Myth, magic, and monsters—the stuff of childhood dreams (or nightmares) and adult fantasies.
Delve into these classic fairy tales retold with a queer twist and surrender to the world of seductive spells and dark temptations.
The Vain Prince by Andrew J. Peters (based on
The Frog Prince) 5 rainbows
Prince Adalbert was born, and spoiled by his parents, mainly
his father. Became a self centered child/adult. On his 21st birthday
his father, fed up with his son’s behavior decides to hold a competition to see
who the Prince will choose. A hideous man comes and gives the Prince a Blue
Bonnet flower. Prince is so degusted by the man he has him taken away. A curse
falls onto the castle and the Prince is thrown into the dungeon. Where is finds
a very sick man, that man tells the Prince and an Imp and a curse.
I really liked this story; I’ve read this fairy tale so not
sure how close to the real one it is. But the author did a fabulous job getting
the emotions of the troll, and the Prince.
Beanstalk by Clifford Henderson (based of Jack
and the Beanstalk) 3 rainbows
Jackie lives in Utonia everyone is happy but herself, very
unhappy. One day an elderly lady named Marta gives Jackie a bean for payment
for one of Jackie’s paintings. Jackie just throws into the garden. And it
grows. She decides to climb and finds a land of giants. She walks to the giant village and discovers
that not everyone is big. She soon finds a girl that is very unhappy as well
and is insta-love with her. She then must find a way to rescue the girl.
So I kept picturing the old Muppet cartoon, Fraggle Rock while
reading this one. With little people running around and giants scaring the away
or eat them. But I enjoyed the author’s style of writing and will probably look
up more work.
SWF seeks FGM by Allison Wonderland (based on
Cinderella) 2 rainbows.
Lady Ptomaine, is the Step Mother and has placed an ad for a
Fairy God Mother. But this is more for an X-rated companion then a night at the
ball. This story was written in first person being told by lady P. She gives us
a narrative of life after Cinderella leaves and how lonely she is. Until Bea
show up, Bea is the FGM. (Yes taken from that show)
This one is full of one liners and TV show references. It
was a cute sarcastic story.
A Hero in Hot Pink Boots by J. Leigh Bailey
(based on Alice in Wonderland) 4 Rainbows
This is a YA story, starts out that Kevin is going to a rave
with two boys but doesn’t have the money to get in. He wonders off to find a
phone to call is older brother to come pick him up. Runs into Cedric, dressed
in a ridicules outfit including pink boots. On the walk to find a phone, they
in counter several people that want to do them harm. But manage to luck
themselves out of it. While discovering young love or lust for the first time.
Ok, so I thought this was a cute story and made me smile
through most of it, but I didn’t get the Alice in Wonderland correlation? I
would however, like to read more about Kevin and Cedric 15 yrs later, out of
college years?
Red by Andi Marquette (based on Little Red
Riding Hood) 3 rainbows
Rebeca is Red, and for the few months has been helping a
sick friend instead of hunting the wolves like the rest of her villagers’.
Isadora is Rebeca girlfriend and is currently very sick. They decide it’s too
dangerous for Isadora to stay in the village and head to Rebeca’s grandmothers
house in the middle of the woods. They
call her a witch, but have left her alone until now.
The author as a great way with words, and I know there is
not much you can do with this story, but so far this has been the most
predictably.
The Beanstalk Revisited by Rob Rosen (based on
Jack and the Beanstalk) 4 rainbows
A modern twist to an old tale, this YA story has Jake buying
a present for is Stepmother’s birthday. His dad hands Jake some money and Jake
heads to a local pawn shop for rare comic books. Almost as an afterthought,
Jake buys her an old harp that the shop keeper tells Jake is magical if you can
get it to sing. He gets home polishes it up and gives it to her. That night the
harp sings and the next day a stalk appears.
I really enjoyed that this author took this story and gave
it a modern, next generation twist to it. Also that it wasn’t all about the
bean. Nicely done.
Heartless by Veronica Wilde (based on The Snow
Queen) 3/12 rainbows
Wow, talk about a modern twist, this one has our MC set as a
dominatrix club owner. Still
supernatural, though trying to pass as a normal woman, but because she is the
Snow Queen there are no feelings, no emotions and no heart. Kai and her
girlfriend have a fight and Kai is lead into the Snow Queen’s club. Kai never been into a BDSM club before is
uncomfortable and turns running into the Snow Queen. She takes one look at Kai
and decides to keep her.
This one is the most sexually graphic of the stories so far.
Not having read The Snow Queen, not sure how true it stayed to the story line.
The Ivy and The Rose by Juliann Rich (based on
Little Briar Rose) 4 Rainbows
Ivy has been working for Lord Ainsworth for two yrs, one day
stranger shows up and tells Ivy she is the key to unlocking Princess Ambrosia
sleep. They start on a journey to the castle but once in the castle Ivy soon
realizes things are as simple as they first appear.
Nice, sweet story about having to make hard decisions. I
liked that the author didn’t have to involve sex or sexual innuendo to get the
point across.
Goldie and the Three Bears by Sasha Payne
(based on Goldilocks and the Three Bears) 4 rainbows
Goldie is a private dick and walks into a bar hiding from
some bad guys. As Goldie walks up to the bar and orders he finds that someone
has already paid for his drink. Going over to say Thank you, they decide to get
friendly in one of the rooms available for the hour. Mischa, a bear of a man on
so many levels doesn’t play around and doesn’t satisfy poor Goldie. As Goldie
ducks the goons that come into the bar he jumps in a privacy booth and finds a
young thing to play with. And finally he
heads to the basements as the cop’s raids the place and finds Javid, who
happens to be just right.
Ok, so pretty predictably, but yet funny and quirky. The one liner had me picture a Film Noir
style MC and setting. Nice.
Final Escape by Stacia Seaman (based on The
Little Match Girl) 2 rainbows
Set in modern day a druggy on the street, giving up.
Ok, I have to say I didn’t like this story at all! How can
anyone glorify overdosing and dying? The
only reason I gave it a two and not a one because putting my personal predigest
aside. The author did a good job painting the scenes in my mind. Also, I’ve never read the original fairy tale
so maybe this is true to it?
Sneewittchen by E.J Gahagan (based on Snow
White and the Seven Dwarfs) 3 rainbows
Upon Snow Whites coming of age, she learns two things, one
her father is making her marry a strange man and two her long dead mother was a
witch. With the help of a trusted servant Snow White runs away. After four days
Snow White is lead to Druantia, once Dru explains that Snow White is a power
witch and that she will teach her everything she needs to know. She decides to
stay until Prince Charming finds them and tries to take Snow back.
Sweet story although kinds of predictably and boring. I
enjoyed once again the author choose not to include sex to make the point.
The Red Shoes by Alex Stitt (based on The Red
Shoes) 3/12 rainbows
Set in 1936, James a young man trying to get out of his dead
fathers shadow and into a red velvet dress. James has to buy a new pair of shoes to wear
to a cotillion being held by the Mayor for his daughter. Instead he buys a
perfect pair of red shoes to match his dress. He’s mother worries about the
path James is on and asks a local woman for guidance. Next thing James knows
he’s dancing the night away.
So I’ve never read or heard of this story, so no idea how
it’s supposed to go. However, as far as a novella, I found it cute if not
completely unrealistic. But I got my HEA so that makes it all right.
The Princess and the Frog by Barbara Davies
(based on The Princess and the Frog) 3 rainbows
Princess Margery has scared another suitor away. But also
seems to have missed placed her girlfriend, Bruna. While looking for her she
comes across a most unique frog and decides to keep it. Even though everyone
says it’s poisonous. Several days of
having the frog the place staff fined a note confirming that Tokju, has indeed
turned Bruna into the frog and a kiss is the only way to turn her back. But who
ever does this will die from the poison.
Sweet story of love conquering over power, position, life
and what happens when you want something and enough.
The Snow King by Rhidian Brenig Jones (based on
The Snow Queen) 4 rainbows
Dara and Remi grew up together and now at age 20 know they
would only love each other. One day as they are off cutting trees down they
decide to play with each other. While they are playing Dara feels like they are
being watched but counties on. Afterwards Remi gets something in his eye. Over
the next several days Remi becomes distant, cold. Then one night Dara follows
Remi into the woods where a man is waiting. He tries to stop him but they
disappear. As days pass and no Remi, and old wise women ask Dara to sit with
him and tell him what happened. Dara than begans to tell her about the eye pain
and she tells him the Troll story.
Another love conquers all stories but set in old world fairy
tale with Trolls and evil men. Author gave us the right sexual encounters
between the characters to keep the story entertaining without using sex as a
tool to fill the pages.
Riding Red by Victoria Oldham (based on Little
Red Riding Hood) 2 1/2 rainbows
Red works at a BDSM club and has felt like someone has been
watching her. Walking home Red is accosted but as the person starts doing
things Red enjoys they must leave. A week goes by and Red feels that it was all
a dream. Red is once again going home and once again accosted but this time
they are not interrupted.
So this one is about FF sex, not much of a story line, but
the author does a way with words.
Bad Girls by Jane Fletcher and Joey Bass (based
on Sleeping Beauty and Snow White) 3 rainbows
Malcara and Brangomar, bitter that both Sleeping beauty and
Snow White got there HEA. They decide to have a party of their own.
So even though this one is really short, I loved the
sarcastic undertone that was developed to just those few pages.
If I could say one thing about this collection, is read them
a couple at a time. Even though it’s only 198 pages total. After reading the
first 5-6 stories back to back, I personally started to get jaded and had to
stop. And honestly, if I didn’t have to
submit for a review I probably wouldn’t have finished this. Which is a shame
because there are some stories that were good, but collectivity 16 stories is
too much.
16 total novella’s overall total 3 ½
rainbows
I was curious about this
collection and was glad to see an anthology that didn’t ‘segregate’ gender
pairings. There is gay and lesbian content along with some very creative and
well-written takes on classic fairy tales. There are quite a few stories,
albeit some are only nine or ten pages long, but definitely a lot of story for
your dollar. Also, since many of the authors are new to me in this collection,
it was a great way for me to be introduced to them.
There are too many stories
for me to break down each one, but I’ll give a few examples. There are double
takes on a couple of the tales, and two of my favorites were those. The Snow
Queen - and alternately the Snow King - were beautifully written retellings of
this poignant classic. There was a lot of angst and romance in both versions of
these, and definitely two of the strongest offerings in this collection.
I also want to mention that
there are some delightful cross –dressing or androgyny stories – fave themes of
mine. The Red Shoes tells the story of a
Depression era man who loves to wear dresses. Unfortunately, this story has a
not necessarily HFN ending, which just doesn’t do it for me. The stronger and
more delightful A Hero in Hot Pink Boots (based on Alice in Wonderland) made up
for my disappointment in the other.
If you’ve ever wondered
what would happen if the Prince ran off with the guy instead of the girl, or
the Queen chose one of the ladies of the court instead of the King – then you
must read this. Keep in mind that a lot of these stories lean closer to erotica
than actual true romance, so if you’re looking for a solid collection of ‘and
they lived happily ever after’, this may not be for you. But I really enjoyed
this and would recommend it to anyone looking for some fanciful tales to give
it a try. I give it 4 lizard claws.
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