Some stories don’t end with a kiss. Some women don’t wait to be awakened.
Intrigued? Read on to discover the synopsis and an excerpt from Waking Sleeping Beauty by Kevin Moore, which releases on October 20th 2026.
Los Angeles is sweltering through Holy Week when a teenage hustler named Kiddy is murdered on Hollywood Boulevard in broad daylight. The investigation pulls Detective Joanna Steele into a conspiracy that reaches from Hollywood’s shadows to the highest levels of power.
Mia More is on the verge of superstardom when Kiddy crosses her path. What begins as concern becomes something far more dangerous: love, responsibility, and a fierce protective instinct that pulls her back into a world she once escaped. To save him, she may have to risk everything… including her life.
Lana DeMille drifts through Los Angeles with a fractured memory and nowhere left to land. Somewhere in the gaps of what she’s forgotten lies the truth about what happened to Kiddy-if she can piece together what she saw before the killer remembers her.
As the investigation tightens and the body count rises, the line between victim and predator blurs. In this dark, fierce reimagining of Sleeping Beauty, three women awaken to a truth someone will kill to keep buried-in a city where the most dangerous stories are the ones no one lives to tell.
EXCERPT
Judas stood outside Mia’s front door like a vampire needing an invitation to enter. She waited, watching sweat from the relentless heat cling to his skin. She could smell his mix of Clive Christian No. 1 and his sweat—a scent she once liked but now despised. Judas, always impeccably dressed, wore casual resort attire: crisp, white linen trousers that accentuated his figure and a pastel-colored, button-up shirt that couldn’t conceal the sweat forming on his chest and collar. Mia saw the idea of a vampire needing an invitation as a safeguard for humans against predators, emphasizing the importance of hospitality, consent, and understanding what kind of monster you were dealing with. Despite her anger and rage at him, Mia knew she had to be cautious. She planned to record him admitting to his involvement with Kiddy and Tony—not just at a party. That wouldn’t be enough. Judas couldn’t go free, unscathed. But at that moment, she wanted him as dead as Kiddy.
“Come in,” Mia said, stepping back to let him pass without them touching. The artificial smile vanished from her face the moment he walked past her into the living room. She needed to keep things familiar so he wouldn’t become suspicious of her. Mia was planning to just tape him, but the sight of his face burned volcanic emotions within her.
“How was the island?” Judas asked with a smile.
Mia struggled to use her acting skills, but her raging anger made it extremely difficult. Her body didn’t seem to belong to her anymore. It was tense and unwilling to obey her commands. Her posture felt off, and her smile looked forced. The golden girl didn’t feel golden.
“Exhausting.” Mia played it over in her head. She and Joanna had gone over it earlier. She needed to remember her goal was to get him on tape incriminating himself. That was it. That was all.
“Would you like water or something cold? You seem to be melting.”
Judas seemed to be suddenly aware of his sweat. “This bloody heat…”
“How did you…” Mia caught herself. She was going off-script. Judas was here with his own agenda. She could tell. It was also the first time she realized Judas, whom she had slept with, had nothing behind his eyes. He was a psychopath; he had no empathy, no remorse—only superficial charm, money, and power. When you looked deep enough, the eyes were dead, and something else—the pupils—they looked ever so slightly disfigured. Mia looked into them intently. How had she never noticed before? Mia had known him for almost twenty years and never fully grasped that. He now resembled a pod, a creature, an alien, a killer—or was this all in her imagination? She smiled bitterly and tried to regain her composure.
“I’m sorry, did you say yes to the water?”
Judas shook his head. “I’m good.”
“Sit.” Judas sat but immediately got back up out of the chair. “You said someone broke in?”
“Yes, when I got home yesterday, the place was a mess.”
“What did they steal?” he said like a statement, not a question.
She thought it was odd. He said it as if he wanted to confirm what they had stolen. “Nothing,” Mia said, turning the television back on without any sound. “They were looking for something specific.”
Judas watched her as she turned on the TV. “What are you doing?”
“Oh, I wanted to show you something,” she said. “Are you interested?”
Judas tilted his head. He sensed he was being toyed with. But he wasn’t sure if she was seducing him. He was always game for that.
“What is it?” he said, disturbed. His pupils seemed to dilate. No, pulsate. She needed to stay alert. This man who once promised her he would never let anyone hurt her had not included himself in that promise.
