"Enchantment of Thorns" by Helena Rockwell and Elm Vince

Once a year, all the village girls turning 18 must gather and enter the woods, following a magically appearing trail where one will be chosen as part of a tithe and taken away by a fae known as "the beast." No one knows what happens to the chosen girl and in 100 years,  none of those chosen have ever returned to her home. No one in the village knows why the tithe exists, other than it helps to maintain peace between the fae kingdom and the bordering human village, even if that peace is tenuous at best. 

Aster is the green witch protecting her town from the fae living across the border. This year both she & her sister are among those turning 18. When Aster protects and prevents her sister from being chosen, the beast takes Aster instead. Now who will protect the village if she doesn’t return and what will happen to Aster while in the fae realm, and what happened to the girls who had been chosen in the past?

I enjoyed this twist on the Beauty and the Beast tale. I found the setting of the faerie kingdoms an interesting twist and enjoyed the almost hidden disney-esque references  that showed up here & there amusing. I think that anyone who enjoys twisted fairy tales & retellings will enjoy this book just as I did.

"Secret Beast" by Amelia Wilde

Kaley's father is an inventor. He's been trying to find someone to invest in his ideas for years with no luck. But this time Leo Morelli and he signed a contract. Unfortunately, signing a deal with a Morelli will likely get Haley's father killed. (Reputation is highly important to the other members of the Constantine family, and they have had an ongoing feud with the Morelli family for a very long time. It is not permitted for a member of the Constantine family to work with rather than against a member of the Morelli family.) So Haley meets with Leo to try and get her father out of the contract. Unfortunately, the only thing she has to offer in exchange is herself.

I bought this book thinking it was a retelling of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale, which it was, I just hadn't expected it to be borderline erotica as well. This book is definitely not for younger readers. It is very explicit with very graphic sexual details. Erotica is not really something that interests me, and as this book was described as steamy rather than as erotica, I hadn’t expected quite what it turned out to be.

Given the circumstances of the deal Haley is forced to make, Leo Morelli has complete and total access to her body for one month. And if she refuses to do anything he demands, her father will be forced to honor a contract that will cost him everything. So while not exactly rape, I still consider it to be sexual abuse given the circumstances and the actions taken within the story. Not really something I enjoy.

The writer does have talent, so if this is the type of book you enjoy reading, then you will likely enjoy it more than I did. The story was well written, but it had far too much explicitly graphic sex for my tastes. But be warned… it does end on a cliffhanger. And as much as a part of me does want to know how the character's story ends, erotica (or borderline erotica) just isn't something I enjoy reading. So I don't plan on picking up the rest of this series.

"It's a Charmed Life" (The Grimm Files Book 1) by Selene Charles

Detective Elle (Arielle) is a siren who works for Grimm PD. Her specialty is solving cold cases, and her latest assignment sends her to the realm of Wonderland where she must work with Constable Maddox Hatter

The two of them need to solve both Elle's cold case involving two dead bodies found on the Charming Estate and Maddox's recently discovered dead body in Wonderland.

This was an interesting twisted fairy tale involving a number of recognizable characters from wonderland and other quite familiar stories. But these are not the familiar tales that we grew up reading involving these characters. 

This twist on both the characters and the places in this book I found to be very unique and I enjoyed the originality of this story. But be warned, while this is a twisted fairy tale, it is not necessarily one meant for younger readers. There is a significant level of descriptive nudity & sexual content contained within.

I believe this would be an enjoyable book for those who enjoy twisted fairy tales with a harder edge to them, or anyone who prefers that their fairy tales required a more mature audience.

"The Perrault Vow" by Addie J. King

 Janie Grimm and her fiance Aiden are planning their wedding, which will take place at their house. As if that wasn't stressful enough, Janie & her housemate Mia are taking the Bar exam. And of course, a magical mystery in the form of a long ago hidden pair of glass slippers being left on the steps of their house, as if they were meant as a wedding gift, falls into their lap during the middle of it all.

This book centers around the tales of Charles Perrault, the french writer that many might more easily recognize under the name of Mother Goose. I grew up reading those tales, though the versions I read as a child were likely not as dark as the original tales.

In this book, Perrault was a human who had become aware of the dangers of many magical items & beings. He had gathered & hidden away as many such items as he could, including the glass slippers. So now Janie & her friends need to figure out how the shoes arrived at her door, who left them there, as well as what to do about all of it. Unfortunately, the one person who knows the truth of what took place back in those days is bound by a magical vow not to reveal the location of the hidden items.

I enjoyed reading this story. I have always enjoyed fairy tales and the many variations that I have been fortunate enough to come across over the years have always been entertaining. While this book may have been centered around the tale of Cinderella, it also included a number of other recognizable fairy tale references worked into the story.

Ms. King has succeeded in holding my interest in this book, as well as in the previous ones in the series. I would gladly return to read more of these books if she were to decide to continue on with the series, but given what is shared in the epilogue, I doubt that she currently has plans for this series to continue. 

If you enjoy reading twisted fairy tales or stories of the faerie realms, I do recommend giving this book, as well as the previous ones in the series a try. I found them all to be very enjoyable.

"The Bunyan Barter" by Addie J King

Shortly before Thanksgiving, Janie Grimm and her housemates are awakened in the middle of the night by a very large man in a red flannel shirt chopping down the tree in her back yard while sobbing about someone having been taken. 

 After calming everyone down and realizing they are in no danger from their late night visitor, everyone returns inside to start up the coffee, breakfast, and call up the rest of the F.A.B.L.E.S. group to come and help solve the mysteries involved in this tale. 

 This book was centered around mainly American Legends and Tall tales. In this case Paul Bunyan's blue ox Babe has been kidnapped and someone is threatening to kill him if the apple heir is not brought to a meeting happening on the American Holiday. There's just one small problem… no one knows who the apple heir is, where exactly the exchange is supposed to take place, or what the real motive behind it all actually is. 

 This time around, we get to see & learn about a lot of those who are featured in American tall tales and legends. Most of the new characters encountered were ones that I had grown up hearing about, plus a few that were new to me. The ones that I was familiar with were portrayed much as I would have expected them to be, with enough extra personality added in so as to not have them come across as solely one dimensional characters. 

 I enjoyed this story, as well as the emotional conflicts that were happening as part of the secondary background tale, allowing us to see all the characters as fully developed individuals with problems of their own to deal with while they were busy trying to help solve magic and legend-based troubles. 

I believe that anyone who enjoys tall tales or stories of legendary historical figures will get a kick out of reading this one. I myself found it a very fun story to read and one that contains a great deal of emotion.