Tag: dark fairy tales

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Book Review: Dark Fairytales For The Unloved: Collective Anthology

 Fourteen Indie authors! Fifteen stories of the twisted and macabre! Enter if you dare, a dark fairytale collection that will make the Brothers Grimm either blush or smile with glee. Content and trigger warning precede each tale for an unaware sensitive reader, but the title warns you these are dark fairytales. Now let’s follow the bread crumbs and enter into the darkness.

Dark Fairytales For The Unloved: An Indie Author Collection (Volume One)

Published: March 26th, 2025

Genre: Fairytales/Folklore/Fantasy/Anthologies

Synopsis

Step into a realm where enchantment and darkness intertwine. In this anthology, fourteen master storytellers from diverse backgrounds conjure original fairytales that are as chilling as they are captivating. From eerie forests to twisted kingdoms, each tale spins a web of intrigue, mystery, and danger. Embrace the delicious dread and discover the hidden truths that lurk in the shadows. Perfect for lovers of the macabre and fantastical, these stories will leave you spellbound long after the last page is turned.

AVAILABLE NOW ON AMAZON

REVIEW

Dark Fairytales For The Unloved is a collection of Fairytales for adults, oozing with dark fairytale-inspired stories. Two are dark retellings of classic tales such as “Elves and the Shoemaker” and” Beauty and the Beast” in spectacular NOURSHMENT and HUNTER & THE BEAST by Gareth Ian Davies and SD Paine. The rest are dark original fairy tale-inspired tales, such as my favorite, the brilliantly written folklorish horror THE PALE MOTHER by Nova B. Quinn and BIRDS OF WINTER by Ruby Ann Stiegelmeier.

Then we have the hauntingly magical with FOXGLOVE and THE BLOOMING CURSE by Stacey LP and Hannah Gardiner. The bottom rips out from under us, and we go deeper and darker with wickedly devilish tales like BEAUTIFUL SUFFERING and SPIT AND SPITE AND ALL THINGS NIGHT by Alex Upchurch & Ellen Winter.

The opening story, REQUIEM, by Marianne Gray, is an absolute banger, setting the tone of the book nicely. While not every story tickled my witchy fancy, the next one usually did. It was a fun read, and I enjoyed getting treated to a new story by a new author. It was like getting a sneak peek into these delicious indie authors’ minds.

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars⭐⭐⭐⭐

GET IT TODAY!

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Book Spotlight Thursday: Beauty and the Blade and Little Red Shadow by S.C. Grayson

I love fairy tales and spotlighting today are two talented fairy tale fantasies. Think Bridgerton meets Peaky Blinders in Beauty and the Blade and Little Red Shadow by S.C. Grayson. Now available!

Beauty and the Blade (The Talented Fairy Tales Book 1)


Publication Date: January 5, 2024


Genre: Gaslamp Fantasy/ Fairy Tale Fantasy


Most London socialites dream of marrying for love or status, but Contessa’s wedding is about justice—and revenge.

Nathanial Woodrow is known on the streets of London as the Beast, leader of the fearsome Lion gang who mark their victims with three slashes on their face. Since her mother was found dead with the signature slashes years ago, Contessa has wanted nothing more than to see her murderer brought to justice. However, the Beast has been impeccable at maintaining his façade as the high society Mr. Nathanial Woodrow, and nobody has been able to gather enough evidence to convict him. When the Beast unexpectedly asks Contessa’s father, the Chief of the Royal Police, for her hand in marriage, Contessa and her father hatch a plan to bring him down from the inside.

As Contessa enters the lion’s den in search of evidence to convict the Beast, she finds that not everything is as she once thought. Her father’s work, hunting down Talented that use their magic to rule the criminal underworld, is thrown into question with each glimpse of the kind-hearted man beneath the mask of a hardened gang leader. As Contessa navigates her search for justice, she finds herself questioning what side she’s really on, and why she finds herself drawn to a man she’s supposed to hate.

Available Now on AMAZON

Little Red Shadow (The Talented Fairy Tales Book 2)


Publication Date:  January 5, 2024


Genre:  Fairy Tale Fantasy Romance/ Gaslamp


The Wolves are out for blood, but Scarlett doesn’t intend to let them catch their prey.

When Scarlett’s friend Georgette starts receiving death threats from the Wolves, a powerful street gang, she sets out uncover why they want a prominent socialite dead. As a Talented gangster herself, Scarlett goes undercover. Instead of a hardened murderer, she discovers the charming younger son of a Duke, Benedict Pearce, is the would-be assassin. Clearly not a killer at heart, Scarlett decides to trust the handsome rogue, and they join forces to put a stop to the Wolves mysterious machinations and save her friend.

As the pair begin their investigations, as well as a fictitious courtship to throw the Wolves off their trail, Scarlett must reckon with a past she prefers to keep hidden. Benedict, constantly jovial and flirtatious, slowly chips away at the shadows Scarlett has built around her heart.

Still, as the search uncovers deeper levels of deception, their ruse becomes increasingly dangerous. When facing down the Wolves, Scarlett is forced to confront how far into the shadows she is willing to go to protect the ones who have her heart.

AVAILABLE NOW ON Amazon

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

S.C. Grayson has been reading fantasy novels since she was a little girl stealing books from her older sister’s shelves, and that has developed into a love of writing and storytelling. Her writing is currently focused on fantasy and paranormal romance. When she is not sitting in a local coffee shop writing and consuming an iced americano, Grayson is a nurse working towards a Ph.D. in nursing with a focus on breast cancer genetics. She lives in Pittsburgh with her loving husband and their two cats, who enjoy contributing to her work by walking across her keyboard at inopportune moments (the cats, not the husband).

Learn more about Grayson and her books. Follow her on Instagram @s.c.grayson

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Book Spotlight Thursday: Song of Dark Tides by Beka Westrup

In today’s spotlight is a twisted take on the Little Mermaid tale, with a delicious cover to boot. Let us now fall under the Song of Dark Tides by Beka Westrup.

SONG OF DARK TIDES

Publication Date: November 28, 2023
Genre: Very Dark Fantasy Romance / Fairy Tale Retelling

Viola is a sea witch cursed by Triton. Cast aside from the glittering city of Atlantis, she starves for power and a real life above the surface-two hungers her curse will never allow her to satiate. She patrols the sea she’s claimed for her own and the nearby human city, feeding on unjust men and oceanfolk alike.
When she meets Aric, Triton’s firstborn son and heir to the throne, she decides to forge her own future from his suffering. She could finally be free of her curse… if she can only manage to trick the heartless siren out of his soul.

Available NOW on click my affiliate link below

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Beka Westrup is a genre-hopping author of fantasy and romance. The Seldom Wings is her second full-length novel. She lives in the PNW with her husband and two children, collecting more books than she’ll ever be able to read and drinking copious amounts of iced coffee.

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Book Spotlight: Her Blind Deception By Hailey Jade

A scheduling conflict made me unable to post this Thursday but I managed to hop on at the end of this blog tour for the highly anticipated sequel to Her Dark Reflection by Hailey Jade Her Blind Deception. READ ON!

Her Blind Deception (The Dark Reflections Series #2)

Publication Date August 13, 2023

Genre: Dark Fantasy Romance/ Fairy Tales

Winning power is easy, but keeping it is a whole new game.

After being tricked into marriage at the height of her victory, Rhiandra finds herself tied to the dark and devious Draven. But he’s manipulated her for the last time. As she struggles to maintain control of her crown and gain control of her new husband, she’s determined to evade his influence and outwit her own heart. After all, how can she trust him when she’s hiding a secret that could unravel them both?

Meanwhile, the crown princess is in hiding, enchanted by a new world free of the restraints of her old life, and content to stay far away from her stepmother. But a dead princess is no small thing to forget, especially when she is very much alive. The question is, how long before she’s found?

Her Blind Deception is the second book in the Dark Reflection series. Blood will be spilled, magic will change hands, and war will raise its hackles as a game of love and betrayal stakes entire kingdoms on the outcome.

Because when you’re the villain in the story, how far will you go for revenge on those who hurt you?
How far will you go for revenge on those you’ve loved?

AVAILABLE NOW on AMAZON

And don’t forget…

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Her Dark Reflection (Book #1 in the series)

Publication Date: June 15, 2022

Genre: Dark Fantasy/ Dark Romance/ Fairytale Retelling

“They called me the Whore Queen. Some even called me the Evil Queen.
But they could call me whatever they wanted. I was still queen.”

Rhiandra Tiercelin hungers for power and her charm has always been her sharpest weapon in hunting it. So when a brutal attack leaves her physically scarred, desperation drives her to make a deal with Draven, a magic-wielding stranger who is inexplicably compelling and definitely dangerous. She knows she can’t trust him, but he when he offers to make her a queen, the temptation is too enticing to resist.

Armed with a glamoured face and an enchanted apple, Rhiandra is determined to scheme her way into a crown, even if it means risking the deadly punishment for unsanctioned magic use. But Draven is playing a bigger game, and she is just one piece on the board.

Can she keep her wits about her long enough to uncover his secrets, or will he lure her down a path she will come to regret?

Her Dark Reflection is the first book in a new dark romantic fantasy series perfect for fans of Raven Kennedy, Jennifer Armentrout, and Sarah A. Parker. If you like cunning, ambitious heroines, morally ambiguous men, and romance that toes the line between love and hate, then you’ll love Hailey Jade’s dark reimagining of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Author photo

Hailey Jade has tried to quit writing, but alas, the characters who live in her head will not stop yammering. She’s hoping that building them ink-and-paper homes will make them pipe down long enough for her to get some sleep. She likes creating fantasy worlds populated by complicated, morally-grey characters who try to resist their attraction to other complicated, morally-grey characters, but who inevitably fall in love, because everyone needs a Happily Ever After.

Hailey has completed a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Teaching at Flinders University and spends her daylight hours trying to convince reluctant teenagers to love books. She lives in regional South Australia with her partner, bouncy baby boy, and feline overlord.

Hailey Jade