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amenalf53's review against another edition
5.0
a well-done compilation
I really enjoyed this anthology of fantasy retellings. They were all original and quite well-written, and the spectrum of high and urban fantasy with a unified theme was compiled with great skill and made for an engrossing read. Most of the stories had far too much steam for my taste, but I still found things I liked about each, and I will consider reading the authors’ other works.
My favorites were Her Majesty’s Wolf and How to Marry a Winged King.
I would recommend this book to anyone looking for short but well-developed retellings.
I really enjoyed this anthology of fantasy retellings. They were all original and quite well-written, and the spectrum of high and urban fantasy with a unified theme was compiled with great skill and made for an engrossing read. Most of the stories had far too much steam for my taste, but I still found things I liked about each, and I will consider reading the authors’ other works.
My favorites were Her Majesty’s Wolf and How to Marry a Winged King.
I would recommend this book to anyone looking for short but well-developed retellings.
readbymisty's review against another edition
4.0
“When it comes to true love, rules are meant to be broken.”
This book of short stories comes out September 13th. I was provided this arc and this is my honest review!
What a wonderful read! I loved getting to see the fairytales I fell in love with retold in a more romantic, spicy manner. I didn’t know many of the authors and am happy to say I plan on looking into them. I adored every story and was disappointed to see each one end. I wanted the story to keep going!
If you enjoy fairytales and a mixture of fluffy sweet and hot and spicy romance, this book is for you!
This book of short stories comes out September 13th. I was provided this arc and this is my honest review!
What a wonderful read! I loved getting to see the fairytales I fell in love with retold in a more romantic, spicy manner. I didn’t know many of the authors and am happy to say I plan on looking into them. I adored every story and was disappointed to see each one end. I wanted the story to keep going!
If you enjoy fairytales and a mixture of fluffy sweet and hot and spicy romance, this book is for you!
baroo92's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
hannas_heas47's review against another edition
5.0
Great collection of fabled retellings told by your favorite authors. It’s hard to read in order since you always want to jump to your favorite first! Zoey Ellis Pied piper was a stunning story! The whole collection is made up of fabled retelling and something for everyone! Five huge stars! I need a paperback copy for my shelf !
I received a complimentary copy to read and voluntarily left this review! Great job authors!
How to Marry a Winged King
by AJ Lancaster
Nice in depth short story depicting Cinders going to a thrice held ball. As a human she is not allowed to go but a mask appears for her to wear. A Cinderella retelling.
Four stars!
The Prince and the Fairy Godmother
By HR Moore
My first by this author and despite being a short story this one was definitely busy. Snow White story with poisoned apples and Prince’s that need a Fairy Godmother!
Three stars!
Heartfall
By Lisette Marshall
My first by this author and it’s was clever and SPICY! A new take on Rapunzel as Hadewych meets Egill for some fun! Since the tower supplies everything she needs but a man! Four stars!
Call of the dark Piper
By Zoey Ellis
Loved it! Short but fantastic story. I love pretty much everything she writes! In this one a rat infestation brings a piper to town for a dark price! Smexy and Fun!
Five stars!
I received a complimentary copy to read and voluntarily left this review! Great job authors!
How to Marry a Winged King
by AJ Lancaster
Nice in depth short story depicting Cinders going to a thrice held ball. As a human she is not allowed to go but a mask appears for her to wear. A Cinderella retelling.
Four stars!
The Prince and the Fairy Godmother
By HR Moore
My first by this author and despite being a short story this one was definitely busy. Snow White story with poisoned apples and Prince’s that need a Fairy Godmother!
Three stars!
Heartfall
By Lisette Marshall
My first by this author and it’s was clever and SPICY! A new take on Rapunzel as Hadewych meets Egill for some fun! Since the tower supplies everything she needs but a man! Four stars!
Call of the dark Piper
By Zoey Ellis
Loved it! Short but fantastic story. I love pretty much everything she writes! In this one a rat infestation brings a piper to town for a dark price! Smexy and Fun!
Five stars!
alexperc_92's review
5.0
I received an e-ARC from author Maria Vale in exchange for an honest review. Review can also be found on *Milky Way of Books*
I have developed a carving for anthologies this year. For some strange reason, I get to enjoy reading multiple stories that also include my favorite authors but also get me to discover new ones, making me squeal from joy and my wallet moan in despair.
So when Maria Vale approached me with this chance I jumped into it (whom I had the joy to meet at Apollycon and she is the sweetest person EVER). So the anthology as you guessed contains fairytales with a twist some are familiar like Rapunzel and Cinderella and others, like the one Maria Vale wrote are myths.
Hers is inspired by Cernunnos, the Celtic horned keeper of wild places, but placed in the fictional land of Summerhouses where the Keepers exist, humans who tattoo demons on their skin, and everyone live in a capitalistic tourist city with an old forest that is threatened. Idara is such a demonkeeper and when she takes in yet another demon, adding to the many others she already carries, she will soon discover that the being inside her is not something to be contained.
The other one I enjoyed was C. M. Nascosta who wrote a spicy yet very emotional version of Beauty and the Beast. And if you follow her Instagram you'll understand why some will like her version lol.
Overall yes this will satisfy all those who like some good fairytales with all the spicy stuff :P
I have developed a carving for anthologies this year. For some strange reason, I get to enjoy reading multiple stories that also include my favorite authors but also get me to discover new ones, making me squeal from joy and my wallet moan in despair.
So when Maria Vale approached me with this chance I jumped into it (whom I had the joy to meet at Apollycon and she is the sweetest person EVER). So the anthology as you guessed contains fairytales with a twist some are familiar like Rapunzel and Cinderella and others, like the one Maria Vale wrote are myths.
Hers is inspired by Cernunnos, the Celtic horned keeper of wild places, but placed in the fictional land of Summerhouses where the Keepers exist, humans who tattoo demons on their skin, and everyone live in a capitalistic tourist city with an old forest that is threatened. Idara is such a demonkeeper and when she takes in yet another demon, adding to the many others she already carries, she will soon discover that the being inside her is not something to be contained.
The other one I enjoyed was C. M. Nascosta who wrote a spicy yet very emotional version of Beauty and the Beast. And if you follow her Instagram you'll understand why some will like her version lol.
Overall yes this will satisfy all those who like some good fairytales with all the spicy stuff :P
scholarly_pigeon's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
faeriviera's review against another edition
Some of these short stories were pretty good, but upon giving the Pied Piper story a chance and realizing, nope, I really can't stand this trope, I found myself less enthused about trying the others. Maybe I'll come back to it later.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault
chelseaj91's review
adventurous
dark
inspiring
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
There's like 20 stories here, so I'm not going to review all of them. There are a few things I kind of wished happened in all of them:
1. Honestly, I wished they were all longer. Between the number of stories/the overall length of the book, every tale was only about 40 pages. So there honestly wasn't a lot of time to really get immersed in the story...it usually went from meeting to conflict to true love really fast. And while that works, I really wanted fleshed out relationships on a lot of the stories. Mainly because I think it would have been entertaining to see some of these characters falling in love.
2. There were a handful of stories that I felt like they ended a little abruptly, even with how short everything was. Going back to wanting things to be longer, I guess.
3. I did end up reading a few authors who I hadn't before and now my TBR is once again exploding XD
1. Honestly, I wished they were all longer. Between the number of stories/the overall length of the book, every tale was only about 40 pages. So there honestly wasn't a lot of time to really get immersed in the story...it usually went from meeting to conflict to true love really fast. And while that works, I really wanted fleshed out relationships on a lot of the stories. Mainly because I think it would have been entertaining to see some of these characters falling in love.
2. There were a handful of stories that I felt like they ended a little abruptly, even with how short everything was. Going back to wanting things to be longer, I guess.
3. I did end up reading a few authors who I hadn't before and now my TBR is once again exploding XD
jksteach's review against another edition
3.5
Each of the stories in the anthology are retellings or inspired by fairytales and include a heat rating (low heat/smoldering/hot/scorching). I bought the book mostly for the AJ Lancaster story, but I also enjoyed several others. These four were my favorites.
How to Marry a Winged King by AJ Lancaster - a Cinderella retelling. I really liked this one and would have enjoyed it as a novella. The setting and characters were great and I would really have enjoyed more. (low heat)
Heartfall by Lisette Marshall - A cute and steamy retelling of Rapunzel. I especially liked Rapunzel's voice in this one.
Into the Bargain by Colleen Cowley- I felt like this one was more inspired by Rumplestiltskin than a retelling. I think it helped that I had read a book by this author in the same world, but I loved this story. Even though it was a short story, the romance in this one built in a believable way and again, I really enjoyed the characters. (Smoldering)
Breathing Techniques for Water Nymphs by Erin Vere - a cute but slightly silly story a a water nymph who loves mathematics and a poet (low heat)
Her Majesty’s Wolf by L. Penelope (low heat) A retelling of Little Red Riding Hood . I think this is one of the more difficult fairytales to retell, but this story was very clever.
andreea11's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.5