Book picks similar to
Modern Magic: A Quartet of Fractured Fairy Tales by Jennifer DeCuir
fantasy
romance
contemporary
one-night-stand
Mission: Believe
Stacy Eaton - 2019
Shane Logan is lucky to have come from a privileged family, and after losing both of his legs in the war, he now has the best prosthetics that money can buy. While he is trying to move forward with life, he struggles with the past and the way people react to him and his disability. Dr. Lauren Falcone works tirelessly to help veterans deal with the trauma and pain of their deployments. Her unique virtual approach to therapy keeps her busy, and the assistance she provides to service members as they recover mentally helps her resolve her own anxieties. When Shane meets Lauren at a fundraiser for his father’s organization, he wonders if there just might be a chance for him to get his dream off the ground and maybe find a normal life with someone who can look past his flaws and see the man he is inside. Shane and Lauren are drawn to each other by their hope to make life easier for veterans, both physically and emotionally. Their goal is to build Shane’s dream organization, Rise Again Warrior, that will assist veterans to integrate more easily into society and have the opportunity to receive state-of-the-art technology and therapy. Now, if they can only have faith in themselves, learn to deal with their own demons, and believe in each other, they might find a way to bring this dream to fruition. The second book in the series will be released in May to coincide with Memorial Day.
Tales & Time
G. Bailey - 2019
Madilynn almost wishes she hadn't, when it reveals she is a descendant of a fairy tale, and her parents tell her it's time for her to attend Lost Time Academy...
Being thrown into a world that is literally full of fairy tales, the last thing she expects is to see the four guys she grew up with!
Four guys who have grown from boys to now geeky, dark, passionate men who rule the Academy… and they never forgot Madilynn...
Time makes all tales come true, including the dark ones...
The Shadow Queen
C.J. Redwine - 2016
To do that, Lorelai needs to use the one weapon she and Queen Irina have in common—magic. She’ll have to be stronger, faster, and more powerful than Irina, the most dangerous sorceress Ravenspire has ever seen.In the neighboring kingdom of Eldr, when Prince Kol’s father and older brother are killed by an invading army of magic-wielding ogres, the second-born prince is suddenly given the responsibility of saving his kingdom. To do that, Kol needs magic—and the only way to get it is to make a deal with the queen of Ravenspire, promise to become her personal huntsman…and bring her Lorelai’s heart.But Lorelai is nothing like Kol expected—beautiful, fierce, and unstoppable—and despite dark magic, Lorelai is drawn in by the passionate and troubled king. Fighting to stay one step ahead of the dragon huntsman—who she likes far more than she should—Lorelai does everything in her power to ruin the wicked queen. But Irina isn’t going down without a fight, and her final move may cost the princess the one thing she still has left to lose.
Beastkeeper
Cat Hellisen - 2015
Her mother hates the cold, so every few months her parents pack their bags and drag her off after the sun. She’s grown up lonely and longing for magic. She doesn’t know that it’s magic her parents are running from. When Sarah’s mother walks out on their family, all the strange old magic they have tried to hide from comes rising into their mundane world. Her father begins to change into something wild and beastly, but before his transformation is complete, he takes Sarah to her grandparents—people she has never met, didn’t even know were still alive. Deep in the forest, in a crumbling ruin of a castle, Sarah begins to untangle the layers of curses affecting her family bloodlines, until she discovers that the curse has carried over to her, too. The day she falls in love for the first time, Sarah will transform into a beast . . . unless she can figure out a way to break the curse forever.
Stray
Elissa Sussman - 2014
I am grateful for my mother, who keeps her own heart guarded and safe. I am grateful for my adviser, who keeps me protected. I am grateful for the Path, which keeps me pure. Ever after.Princess Aislynn has long dreamed about attending her Introduction Ball, about dancing with the handsome suitors her adviser has chosen for her, about meeting her true love and starting her happily ever after.When the night of the ball finally arrives and Nerine Academy is awash with roses and royalty, Aislynn wants nothing more than to dance the night away, dutifully following the Path that has been laid out for her. She does not intend to stray.But try as she might, Aislynn has never quite managed to control the magic that burns within her-magic brought on by wicked, terrible desires that threaten the Path she has vowed to take.After all, it is wrong to want what you do not need. Isn’t it?
The Wedding Promise
Melinda Curtis - 2014
As one of Bon-Bon Chocolates heiresses, Tiffany Bonander grew up in New York with a silver spoon, a heart of gold, and a lifelong supply of sweets. But now her life is falling apart. Recent changes in cocoa supply from Ecuador are threatening the quality of the family’s chocolate and sales are down. Add to that Tiff’s penchant for falling in love quickly and breaking engagements at the last minute…Now they call her the Bon-Voyage Bride. Jackson Hardaway is trekking through the Andes in Ecuador as a tribute to a fallen comrade. He didn’t expect to meet a beautiful damsel in distress and her three fairy godmothers…er, trio of meddlesome nuns…on his journey. But everything in Ecuador is bigger – the trees, the snakes, the attraction. Is this love? Or just another case made to label Tiff a Runaway Bride? Find out in The Wedding Promise by Melinda Curtis.
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.
Thorn
Intisar Khanani - 2012
A destiny all her own.Between her cruel family and the contempt she faces at court, Princess Alyrra has always longed to escape the confines of her royal life. But when she’s betrothed to the powerful prince Kestrin, Alyrra embarks on a journey to his land with little hope for a better future.When a mysterious and terrifying sorceress robs Alyrra of both her identity and her role as princess, Alyrra seizes the opportunity to start a new life for herself as a goose girl. But Alyrra soon finds that Kestrin is not what she expected. The more Alyrra learns of this new kingdom, the pain and suffering its people endure, as well as the danger facing Kestrin from the sorceress herself, the more she knows she can’t remain the goose girl forever.With the fate of the kingdom at stake, Alyrra is caught between two worlds and ultimately must decide who she is, and what she stands for.Includes The Bone Knife, a bonus short story set in the world of Thorn.
Curses! A F**ked Up Fairytale
J.A. Kazimer - 2012
In fact, up until a couple of days ago, I was the villain. Kidnapped maidens, scared kids, stole magic tchotchkes--until I got into a little scrape with the union. Now I'm cursed with the worst fate in New Never City--no matter what I do, I gotta be nice. So when a head-case princess named Asia barges into my apartment and asks me to find out who whacked her stepsister, Cinderella, I have no choice but to help her. And I'm more than willing to head back to her parents' castle and do some investigating if it means I can get into her black leather cat suit. Except this twisted sister has a family nutty enough to send the Biggest Baddest Wolf running for the hills--and a freaky little curse of her own. . . "More than f***ed-up. Demented. Hilarious." --Mario Acevedo, author of "Werewolf Smackdown"
Two and Twenty Dark Tales: Dark Retellings of Mother Goose Rhymes
Nina BerryGretchen McNeil - 2012
The dark twists on classic tales range from exploring whether Jack truly fell or if Jill pushed him instead to why Humpty Dumpty, fragile and alone, sat atop so high of a wall. The authors include Nina Berry, Sarwat Chadda, Leigh Fallon, Gretchen McNeil, and Suzanne Young.
Cinderella Dreams of Fire
Casey Lane - 2016
He's less than a gentleman. A powerful evil threatens their lives… and their hearts. Cinderella has a secret. In the 10 years since her mother's death, she's only pretended to be too weak to challenge her cold-blooded stepmother. By day, she cleans the floors and washes the laundry. By night, she takes to the streets as a fearless thief with no equal. Out on a routine mission, Cinderella never expected that she'd run into him… Braedon is hardly a model prince. He spends most of his time in the tavern, much to the dismay of his royal mother. When a unexplainable blight strikes the queen's soldiers down, Braedon's attempt to help brings him face-to-face with the beautiful, sardonic thief. He wants nothing more than to partner up with her, even if it could get him killed…The thief would much rather work alone, but the prince’s persistence starts to wear down her defenses. When the evil force decimating the army turns its attention to the throne, Cinderella and Braedon have one chance to save the kingdom, their loved ones, and themselves.Cinderella Dreams of Fire is the first book in the Fairy Tales Forever series, a set of fantasy novels that inject the classic retellings you know with a burst of attitude. If you like strong female characters, action-packed fantasy, and simmering chemistry, then you’ll love Casey Lane’s romantic, fast-paced adaptation.
Buy Cinderella Dreams of Fire today to read a fairy tale that fights back!
Spinning Starlight
R.C. Lewis - 2015
But as the only daughter in the most powerful tech family in the galaxy, it’s hard to escape it. So when a group of men shows up at her house uninvited, she assumes it’s just the usual media-grubs. That is, until shots are fired.Liddi escapes, only to be pulled into an interplanetary conspiracy more complex than she ever could have imagined. Her older brothers have been caught as well, trapped in the conduits between the planets. And when their captor implants a device in Liddi’s vocal cords to monitor her speech, their lives are in her hands: One word and her brothers are dead.Desperate to save her family from a desolate future, Liddi travels to another world, where she meets the one person who might have the skills to help her bring her eight brothers home—a handsome dignitary named Tiav. But without her voice, Liddi must use every bit of her strength and wit to convince Tiav that her mission is true. With the tenuous balance of the planets deeply intertwined with her brothers’ survival, just how much is Liddi willing to sacrifice to bring them back?Haunting and mesmerizing, this retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Wild Swans strings the heart of the classic with a stunning, imaginative world as a star-crossed family fights for its very survival.
Reign of Shadows
Sophie Jordan - 2016
In the chaos, an evil chancellor murdered the king and queen and seized their throne. Luna, Relhok’s lost princess, has been hiding in a tower ever since. Luna’s survival depends on the world believing she is dead.But that doesn’t stop Luna from wanting more. When she meets Fowler, a mysterious archer braving the woods outside her tower, Luna is drawn to him despite the risk. When the tower is attacked, Luna and Fowler escape together. But this world of darkness is more treacherous than Luna ever realized.With every threat stacked against them, Luna and Fowler find solace in each other. But with secrets still unspoken between them, falling in love might be their most dangerous journey yet.With lush writing and a star–crossed romance, Reign of Shadows is Sophie Jordan at her best.
A Thousand Nights
E.K. Johnston - 2015
When she sees the dust cloud on the horizon, she knows he has arrived. She knows he will want the loveliest girl: her sister. She vows she will not let her be next.And so she is taken in her sister’s place, and she believes death will soon follow. Lo-Melkhiin’s court is a dangerous palace filled with pretty things: intricate statues with wretched eyes, exquisite threads to weave the most beautiful garments. She sees everything as if for the last time. But the first sun rises and sets, and she is not dead. Night after night, Lo-Melkhiin comes to her and listens to the stories she tells, and day after day she is awakened by the sunrise. Exploring the palace, she begins to unlock years of fear that have tormented and silenced a kingdom. Lo-Melkhiin was not always a cruel ruler. Something went wrong.Far away, in their village, her sister is mourning. Through her pain, she calls upon the desert winds, conjuring a subtle unseen magic, and something besides death stirs the air.Back at the palace, the words she speaks to Lo-Melkhiin every night are given a strange life of their own. Little things, at first: a dress from home, a vision of her sister. With each tale she spins, her power grows. Soon she dreams of bigger, more terrible magic: power enough to save a king, if she can put an end to the rule of a monster.
House of Salt and Sorrows
Erin A. Craig - 2019
Once they were twelve, but loneliness fills the grand halls now that four of the girls' lives have been cut short. Each death was more tragic than the last—the plague, a plummeting fall, a drowning, a slippery plunge—and there are whispers throughout the surrounding villages that the family is cursed by the gods.Disturbed by a series of ghostly visions, Annaleigh becomes increasingly suspicious that the deaths were no accidents. Her sisters have been sneaking out every night to attend glittering balls, dancing until dawn in silk gowns and shimmering slippers, and Annaleigh isn't sure whether to try to stop them or to join their forbidden trysts. Because who—or what—are they really dancing with?When Annaleigh's involvement with a mysterious stranger who has secrets of his own intensifies, it's a race to unravel the darkness that has fallen over her family—before it claims her next.