18,000 words (72 pages)— Appearances can be deceiving… To Rolf, Mirabay is the city of dreams. Called the Jewel of the West, it is the place of kings and heroes and great deeds. The chance to visit is not an opportunity Rolf is willing to miss. At first glance, the city is everything he expects, but with an appearance and accent more suited to the Marches rather than the refined salons and sophisticated ballrooms of the city, he is met with the prejudice reserved for those from the rural provinces. Dreams and preconceptions rarely meet with reality, however and as the city begins to lose its lustre for Rolf, those he thought him an uncouth blow-in from the Marches learn the error of their ways.

    And when a face in the mirror confronts her with a dire warning, she realizes her life is at risk. Has she awakened a curse—or been struck by madness? “Queen Joanna” presents a haunting twist on the legend of Bloody Mary. This short story originally appeared in the From the Indie Side anthology.

    And in this way was the world complete, for light was joined to dark. For all time would they be joined together. Only the ending of the world could tear them apart. In other words, in the days in which my parents married, there was no such thing as divorce....Thus begins the tale of Mina, a girl-child born on the longest night of the darkest month of the year. When her father looked at her, all he saw was what he feared: By birth, by name, by nature, she belonged to the Dark. So when Mina turned sixteen, her father took her away from shadow and brought her into sunlight.In retaliation, her mother lured a handsome prince into a deadly agreement: If he frees Mina, he can claim her as his bride.Now Mina and her prince must endure deadly trials -- of love and fate and family -- before they can truly live happily ever after....

    Despite a few variations from telling to telling, the story remains the same—the Queen was jealous of the girl’s beauty, and this jealousy culminated in the Queen’s attempt on the sweet, naive girl’s life. Another tale far less often spoken of is the one that explains what caused the Queen to become so contemptuously vile. Still, some have attempted to guess at the reason. Perhaps the Queen’s true nature was that of a wicked hag and her beautiful, regal appearance a disguise used to fool the King. Others claim that the Queen might have hated the girl for her resemblance to the King’s first wife. Mostly, the Queen is painted as a morally abhorrent woman who never loved another being during the course of her miserable life.In fact, the theories about exactly what cause the Queen’s obsessive vanity and jealous rage are too numerous to catalog. This book recounts a version of the story that has remained untold until now. It is a tragic tale of love and loss, and it contains a bit of magic. It is a tale of the Wicked Queen…

    A beckoning mansion in a dark clearing. A short modern-day retelling of Hansel and Gretel by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dear Martin.It’s bad enough that Hazel and Gray have defied the demands of Hazel’s foul stepfather. The Monster has forbidden their romance. Now they’ve awakened in the forest, phones dead, hours past curfew. But not far away is a grand estate in the middle of nowhere. The door is open. In this short story about choosing your own path, the fury of the Monster that awaits them back home may be nothing compared to what lies ahead.

    In "Matchless", Maguire adds a different dimension to the story, intertwining the match girl's tale with that of a young boy, Frederik, whose own yearnings are the catalyst for a better future for himself and his family. Maguire uses his storytelling magic to rekindle Andersen's original intentions, and to suggest transcendence, the permanence of spirit, and the continuity that links the living and the dead.

    When she was young, an industrial accident left Zinnia with a rare condition. Not much is known about her illness, just that no one has lived past twenty-one.Her best friend Charm is intent on making Zinnia's last birthday special with a full sleeping beauty experience, complete with a tower and a spinning wheel. But when Zinnia pricks her finger, something strange and unexpected happens, and she finds herself falling through worlds, with another sleeping beauty, just as desperate to escape her fate.USA Today bestselling author Alix E. Harrow's A Spindle Splintered brings her patented charm to a new version of a classic story.

    It's a tale of courage and consequences, and a choice that can never be undone.A short story prequel to her multi-starred fantasy, Thorn, Intisar Khanani's "Brambles" gives Alyrra's account of what really happened all those years ago, and how a few critical days turned her life into a daily fight for survival.

    Unfortunately for the former goose girl, the princess has other plans.When her charge flees, Rynn's not only forced to take the princess's place, but she must also contend with a spiteful fairy horse, a good dose of political intrigue, and Conrad...the mysterious and all-too observant lord who consumes more of her thoughts than he should.But with war looming on the horizon, Rynn stands to lose more than her heart. Can she convince the princess to return, end the charade, and make peace between the kingdoms?More importantly, can she possibly avoid a death sentence when the truth is revealed?A Goose Girl is a romantic fairy tale novella. It can be read on its own but is more fun when read as a part of the Entwined Tales, a series of interconnected fairy tales by six different authors. Each story follows the adventures of one of seven children from the same family as they seek out their own happily ever afters in spite of their reluctant fairy-godfather.

    Memory-blind himself, he can’t feel those wounds. Clara can, and she prefers them irretrievable. Until her sister, Beatrice, ultrasensitive to memory, raises one that could change Clara’s mind. For Gui, the past is gone. For Clara and Beatrice, deciding what to remember reaches to the heart of their shared history.

    Every year during the festival each boy leaves a flower at the door of the girl he believes is the "fairest of them all." Naturally, Snow White gets dozens of flowers, while her younger sister Rose Red is ignored. This year, though, things are different. For the first time, Rose Red has a mysterious admirer, and this year she isn't the only one jealous of her sister's beauty. But even though it’s a time of celebration, when girls begin disappearing, the festival turns deadly. With mysterious strangers arriving every day, an ominous marriage proposal, and magic and danger everywhere, Snow White and Rose Red will need to work together to survive the festival and solve the mystery.

    All hope seems lost…until one afternoon fate steps in and Sarah learns that sometimes, with a little magic, winter wishes can come true.A Rake in WinterNo one is more shocked than Lady Emma herself when she drinks a bit too much wine…and wakes up in bed beside Lord William Prescott, England’s most notorious rake! Emma wants to forget the entire night ever happened, but Will isn’t about to let her go that easily...Risqué ResolutionDue to a clause in her father’s will, Lily has until Christmas to find a husband. Having yet to find a single man she would ever consider marrying after six failed seasons, she fears all hope is lost… until she meets the mysterious, insufferable, and oh so handsome Captain James Rigby.Natalie’s Christmas RogueLord Benjamin Hawthorne has never met a woman he couldn’t charm…until Natalie Rigby. The sad-eyed beauty wants nothing to do with him, or any man for that matter. But at the Christmas Eve Ball, anything is possible. Even falling in love…Marquess Under the MistletoeEvery single Appleton sister has met her husband at their parent’s annual Christmas ball. Every sister except for Honora, that is. When sparks unexpectedly begin to fly with a devilishly charming marquess, will she be the first in her family to break tradition…or follow in her sister’s footsteps and run towards the nearest mistletoe?The Christmas WidowKnown as “Mad Lady Bea” by the townspeople of Blooming Glen, Lady Beatrice Tumbley has not left her estate since the tragic death of her husband on Christmas Eve. Terrified of the outside world, she lives in complete seclusion, determined never to fall in love again. Until one cold, snowy night, when a handsome stranger comes knocking at her door…The Winter DuchessAs cold winds howl outside the manor, inside of it a duke’s frozen heart is finally starting to melt as he finds himself falling for the one woman he was never supposed to love…his wife. But can she love him in return? Publisher’s Note: These novellas range from sweet to spicy and have been previously published individually. This is the first time they’re being offered in one must-read collection!

    Not all afters end up happily, sometimes the real adventure starts much later... No one understands what it's like when your mother is famous for her beauty and you are, at best, average. Actually I'm wrong. She wasn't famous just for her beauty, but that's how people tell the story, how people have always told the story. That was even her name for a while. No one remembered her real name. She was just the sleeping princess or Sleeping Beauty. Even all these years later, when the royals appear in the paper, my father, the king barely gets a mention and I'm only a footnote in my own life, destined to always be Sleeping Beauty's daughter. My name's Princess Azia Rose of Draconis and here is my story... Following famous fairytale characters, eighteen years after their happily ever after, the Kingdom of Fairytales offers an edge of the seat thrill ride in an all new and sensational way to read. Lighting-fast reads you won’t be able to put down Fantasy has never been so epic! Scroll up now and start this incredible journey into the after ever afters.

    We’re considered valuable as breeders until we reach our mid-thirties, at which time we’re deemed no longer useful.Good thing for me I’m forty, never had any children and I’m a widow. So, I can basically live my life as I see fit.Until my husband’s younger brother, Cullen, decides to make me his wife… one of seven.Cullen has a mean streak a mile wide and he’s always been obsessed with me—ever since we were young. Now that his older brother is out of the way, he recognizes his chance to finally possess me.Only I’m the type of woman who won’t accept my fate so easily. No, I’m a fighter by nature so when it’s decreed that I should marry Cullen, I do the only thing I can do.I escape. To the land.Once I reach the shore, I’m facing a whole new and terrifyingly unfamiliar world. Luckily I’ve got the Siren’s Song which encourages humans to do whatever I want them to.Except my song doesn’t work on one human male in particular, Sawyer Ray.And Sawyer just happens to be the one man I need, because I’m fairly certain someone has come after me…

    FIFTY CONTESTANTS. ONE PRINCE. AN IMPOSSIBLE HEIST. You have been summoned to Sunstone Palace to compete in our search for the future Queen of Cahraman. After years on the run, Adelaide thinks her lonely and dangerous life as a thief is finally over. But her world is upended when a witch steals her away to a faraway kingdom, to perform an impossible heist. If Adelaide fails, her newfound family would be sacrificed to a beast. To complete her mission, she’s forced to assume the role of a noblewoman and enter a royal competition. The prize is the hand of the elusive Crown Prince. Elimination means certain death. As the witch’s literal deadline approaches, Adelaide has one last gamble to save the day, and to escape to a new life with Cyrus, the handsome and mysterious fellow thief who stole her heart. But everything falls apart when the prince finally reveals himself… Fairytales of Folkshore is a series of interconnected fairytale retellings that starts with the Cahraman Trilogy. Ada’s story continues in PRINCE OF CAHRAMAN.