The Princess Blog

Ties of Starlight  by Celeste Baxendell  is the first ARC I've had the pleasure of reading from the upcoming Tethered Hearts series . This multi-author series features romantasy plots about couples who are brought together through magical bonds. I am fortunate enough to be on the street team for these riveting stories by many of my favorite authors. The first book will be released on March 7th, and the one I am reviewing here will come out the following week on March 14th. This book follows Celeste Baxendell's typical writing style  of couples who face terrible obstacles that test their love until they realize how much they need each other to be happy. Although I haven't read the other Tethered Hearts books yet, this will probably be one of the darker ones in the series. It is the first book that Celeste has written about elves, which she plans to expand into other books that take place in this new fantasy setting. Idonea is a half-elf who was chosen to become part o...

When the multi-author collaboration was announced for the newly launched Once Upon a Prince series , the last prince I was expecting anyone to focus on was the cowardly Prince John from the Robin Hood legend. Yet, Celeste Baxendell has taken another twist on the enemies-to-lovers trope and turned it into a touching romance . This book is the most original I've read so far in the series, taking whatever liberties were necessary with the original lore to make it work for this new take. The ARC I was provided of  The Wicked Prince  presents a gender-swapped Robin Hood, the beautiful cousin of Maid Marian who is propositioned into marrying Prince John so she can stop running from the law and pardon her merry men. The result is an unconventional love story that follows the recent trend of falling in love after marriage . In this upside-down Robin Hood retelling, Robin is a noble lady who lost her family and possessions in a fire and became an outlaw when the kingdom's taxes...

I was very excited to receive an ARC of the second book in the Runes of Pain and Peace  series by Celeste Baxendell . The Prince's Mage  is the sequel to The Prince's Captive  and the highly anticipated conclusion to Marcella and Gavril's tantalizing love story. The first book had me on the edge of my seat from all the juicy romance and suspense but left me with a feeling of discomfort due to the awful situations that Marcella ends up in because of the feud between her clan and Gavril's. This book resolves those issues so they can have a chance to live in peace. Gavril and Marcella are star-crossed lovers like Romeo and Juliet. The more passionate their feelings are toward each other, the more people seem to get hurt along the way. The Prince's Mage  provides a thrilling conclusion to their love story demonstrating how true love can overcome seemingly impossible odds. When we left Marcella at the end of The Prince's Captive , her worst fear became realized. In ...

When I first received the ARC for The Prince's Captive  by Celeste Baxendell, I thought that it was her entry for the upcoming Once Upon a Prince series . However, I quickly realized that it is the first book from her newest fantasy series, Runes of Pain and Peace. Her gender-bent fairy tale retelling, The Wicked Prince , is yet to come. The Prince's Captive  is quite a bit longer and more intense than a light-hearted fairy tale retelling. It tells an original fantasy story for young adult readers that gives off Romeo and Juliet  vibes in a world with mages who cast spells using runes similar to my own fantasy trilogy . Though it was a riveting book, the circumstances behind the romance were so troubling that it felt like a guilty pleasure. The female lead was a prisoner like Belle from "Beauty and the Beast,"  Yet that story is rather tame compared to the level of torment that Marcella suffers in this book. Marcella's appearance is both a blessing and a curse. Sh...

I received an ARC for Thorns of Gold  from Celeste Baxendell pretty quickly after the disappointing cliffhanger ending from  Dreams of Roses . After reading it, it became clearer why this story needed two books. While Dreams of Roses  was about Rosalia, the "Sleeping Beauty" character from the Bewitching Fairy Tales series , this book was the conclusion of Aerona's story from Celeste's "Beauty and the Beast" retelling, Beasts of Beauty . Though it is promoted as the conclusion of the Bewitching Fairy Tales series as a whole, I was pleased to find that it ended with a teaser for a continuation called Enchanting Fairy Tales that begins with an adaptation of my favorite fairy tale of all time . It may not be the end of a storytelling era, but it does provide a satisfying conclusion to Dreams of Roses . Many books from fairy tale adaptation series can be read as standalones. Thorns of Gold  is not one of them. At the very least, readers of this book must read ...

Celeste Baxendell  has been on a role with her Bewitching Fairy Tales series. Her "Cinderella" retelling from last year  remains my favorite "Cinderella" adaptation of all time. Now, she is tackling "Sleeping Beauty" with her latest book, Dreams of Roses . This book stands out from the others in this series as the first one that does not tell a complete story. It ends on a cliffhanger that is teased to conclude in her next book, Thorns of Gold . I find it frustrating when authors do this, and this book was no exception. It felt like it took a very long time for anything to happen, and as soon as something finally did, it ended abruptly. Still, the book offers some unique twists on the classic "Sleeping Beauty" fairy tale. Dreams of Roses  applies the "lost princess" trope  to "Sleeping Beauty." Ro had a pretty good life. She was engaged to a prince and was about to become empress of a great nation. The only problem was the cu...

The latest ARC I received from Celeste Baxendell  is Of Chivalry and Revenge , a perspective swap on the classic King Arthur tales in which Morgana, who is typically portrayed as a villain, gets her happy ending. This book is different from anything else I've read by Celeste Baxendell. Usually, her stories are long and complex, introducing characters and worlds that take a lot of time and effort to keep track of. That formula worked well in Cinders of Glass , which is currently my favorite "Cinderella" retelling. Here, everything is stripped down to brass tacks, using only the original Arthurian lore with no new magic systems or settings to keep track of. With its shorter length and simpler plot, this book would have fit perfectly with the multi-author Villain's Ever After series  to the point where I wouldn't be surprised if it was initially intended for that. Most of my Arthurian knowledge comes from vague high school memories, the BBC's Merlin series , and...

Few authors are able to pump out lengthy fantasy novels with fantastic character and world-building as quickly as Celeste Baxendell . The latest book in her Bewitching Fairy Tales series is Sands of Deceit , an adaptation of "King Thrushbeard" and "Bluebeard," two lesser-known fairy tales that rarely get adaptations. I was pleased that this story was a direct tie-in to my favorite of her books, Cinders of Glass . Instead of a sweet, naive, and reckless protagonist like Liora, this book is about the "mean girl" who bullied her, Lady Gisele, who is equally relatable in entirely different ways. Gisele is cold, calculating, and worldly with an unexpected vulnerability at her core. I thoroughly enjoyed reading her redemption arc, especially since it reminded me of one of my own books, The Stolen Slipper . Lady Gisele has just about given up on her chances of succeeding in life. She comes from a ruined family, and to top it all off, the prince she was seeking...

Cinders of Glass  was one of the best fairy tale adaptations I have ever read, so it was difficult to follow up with a book that was just as romantic, compelling, and magical. Songs of Stone  by Celeste Baxendell  has all of those things to an extent, but it does not live up to the high pedestal that its predecessor set for it. This is the fifth book in the Bewitching Fairy Tales series  and is inspired by two somewhat lesser known stories, "The Pied Piper" and "The Sandman."  The book has a rough-and-tumble protagonist similar to the one in Beasts of Beauty , the third book in this series, and is a far cry from the gentle Liora in Cinders of Glass . It is jam-packed with so many references to previous books that many chapters were cumbersome to get through even though I've already read the rest of the series. Piper is a tragic young lady who lost most of her family and turned to a life of crime to save the one relative she has left. She is "gifted" a...

I just finished reading an ARC of Cinders of Glass  by Celeste Baxendell , and all I can say is wow! This book drastically exceeded my expectations. Even though it is an adaptation of "Cinderella" and "The Little Match Girl,"  it was not the least bit predictable and kept me on the edge of my seat wondering what would happen after each chapter. It had one of the most relatable shy princess  protagonists I have ever seen in fiction while thoroughly exploring the pros and cons of being selfless or charming without coming off as cynical . This book is the fourth entry in the Bewitching Fairy Tales series and my favorite by far. Despite being nearly three times as long as the books I usually read in this genre, there was not a single sentence that felt extraneous or expository. I savored every page right up to the last one. At first glance, Liora may seem like your typical "Cinderella" character, devoting herself to serving her stepfamily and letting others ...

Mirrors of Ice  was one of the many promotional sales from National Fairy Tell a Fairy Tale Day . I decided to check it out since I had already read the first and third books in this series. Celeste Baxdendell  is not the kind of author you should turn to if you are looking for a quick fairy tale fix. Her Bewitching Fairy Tales series  is long, detailed, and often quite dark. However, if you have some time on your hands and are looking to be fully immersed in a fleshed-out fantasy world packed with references to multiple fairy tales, this is a good series to check out. Mirrors of Ice  is the second entry in this series and works just as well as a standalone book as it does an expansion to the world that was built in the other books. It is a combination of "The Snow Queen" and "Snow White"  and cleverly addresses elements of both fairy tales that I rarely see in other adaptations, which secures its place as my favorite book in the Bewitching Fairy Tales s...

I had no idea what I was in for when I agreed to read an ARC of Beasts of Beauty  by Celeste Baxendell , the third book in the Bewitching Fairy Tales series. This book really packs a punch! I had read the first book in this series, Stalks of Gold , but I don't remember it being quite as heartwrenching as this one. It is not a light read. If you attempt to climb this mountain of a book, you must be prepared to have your heart ripped out and squeezed into pieces. However, the story is amazing and well worth it if you are in the right mood. It is a gender-bent retelling of "Beauty and the Beast" and "Little Red Riding Hood" and tells both in an innovative way. I loved and hated it at the same time for the way it manipulated my emotions. In this gender-bent retelling of  "Beauty and the Beast"  and  "Little Red Riding Hood,"  Chasen takes on the roles of both Beauty and Red Riding Hood. When his sister tells him about a ferocious beast living i...

I was fortunate to receive an ARC of the first book in the upcoming Bewitching Fairy Tales series by Celeste Baxendell . Set for release on January 28th,  Stalks of Gold  is a retelling of "Rumpelstiltskin" and "Rapunzel"  that I enjoyed quite a bit more than the last "Rumpelstiltskin" adaptation I reviewed. The love story in Stalks of Gold  is not shallow like many other fairy tale adaptations, and the protagonist's obstinance toward love is understandable. It sets up a flawed love triangle that gives the reader a chance to piece together how it might end up without being too heavy-handed. The first installment in this fairy tale series does a good job of balancing the two fairy tales without having  a split personality  by giving each of the two love interest a different role in both stories. Stalks of Gold  wastes no time in setting up the premise. Aurelia, a miller's daughter, is captured by palace guards and forced to spin straw into gold, s...