
For now, she is happy to take over the world and convert non-Sci-fi believers.

Her goal as an author is to touch people’s lives and help others love their differences and one another by delivering strong messages of faith, love, and hope within every outrageous world she writes about.

“I love to swim, fight for the trees, and am a food lover who is driven by my passion for life. I dream that one day my stories will change the lives of countless teenagers and have them obsess over the world literacy can offer them instead of worrying about fitting in. Never sacrifice who you are, its in the dark times that the light comes to life.”

Carlyle uses writing as a healing tool and that is why she has started her very own writers to support the event – SAIR book festival.
To be a helping hand for those who strive to become full times writers, editors, bloggers, readers, and cover artists – it’s a crazy world out there you don’t have to go it alone!
follow @CarlyleL for all the crazy updates on all things me.

Founder of SAIR Book Festival
Co-Founder of Fire Quill Publishing.
Founder of Help build a library in South Africa. 

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Giveaway Details:

1 winner will receive a paperback copy of A BEAST SO BEAUTIFUL, with a digitally signed bookmark and a custom digital mobile screensaver – A Beast so Beautiful themed mobile screen saver with the winner’s name on it, International.

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