Book picks similar to
A Tale of Sorrow by R.M. Walker
reverse-harem
fantasy
rh
romance
The Mirror
S.J. Sanders - 2020
Isabella Norveau was the daughter of a sorceress. Growing up, she learned the magic of her mother in their villa high in the mountains. Though she had everything she could ever desire, Isabella desired love over power. It was for this reason that she disobeyed her mother and eloped with a visiting king when she was only sixteen, only to find her dreams broken by a man who pined for his deceased wife, incapable of loving her. After a few years of suffering a loveless marriage, he eventually passed, and upon his death Isabella became guardian of his twelve-year-old daughter whom she’d loved like a sister and set above all others in her affections. Ruling her kingdom with icy control and compassion, Isabella refused courtiers and turned away noble men who desired to woo her. She allowed no man to get close to her. So, it passed day after day, until she received from her a mother a very special gift…a mirror with a spirit dwelling within it who sets her ablaze. Confronted with her own passions, her world is thrown into chaos. It is only surmounted when her stepdaughter goes missing from the castle with her trusted huntsman. As everything comes crashing down around her, Isabella must find the courage to embrace a love with the one being who is most dangerous, and yet also the only one able to help her find her stepdaughter. A retelling of Snow White like you ‘ve never seen before. The Mirror is a Dark Spirits Fairytale within the Dark Spirits Universe. Warning this book contains explicit violence and sex that might not be suitable for all audiences. ***This is a second edition of the original book. Upon adding it to the Dark Spirits Fairytale series, it now has 12,000 words of new content and new cover***
Roses and Rot
Kat Howard - 2016
As a child, she used to lie in bed wishing that her life would become one of these tragic fairy tales because she couldn’t imagine how a stepmother could be worse than her mother now. As adults, Imogen and her sister Marin are accepted to an elite post-grad arts program—Imogen as a writer and Marin as a dancer. Soon enough, though, they realize that there’s more to the school than meets the eye. Imogen might be living in the fairy tale she’s dreamed about as a child, but it’s one that will pit her against Marin if she decides to escape her past to find her heart’s desire.
Unbirthday
Liz Braswell - 2020
She'd rather spend golden afternoons with her trusty camera or in her aunt Vivian's lively salon, ignoring her sister's wishes that she stop all that "nonsense" and become a "respectable" member of society. Alice is happy to meander to Miss. Yao's teashop or to visit the children playing in the Square. She's also interested in learning more about the young lawyer she met there, but just because she's curious, of course, not because he was sweet and charming.But when Alice develops photographs she has recently taken about town, familiar faces of old suddenly appear in the place of her actual subjects-the Queen of Hearts, the Mad Hatter, the Caterpillar. There's something eerily off about them, even for Wonderland creatures. And as Alice develops a self-portrait, she finds the most disturbing image of all-a badly-injured dark-haired girl asking for Alice's help. Mary Ann.Returning to the place of nonsense from her childhood, Alice finds herself on a mission to stop the Queen of Hearts' tyrannical rule and to find her place in both worlds. But will she able to do so . . . before the End of Time?
Pathways
Camille Peters - 2019
Ever since her father's abandonment, she's vowed to never experience such pain again. But the enchanted forest has different ideas. When the continuously shifting pathways lead her to a mysterious stranger, Eileen finds her promise to fiercely guard her heart increasingly difficult to keep. One night when she becomes lost in a storm, the enchanted forest's pathways lead her to the castle, home to the kingdom's Dark Prince, where Eileen finds herself entangled in what many consider an opportunity but which Eileen believes to be a curse: competing for the Dark Prince’s hand through a series of tests that judge one’s royal worth. Eileen is neither royal nor interested in becoming a princess. But the mysterious stranger she met in the woods has his own reasons for helping her succeed, although the cost of his assistance may be too high: that of Eileen's heart, the one thing she's vowed never to give. Inspired by “The Princess and the Pea” and "Rumpelstiltskin"
The Last Vessel
Winter Rose - 2019
Gods, I was naïve. My name is Luna Moon. Don’t ask me what I am, because complicated doesn’t even begin to cut it. I recently found out that everything I knew to be true has been a lie. Including who I am. The goddesses and their chosen Guardians have been keeping a secret, and in the wrong hands, this secret would plunge our worlds into chaos. We are the only thing that stands in the way of the realms’ greatest evil escaping his eternal prison. Scratch that, I’M the only thing standing in his way. Themis’ scales have tipped. Nobody is safe. Nothing is as it seems. No one can be trusted. ***Author Note*** The Last Vessel is the first book in The Chronicles of Luna Moon series. This will not be your ordinary love story, for they are not your typical heroes. The Last Vessel is a medium-burn reverse harem intended for readers 18 years and over. It contains strong language, violence, and adult themes. The series also contains overbearing, overprotective, Alpha males who will try anything to keep Luna safe... I did say ‘try’, right?
Cadence of Ciar
Zoe Parker - 2018
Ciar is the epitome of both and in some ways my furry arch-nemesis. He’s been with me since I was a child. Now he’s followed me to the Menagerie. Except he’s no longer in his canine form, Ciar is now 100% Fae male.Which I’m not prepared for. Not that I'm prepared for this place at all either. I don’t want to be here. This school is a hen-house for the rich and powerful to reach in and pluck the special people out like fat hens while the rest are fed to the wolves.Well, except this time there’s one of the big bad ones IN the hen-house. Ciar.He's the bane of my existence and theirs. Yet in a roundabout way he's also my best friend, and even though he looks at me like I'm dinner--I'm not afraid.I'm pretty sure I look at him exactly the same way.
The Brides of Rollrock Island
Margo Lanagan - 2009
Life is hard for the families who must wring a poor living from the stormy seas. But Rollrock is also a place of magic - the scary, salty-real sort of magic that changes lives forever. Down on the windswept beach, where the seals lie in herds, the outcast sea witch Misskaella casts her spells - and brings forth girls from the sea - girls with long, pale limbs and faces of haunting innocence and loveliness - the most enchantingly lovely girls the fishermen of Rollrock have ever seen.But magic always has its price. A fisherman may have and hold a sea bride, and tell himself that he is her master. But from his first look into those wide, questioning, liquid eyes, he will be just as transformed as she is. He will be equally ensnared. And in the end the witch will always have her payment.Margo Lanagan has written an extraordinary tale of desire, despair and transformation. In devastatingly beautiful prose, she reveals unforgettable characters capable of unspeakable cruelty - and deep unspoken love. After reading about the Rollrock fishermen and their sea brides, the world will not seem the same.
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister
Gregory Maguire - 1999
But what of her stepsisters, the homely pair exiled into ignominy by the fame of their lovely sibling? What fate befell those untouched by beauty ... and what curses accompanied Cinderella's looks?Set against the backdrop of seventeenth-century Holland, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister tells the story of Iris, an unlikely heroine who finds herself swept from the lowly streets of Haarlem to a strange world of wealth, artifice, and ambition. Iris's path quickly becomes intertwined with that of Clara, the mysterious and unnaturally beautiful girl destined to become her sister. While Clara retreats to the cinders of the family hearth, Iris seeks out the shadowy secrets of her new household -- and the treacherous truth of her former life.
The Mermaid's Sister
Carrie Anne Noble - 2015
By day, they gather herbs for Auntie’s healing potions; by night, Auntie spins tales of faraway lands and wicked fairies. Clara’s favorite story tells of three orphan infants—Clara, who was brought to Auntie by a stork; Maren, who arrived in a seashell; and their best friend, O’Neill, who was found beneath an apple tree.One day, Clara discovers shimmering scales just beneath her sister’s skin: Maren is becoming a mermaid and must be taken to the sea or she will die. So Clara, O’Neill, and the mermaid-girl set out for the shore. But the trio encounters trouble around every bend. Ensnared by an evil troupe of traveling performers, Clara and O’Neill must find a way to save themselves and the ever-weakening Maren.And always in the back of her mind, Clara wonders, if my sister is a mermaid, then what am I?
SSS: Year One
Yumoyori Wilson - 2019
There are three key components required to get into the most prestigious, top spy school in the world: Skills. Strength. Survival. My name is Silver Spell Solange. No, I didn't plan for my initials to be the same rank needed to enter the spy school. But I would do anything to get into the one of a kind school. I have the magical capability of an Elemental Witch, the strength to kick anyone's ass, and quick problem-solving skills to get my teammates out of any jam. There’s only one small problem – the other 'S' I’m missing. I'm not a part of the supernatural race. After realizing the my only shot at my dreams is at the brink of extinction, I'm unexpectedly teamed up with a werewolf, a dragon, a fallen angel, and a hellhound. The four of them carry the assets and abilities I need to gain my spot into the Supernatural Spy School (SSS). With the clock ticking and not much leg room for an SS score, I accept their bet, knowing I’ll easily handle whatever they request from me. I didn't think their bet would lead me to date all four them. It's time for me to buckle up. This four-year roller coaster is about to begin, and its a bumpy one-way ticket to becoming the next "supernatural" spy.
Enchanted
Alethea Kontis - 2012
Sunday’s only comfort is writing stories, although what she writes has a terrible tendency to come true.When Sunday meets an enchanted frog who asks about her stories, the two become friends. Soon that friendship deepens into something magical. One night Sunday kisses her frog goodbye and leaves, not realizing that her love has transformed him back into Rumbold, the crown prince of Arilland—and a man Sunday’s family despises.The prince returns to his castle, intent on making Sunday fall in love with him as the man he is, not the frog he was. But Sunday is not so easy to woo. How can she feel such a strange, strong attraction for this prince she barely knows? And what twisted secrets lie hidden in his past—and hers?
Before Midnight - A Retelling of Cinderella
Cameron Dokey - 2007
His wife has died in childbirth, leaving him alone with an infant daughter he cannot bear to name. But before he abandons her for king and court, he brings a second child to be raised alongside her, a boy whose identity he does not reveal.The girl, La Cendrillon, and the boy, Raoul, pass sixteen years in the servants' care until one day a very fine lady arrives with her two daughters. The lady has married La Cendrillon's father, and her arrival changes their lives. When an invitation to a great ball reaches the family, La Cendrillon's new stepmother will make a decision with far-reaching effects. Her choice will lead La Cendrillon and Raoul toward their destiny -- a choice that will challenge their understanding of family, test their loyalty and courage, and, ultimately, teach them who they are.
Drown
Esther Dalseno - 2015
Discovering music, a magnificent palace of glass and limestone, and a troubled human prince, she is driven by love to consult the elusive sea-witch who secretly dominates the entire species of merfolk. Upon paying an enormous price for her humanity, the little mermaid begins a new life, uncovering secrets of sexuality and the Immortal Soul. As a deadly virus threatens to contaminate the bloodstreams of the whole merfolk race, the little mermaid must choose between the lives of her people, the man she loves, or herself.A complete reinvention of Hans Christian Andersen's classic fairy tale, this is a magical-realist fable that captures the essence of sacrifice and the price of humanity.
The Beast's Heart
Leife Shallcross - 2018
But if loneliness breeds desperation then I was desperate indeed, and I did what I felt I must. My shameful behaviour was unjustly rewarded.My Isabeau. She opened my eyes, my mind and my heart; she taught me how to be human again.And now I might lose her forever.Lose yourself in this gorgeously rich and magical retelling of The Beauty and the Beast that finally lays bare the beast's heart.
To Love A Monster
Marina Simcoe - 2018
Intended for mature readers.