March 26, 2018

Review: The Beast and the Sibyl by AJ Adams

Reviewed by Ronelle

When a vicious Beast is dragged into the village, Bliss knows she should mind her own business. After all, everyone knows that the Beasts are violent and dangerous…but he is still a living creature and her conscience won’t let her turn away from the cruelty of the villagers. And so she steps in, unknowingly putting her on a path of life-changing consequences.

When Siv first lays eyes on Bliss, he knows she’s one of them. That pale hair and those big blue eyes are Skraeling through-and-through. He wants her and is determined to have her as his mate, objections be damned. The time he spends hidden in her home, healing from the horrible wounds inflicted by the villagers and their Patriarch, is time he can use to convince her to leave with him…or so he thinks. [Read more…]

Filed Under: by Ronelle, fairy tale, Fantasy Romance Tagged With: Leave a Comment
March 16, 2018

Review: Kissing the Boss by Linda Kage

Reviewed by Shelly

Book 2 of Linda Kage’s ‘Fairy Tale Quartet’ is Isobel’s brother’s story. Ezra Nash has been the co-CEO at JFI for a year. He was brought in after his father’s (Henry) company bought in. During his time at JFI his nemesis and co-CEO, aka the devil incarnate, Lana has made his life hell. Kaitlynn Judge is Lana’s stepdaughter who for the last six months has been an unpaid intern at JFI. Lana is clearly not treating Kaitlynn well, but Kaitlynn not only agreed to the conditions, she’s the one who suggested the pay scale. Kaitlynn has a long term plan and other than the devil’s spawn standing in her way, she’s got it covered. Kinda. [Read more…]

Filed Under: by Shelly, Contemporary Romance, fairy tale Tagged With: , Leave a Comment
March 14, 2018

Review: Monster Among the Roses by Linda Kage

Reviewed by Shelly

Shaw Hollander and Isobel Nash are a fairy tale made for a happily ever after. I’ve been a fan of Linda Kage for a while now. She’s one of a handful of authors from whom I’ll read YA/NA stories from. Her ‘Forbidden Men’ series is quite good. But I’ll admit that A Fallow Heart is one of my favorite stories – ever.

Told from the hero’s POV, Monster Among the Roses was a refreshing change from the everyday retelling of the Beauty and the Beast tale. It’s actually a whole lot better than the recent movie with the same name that I couldn’t even get 1/2 way through. Shaw and Isobel are imperfect but they’re perfect for each other. Kage makes you believe that even with all of their faults – from the physical to the emotional – these two couldn’t find this level of happiness with anyone else. [Read more…]

Filed Under: by Shelly, Contemporary Romance, fairy tale Tagged With: , Leave a Comment
November 28, 2017

Review: Bad Princess by Julianna Keyes

Reviewed by Joanna

This novella was a surprise release for me, and the first I heard of it was via the author asking for opinions on the cover. I love her choice, what do you think?

The story is a new adult fairy-tale-style romance, between Princess Brinley Cantrella of Estau and Prince Finn, a sober and serious man from the neighboring Kingdom who Brinley has loved since the age of five. And who was, until a few months ago, engaged to be married to her sister. [Read more…]

Filed Under: by Joanna, Contemporary Romance, fairy tale, novella Tagged With: , Leave a Comment
June 2, 2016

Review: Wagon Train Cinderella by Shirley Kennedy

wagon train cinderellaReviewed by Janell

I bought this book on sale, because 1) I read a wagon train romance once when I was fourteen and really liked it; and 2) I like fairy tale retellings. Perhaps I should have done a little more research, because this book was not exciting and not much of a romance.

Callie is the servant/stepdaughter/Cinderella. She was left on the doorstep of the Whitaker family by someone who must have really hated their baby, because the Whitakers are horrible people. Pa is the overbearing, angry control freak whom you must not cross. Ma is bossy and lazy, and claims that her two daughters are too delicate to do any real work, so Callie does all the cooking and cleaning. They’re traveling to California, because Pa said so. [Read more…]

Filed Under: by Janell, fairy tale, Not For Me, WTF Tagged With: 3 Comments
November 10, 2015

Review: Beast: The Untold Legend by Shoshanna Evers

beastReviewed by Jen

This is an interesting twist on Beauty and the Beast. It’s got some engaging moments and a sexy hero. But it also straddled some lines with consent and a little pseudo-bestiality that kept it from being a total win for me.

The premise here is that the same evil queen who made the Beast of fairy tales did the same thing to another man first.  And it isn’t even the worst thing she did to him. Victor is the queen’s stable boy. For years, she has forced him to be her unwilling sex partner. He hates her with everything in him, but he’s powerless to the strength of her position and magic. [Read more…]

Filed Under: by Jen, fairy tale, novella Tagged With: , Leave a Comment
August 25, 2015

Review: Seduced by the Baron by Amy Andrews

seduced by the baronReviewed by Shelly

By far, the best in the series. The last installment in the ‘Fairy Tales of New York,’ tells Faith Sullivan’s story – FINALLY! Faith’s been biding her time for quite a while as all of a close-knit group of friends found their HEAs; does it count that two of them were with her brothers? Her friend Merry (who’s not in a relationship with any of her brothers – thank goodness) has a friend/business acquaintance from Australia who ready to introduce his lager in the U.S. As a networking favor, Merry innocently asks her bestie, bar-owner, Faith to meet with him. [Read more…]

Filed Under: by Shelly, Contemporary Romance, fairy tale, novella Tagged With: , Leave a Comment
August 22, 2015

Review: Taming the Beast by Lucy King

taming the beastReviewed by Shelly

I enjoyed the 3rd story in the ‘Fairy Tales of New York’ series – a Beauty and the Beast theme – much more that I liked the previous book. Comparably, I thought the characters were much more likeable. As with the other stories this begins with a recap of the girls going to the same Catholic school and the night they drank stolen communion wine. Along the same lines as with the prior stories, this take place 10 years after that event. This time, it’s Mercedes Hernandez and Sebastian Madison’s turn. [Read more…]

Filed Under: by Shelly, Contemporary Romance, fairy tale Tagged With: Leave a Comment
August 16, 2015

Review: Tempting the Knight by Heidi Rice

tempting the knightReviewed by Shelly

The second story in the ‘Fairy Tales of New York’ series is a Rapunzel tale that I didn’t particular care for. In comparison to book 1, I didn’t find it particularly romantic, which had a lot to do with the lightening fast speed that these two had their initial sex encounter. For this reader, there’s no fairy tale romance (not even in this ‘oblique’ version) in that – goodness gracious, it’s within the first 24 hours and they didn’t even like each other. How am I supposed to like it/them together when they clearly don’t? [Read more…]

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September 5, 2014

Joint Review: Broken by Lauren Layne

brokenReviewed by Shelly & Carrie

Shelly: I dig scars. The more the merrier and if the story can somehow be tied to traditional fairy tale then sign me up. Broken is an upper socioeconomic Beauty and the Beast. I don’t make that assumption from the story line, but because Layne tells me this a few times. I wish I were told a few other things, but oh well. This is my first story by this author and it’s completely my fault that this story didn’t register as a YA; truth be told – I’ve read a few stories in the category and I’ve enjoyed them enough to not be so brazenly against them. So in I went with all guns a blazin’ – just ready to have my socks knocked off by this story.

Carrie: I’m with you, Shelly. I love a wounded warrior story. Something about a tough military guy having to deal with vulnerabilities just gets me going. I’ve read a few of Layne’s other contemporaries and I enjoy her writing. [Read more…]

Filed Under: by Carrie, by Shelly, Contemporary Romance, fairy tale, New Adult Tagged With: , Leave a Comment
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