Book picks similar to
To Bleed a Crystal Bloom by Sarah A. Parker
fantasy
romance
retellings
fantasy-romance
Once Upon a Broken Heart
Stephanie Garber - 2021
In exchange for his help, he asks for three kisses, to be given at the time and place of his choosing. But after Evangeline’s first promised kiss, she learns that bargaining with an immortal is a dangerous game—and that the Prince of Hearts wants far more from her than she’d pledged. He has plans for Evangeline, plans that will either end in the greatest happily ever after or the most exquisite tragedy….
Elvish
S.G. Prince - 2018
But laws can be broken. When Venick is caught wandering the elflands, he knows the penalty is death. Desperate, he lies about his identity in hopes the elves will spare his life. Ellina doesn't trust the human, and not merely because he speaks the language of men. Men lie. In elvish, however, lying is impossible. In a moment of intuition, Ellina decides to give Venick a chance: learn elvish, reveal his truths, and she will set him free. That is not, of course, what happens. As Ellina and Venick grow to know one another, their feelings start to shift. Then Venick uncovers a dark secret, and suddenly the fate of the elflands seems to rest in his hands. But every choice comes with consequences, and Venick must decide if it's worth risking his life to protect a race that hates him, all to save an elf he's not allowed to love. Magic, love and fate collide in this fantasy adventure from S.G. Prince. For readers who love fast-paced action with a side of romance, Elvish is the first novel in the Elvish Trilogy.
Receiver of Many
Rachel Alexander - 2015
Now she is a woman, a goddess in her own right, yearning for freedom— even as the terms of an ancient pact are about to come due. Hades's life has been one of solitude in the somber land of the dead: the God of the Underworld, he lives without attachments, eternally governing the souls of mortals. But he dreams of the young goddess who was promised to be his wife, and knows it is time for his Kingdom to have a Queen. When Hades arrives to claim his betrothed, he finds a young goddess eager to unearth her divine potential— and a powerful mother unwilling to let go. Receiver of Many begins an erotic story of passion and possession, duty and desire, and a struggle that threatens both ancient Greece and the Realm of the Dead itself.
Sinful Cinderella
Anita Valle - 2015
I'm not who they think I am. A docile girl who meekly obeys her stepmother and stepsisters. Some kind of sick angel who cheerfully bears their mistreatment. That's what I WANT them to think. Because then they won't suspect what I'm really up to.The ball, the prince - it's all part of my plan to come out on top. Stepmother and her demented daughters will pay for every floor I have scoured, every sneer I have borne. They don't know about the white magic, how I use it to enhance myself. They can't see that my heart is black as midnight, rotten as a poisoned apple.They're about to find out. Book Details
Length: Approx. 150 pages
Genre: Fractured Fairy Tale
Mood: Dark / Humorous
Content: Moderate violence. A few mild sexual references. No sex scenes or erotica.
Audience: Teens and Adults
Author's Note: For anyone who enjoys a dark fairy tale retelling. This Cinderella book has all the elements of the original story: beauty, magic, glass slippers, and a handsome prince. But like any "Grimm" fairy tale it gets twisted into dark places. Sinful Cinderella is the first book in the Dark Fairy Tale Queen Series. Other books by Anita Valle
SNEAKY SNOW WHITE (Coming Soon!)
MAELYN: The Nine Princesses Book 1 (FREE TO DOWNLOAD)
CORALINA: The Nine Princesses Book 2
HEIDEL: The Nine Princesses Book 3
BRIETTE: The Nine Princesses Book 4 (Coming Soon!)
THE BULLY MONSTER (A novel for kids)
A fractured fairy tale that twists the story of Cinderella into a dark and sinister retelling.
Rise of the Witch
C. Rochelle - 2021
If any of those things don't work for you, please don't read it!BLURB:As with most beginnings, it started with death.When I had nothing left to lose, I traveled to the hut in the woods; the one no one dared approach. The witch who lived there recognized the darkness in my soul and took me under her wing—to witness her reign of terror firsthand and eventually, to inherit her legacy as my own.Now I’m the monster they fear; the one humans avoid at all costs. In this welcome isolation, I've attempted to forget my past and the future that was taken from me.Until three men appear, somehow able to break through my protective wards and see me in my true form. While resistant to their intrusion, I recognize they may be the ones I’ve been waiting for—the ones I need to ascend to my full power.Too bad I would rather grind their bones than invite them in.But something is mysteriously devouring the forest, and I suspect the threat may be the same one I barely escaped many moons ago. If it is, he will find me a more worthy opponent than the last time we met.I am the Yaga and I may be broken, but my edges are sharp.--The Yaga’s Riders is based on the folklore of Baba Yaga, with creative liberties taken.The Rise of the Witch is the first book in a steamy, paranormal romance trilogy featuring alphaholes, mysterious forces in magical woods, and a slightly frightening heroine who never has to choose just one man.MMFMMultiple POVThis series is meant for readers 18 and over.Beware: Cliffys ahead!Possible triggers:Sweary dialogueGraphic sex, including kink and various edgeplayGore and violenceToxic masculinity (don't worry - it doesn't last forever! #characterarc)Reference to past sexual assault and pregnancy lossGeneral weirdness and medium-dark elements
Throttled
Lauren Asher - 2020
Unapproachable. Ruthless on and off the track.A man with walls higher than the Grand Canyon.And my brother's new teammate.I want more of the prince who disguises himself as the villain.But while I crave a happy ending, he wants to destroy his.Maya Alatorre is a forbidden temptation.An ambitious post-grad I should stay far away from.And chaos wrapped with a bow.We're a ticking time bomb, about one wrong move away from exploding.I want to trip the wire, detonating together in passion and pain.Because in the end, all's fair in lust and war.
The Hollow Gods
A.J. Vrana - 2020
Black Hollow is a town with a dark secret. For centuries, residents have foretold the return of the Dreamwalker—an ominous figure from local folklore said to lure young women into the woods and possess them. Yet the boundary between fact and fable is blurred by a troubling statistic: occasionally, women do go missing. And after they return, they almost always end up dead. When Kai wakes up next to the lifeless body of a recently missing girl, his memory blank, he struggles to clear his already threadbare conscience. Miya, a floundering university student, experiences signs that she may be the Dreamwalker’s next victim. Can she trust Kai as their paths collide, or does he herald her demise? And after losing a young patient, crestfallen oncologist, Mason, embarks on a quest to debunk the town’s superstitions, only to find his sanity tested. A maelstrom of ancient grudges, forgotten traumas, and deadly secrets loom in the foggy forests of Black Hollow. Can three unlikely heroes put aside their fears and unite to confront a centuries-old evil? Will they uncover the truth behind the fable, or will the cycle repeat?
The Sea Queen
Jovee Winters - 2015
Spitting mad. Ghosts of the dead are fouling her waters. She wants this problem fixed, and she wants it fixed now. Rushing off in search of Hades, Lord of the Underworld, to demand answers, she’s soon shocked to discover him bound and standing trial before a jury of his peers—for nothing less than murder. Calypso normally despises the beastly gods, all of them, but there’s something about seeing Hades bound as he is that gives her an evilly clever idea. Tired of being a virgin queen, she wishes to shed that boring image once and for all, and no one seems quite as fit for the task as the gorgeous and brooding Hades. Of course, there is the minor problem of murder to deal with, but Calypso is bound and determined to have her way. And when a dark queen gets an idea, nothing and no one can stand in her way…
A Tale of Stars and Shadow
Lisa Cassidy - 2019
With her Callanan partner at her side, she was invincible, reckless, a death-knell to their enemies. But after her partner is torn away from her, Talyn is left broken, wracked with guilt and unable to regain the confidence she once had. Could an unexpected mission to the mysterious country of Mithranar, home of the magical winged folk, be the thing that saves her? Or will the danger and secrets she finds there finally break her completely?The Shadowhawk lives a life in the shadows. Constantly hunted for his criminal exploits, yet desperate to help the human folk of Mithranar who are oppressed by their winged folk rulers, he haunts the streets of Dock City. The arrival of a foreign warrior threatens to upset the carefully balanced life he leads, but when she begins to offer a hope for the humans he's only ever dreamed of, can he risk trusting her?And unbeknownst to both, a mysterious foe stalks the dark corners of Dock City. One that answers to a single purpose...Vengeance.
The Lady and the Orc
Finley Fenn - 2019
And she’s what he needs to win his war…
In a world of warring orcs and men, Lady Norr is condemned to a childless marriage, a cruel lord husband, and a life of genteel poverty — until the day her home is ransacked by a horde. And leading the charge is their hulking, deadly orc captain: the infamous Grimarr. And Grimarr has a wicked plan for Lady Norr, and for ending this war once and for all. She’s going to become his captive — and the perfect snare for Lord Norr. There’s no possible escape, and soon Lady Norr is dragged off toward Orc Mountain in the powerful arms of her greatest enemy. A ruthless, commanding warlord, with a velvet voice and mouthwatering scent, who awakens every forbidden hunger she never knew she had… But Grimarr refuses to accept half measures — in war, or in pleasure. And before he’ll conquer Lady Norr’s deepest, darkest desires, she needs to surrender everything. Her allegiance. Her wedding-ring.Her future… And with her husband’s forces giving chase, Lady Norr can’t afford to play such a dangerous game — or can she? Even if this deadly orc’s plans might be the only way to save them all?_____________________ A dark, steamy, full-length standalone fantasy romance for adults. Happily ever after guaranteed.
The Bear and the Nightingale
Katherine Arden - 2017
But Vasilisa doesn't mind—she spends the winter nights huddled around the embers of a fire with her beloved siblings, listening to her nurse's fairy tales. Above all, she loves the chilling story of Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon, who appears in the frigid night to claim unwary souls. Wise Russians fear him, her nurse says, and honor the spirits of house and yard and forest that protect their homes from evil.After Vasilisa's mother dies, her father goes to Moscow and brings home a new wife. Fiercely devout, city-bred, Vasilisa's new stepmother forbids her family from honoring the household spirits. The family acquiesces, but Vasilisa is frightened, sensing that more hinges upon their rituals than anyone knows.And indeed, crops begin to fail, evil creatures of the forest creep nearer, and misfortune stalks the village. All the while, Vasilisa's stepmother grows ever harsher in her determination to groom her rebellious stepdaughter for either marriage or confinement in a convent.As danger circles, Vasilisa must defy even the people she loves and call on dangerous gifts she has long concealed—this, in order to protect her family from a threat that seems to have stepped from her nurse's most frightening tales.The Bear and the Nightingale is a magical debut novel from a gifted and gorgeous voice. It spins an irresistible spell as it announces the arrival of a singular talent.