Book picks similar to
The Mirror by S.J. Sanders
fantasy
romance
magic
dnf
Heartless
Marissa Meyer - 2016
A talented baker, all she wants is to open a shop with her best friend. But according to her mother, such a goal is unthinkable for the young woman who could be the next queen.Then Cath meets Jest, the handsome and mysterious court joker. For the first time, she feels the pull of true attraction. At the risk of offending the king and infuriating her parents, she and Jest enter into an intense, secret courtship. Cath is determined to define her own destiny and fall in love on her terms. But in a land thriving with magic, madness, and monsters, fate has other plans.In her first stand-alone teen novel, the New York Times-bestselling author dazzles us with a prequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
Ruthless King
Alison Aimes - 2021
Payment for a debt owed. Pawn for an act of vengeance. Property to be used, knotted, and bred. Irresistibly gorgeous mafia king Nikolai Skolov is dominant, hard, possessive—and determined to bend innocent omega Dahlia Lundin to his will. But she is equally determined to resist. The lives of those she loves depends upon it.Except Dahlia isn't prepared for the insatiable hunger the Alpha's discipline awakens. Or her soul's recognition that her new master is also her fated-mate. As dangers mount and betrayals loom, all Dahlia knows is turned on its head. Allegiances are tested. Secrets exposed. Until Dahlia is not sure if her ruthless enemy is the monster who will destroy her or the only one left who can save her...
Snow's Soldiers (Fairy Tales and Nightmares #1)
L.C. Hibbett - 2020
Together, she said, my princes and I would do great things.But that was before I knew about heartbreak or godawful stepmothers. That was before my entire world became a living hell.Now, I'm not a kid anymore, and I don't believe in bullshit like fairy tales and happy ever afters. By day, I attend the University of Freiburg. By night, I stalk the forest, searching for the monsters that stole my mother from me and ruined my life. After all these years, I didn't really expect to find them. It's not as if there are witches and charmed cottages and handsome warriors just hiding in the Black Forest, am I right?Yeah, you guessed it. I'm wrong. There's far more hiding in the shadows than I could have imagined, and nothing will ever be the same again.
L.C. Hibbett's new fantasy novel is the first in a paranormal RH saga featuring complicated characters, epic worldbuilding, captivating romance, and a story that will keep you guessing until the last page. Snow's Soldiers is a complete 600 page story. Recommended reading age is 17+
The Unseelie Prince
Kathryn Ann Kingsley - 2021
To his great regret one ancient tradition stands in his way, demanding he first take a bride. With all the members of the Unseelie court proving to be insufferable, what is a prince to do?Steal a human, of course.Abigail often wonders if the townsfolk aren’t right in calling her cursed. Abandoned by her husband and with no family to call her own, everything in her life hangs by a thread. Never did she expect her downfall would come by taking pity on an old hermit. Abducted into the dangerous world of Tir n’Aill, Abigail is thrust into a terrifying Maze that defies all logic. There, she finds herself at the mercy of an Unseelie prince with a strange offer—solve his Maze and he'll grant her deepest wish…If she can live that long.From author Kathryn Ann Kingsley comes this tantalizing, slow burn dark fantasy that proves sometimes the line between love and hate is razor thin.Please note: This is a dark fantasy horror series with a love story. This series contains scenes of graphic violence. It is a slow-burn romance between the monstrous villain and the main character over the course of four books. My fae do not pull punches, and my Unseelie are not kind.
Hood
Jenny Elder Moke - 2020
Let it rise to meet the call.
Isabelle of Kirklees has only ever known a quiet life inside the sheltered walls of the convent, where she lives with her mother, Marien. But after she is arrested by royal soldiers for defending innocent villagers, Isabelle becomes the target of the Wolf, King John's ruthless right hand. Desperate to keep her daughter safe, Marien helps Isabelle escape and sends her on a mission to find the one person who can help: Isabelle's father, Robin Hood.As Isabelle races to stay out of the Wolf's clutches and find the father she's never known, she is thrust into a world of thieves and mercenaries, handsome young outlaws, new enemies with old grudges, and a king who wants her entire family dead. As she joins forces with Robin and his Merry Men in a final battle against the Wolf, will Isabelle find the strength to defy the crown and save the lives of everyone she holds dear?
The Perilous Gard
Elizabeth Marie Pope - 1974
In 1558, while exiled by Queen Mary Tudor to a remote castle known as Perilous Gard, young Kate Sutton becomes involved in a series of mysterious events that lead her to an underground world peopled by Fairy Folk—whose customs are even older than the Druids’ and include human sacrifice.
Spindle Fire
Lexa Hillyer - 2017
A princess sleeps. This is no fairy tale.It all started with the burning of the spindles.No.It all started with a curse…Half sisters Isabelle and Aurora are polar opposites: Isabelle is the king’s headstrong illegitimate daughter, whose sight was tithed by faeries; Aurora, beautiful and sheltered, was tithed her sense of touch and her voice on the same day. Despite their differences, the sisters have always been extremely close.And then everything changes, with a single drop of Aurora’s blood—and a sleep so deep it cannot be broken.As the faerie queen and her army of Vultures prepare to march, Isabelle must race to find a prince who can awaken her sister with the kiss of true love and seal their two kingdoms in an alliance against the queen.Isabelle crosses land and sea; unearthly, thorny vines rise up the palace walls; and whispers of revolt travel in the ashes on the wind. The kingdom falls to ruin under layers of snow. Meanwhile, Aurora wakes up in a strange and enchanted world, where a mysterious hunter may be the secret to her escape…or the reason for her to stay.
Night's Rose
Annaliese Evans - 2009
Now the tribe has gathered in London to work a spell that will destroy the scourge of their kind, the woman they call the Briar Rose.Two magnetic men will unite to aid Rose--her mysterious Fey advisor, Ambrose, and the vampire, Lord Shenley, an Earl of scandalous reputation and even more scandalous appetites. One will save her, one will betray her, and both will challenge her to face the past that haunts her.Once upon a time, she was ensnared in the mists of enchantment, cursed to sleep one hundred years. But this beauty wasn’t awakened with a kiss, and has never known happily ever after.With the help of her handsome allies, Rose may yet find it.
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.
The Hob's Bargain
Patricia Briggs - 2001
But now, freed from the spells of the wicked bloodmages, magic—both good and evil—returns. And Aren of Fallbrook feels her own power of sight strengthen and grow…Overcome by visions of mayhem and murder, Aren vows to save her village from the ruthless raiders who have descended upon it—and killed her family. With the return of wildlings to the hills and forests, she strikes a bargain with the Hob, a magical, human-like creature imbued with the power of the mountains. But the Hob is the last of his kind. And he will exact a heavy price to defend the village—a price Aren herself must pay…
Thornspell
Helen Lowe - 2008
Prince Sigismund has grown up hearing fantastical stories about enchantments and faie spells, basilisks and dragons, knights-errant and heroic quests. He'd love for them to be true--he's been sheltered in a country castle for most of his life and longs for adventure--but they are just stories. Or are they? From the day that a mysterious lady in a fine carriage speaks to him through the castle gates, Sigismund's world starts to shift. He begins to dream of a girl wrapped, "trapped," in thorns. He dreams of a palace, utterly still, waiting. He dreams of a man in red armor, riding a red horse--and then suddenly that man arrives at the castle! Sigismund is about to learn that sometimes dreams are true, that the world is both more magical and more dangerous than he imagined, and that the heroic quest he imagined for himself as a boy . . . begins now.
Winter Rose
Patricia A. McKillip - 1996
To others, it was a winter's tale spun by firelight on cold, dark nights. But when Corbet Lynn came to rebuild his family estate, memories of his grandfather's curse were rekindled by young and old - and rumours filled the heavy air of summer.In the woods that border Lynn Hall, free-spirited Rois Melior roams wild and barefooted in search of healing herbs. She is as hopelessly unbridled - and unsuited for marriage - as her betrothed sister Laurel is domestic. In Corbet's pale green eyes, Rois senses a desperate longing. In her restless dreams, mixed with the heady warmth of harvest wine, she hears him beckon. And as autumn gold fades, Rois is consumed with Corbet Lynn, obsessed with his secret past - until, across the frozed countryside and in flight from her own imagination, truth and dreams become inseparable...
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…
Seven Sins of Snow
Loxley Savage - 2020
She wants me dead but hasn’t killed me yet. At her insistence, a never ending line of repugnant suitors tries for my hand, but when I decline each and every one of them, the evil queen punishes me...severely.She will stop at nothing until I’m sold or dead.As she grows insane with power and my death seems imminent, something unexpected happens.I see a ‘lurker.’ They come to me in my dreams, touch me, taste me. Even though I’ve never met them outside of my mind, I begin to crave them.Stories have been passed down in the town of Riverwood about creatures of legend, kings given the power to wield the seven deadly sins.They tell me they want me, they claim that I belong to them.As I fall deeper into sin, they become mine as much as I am theirs.What will happen if I submit to their desires? Will I transform into the very weapon I seek, harnessing their power for my own or will I find myself lost in their seduction?The evil queen might kill me first. But I’ve made a vow to my people; to take back my stolen throne while bathing in her blood.Read my story and find out what happens...if you dare.SEVEN SINS OF SNOW is a full-length stand-alone, dark, PNR, RH retelling of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” Nothing inside these pages is appropriate for a children's story. Withing this tale are scenes with detailed sex, naughty language, torture, violence, drugs, and much more. If such material offends you, please do not read this book.
Tinder
Sally Gardner - 2013
A half beast half man gives him shoes and dice which will lead him deep into a web of dark magic and mystery. He meets the beautiful Safire - pure of heart and spirit, the scheming Mistress Jabber and the terrifying Lady of the Nail. He learns the powers of the tinderbox and the wolves whose master he becomes. But will all the riches in the world bring him the thing he most desires?Fairy tales are often the cruellest stories of all; in this exquisite novel Sally Gardner writes about great love and great loss.