Apples Dipped in Gold (Fairy Tale Retelling #2)

You do not get to determine your worth to me.

Available at Amazon.com

Apples Dipped in Gold
Scarlet St. Clair
Fairy Tale Retelling, book two
audiobook, ~6 hours
ebook, 240 pages
Published October 29, 2024
ASIN B0CT4RB99N
ISBN 9781464216886


He was her curse―and her only salvation.

Samara has spent years enduring cruelty at the hands of her brothers, surviving on nothing but hope and the fierce belief that she deserves more. When a royal engagement promises her freedom, her fate changes in a single night when she is intercepted by Lore, the enigmatic Prince of Nightshade.

Feared for his poisonous touch and shrouded in secrets, Lore is haunted by seven years of longing for Samara, the one mortal who makes him vulnerable.

Thrust together by fate and old wounds, their slow-burning desire threatens to unravel everything in a kingdom where magic is a weapon and trust can mean ruin.

Apples Dipped in Gold is a dark fairytale retelling and enemies-to-lovers romance, weaving a gothic Cinderella story with intoxicating tension, forbidden passion, and immersive world-building. Scarlett St. Clair delivers a tale of heartbreak, healing, and love against all odds. Step into the shadows and discover a romance that will haunt you long after the last page.

My, oh my, what did I stumble upon here.

A fairy tale retelling of... Cinderella meets Snow White with a blend of other tales from Brothers Grimm? I couldn't exactly say, but it's so good I didn't care to further analyze it, and the author does explain the sources of her inspiration at the end of the book.

Samara is an orphan left to the abuse of her three brothers who keep her "protected" so long as she toils away with the cooking and the cleaning. Until the day comes when she's had enough and climbs to the cliffs with a mind to throw herself off.

Enter a handsome prince. One whom is on a quest to find his brother who has entered the forests in search of a golden apple in order to win his lover's hand in marriage. So handsome prince (Henry) becomes quite taken by Samara and her verbally combative beautiful self and offers to take her away and show her a life of kindness and care with hope that one day she would agree to become his wife. He pays her brothers a dowry (after trying to bargain her for a ring, rose, and a lark) and off they go.

Only for thieves to attack their carriage and plant an arrow straight into the handsome prince's eye socket.

And yet, oh yes, she's saved once more. On this occasion by a fox and a fae. A fae prince to be exact. A fae prince named Lore.

It's a story of whimsy and twirls as we go this way, then that way. A talking fox. Singing flowers. A besotted prince. A goblin king. Dryads. Pixies. Ballroom dances. A magic mirror. A terrible witch. And brothers galore.

This fantastical tale of love-this right here-is what makes me kick my feet. In the middle of the book, in the middle of my happy place, where I can't wait to turn the next page but equally can't bear to have it end. ::sigh::

“Would I have been such a terrible choice?”

Oof, my heart. But the way he pines for her.

I had tried to think of anything else. I’d gone to the very edge of the world and sat with the sun, moon, and stars and still thought of nothing but her. She was unmatched—brighter than the sun, more beautiful than the moon, sweeter than the stars. I loved her more than anything in this terrible world, and I hated it.

The banter hit a sweet spot. Banter with each other. With Fox. With Cardic. Brotherly love expressed with harsh tongues and physical blows just does it for me. Although the nun thing was quite odd. 5 out of 5 stars. Immediately ordered a hardcopy for the shelves.

Available in ebook | paperback | audiobook

Also in the series:

2026/18

A Court of Blood and Bindings (Fae Isles #1)

Give me the danger. Give me the shame.

Available at Amazon.com

A Court of Blood and Bindings
Lisette Marshall
Fae Isles, book one
audiobook, ~14 hours
ebook, 436 pages
Published June 22, 2022
ASIN B09YKCCGKW


They call him the Silent Death, because he kills without sound and leaves none capable of speaking in his wake…

When the empire’s deadliest fae murderer catches her wielding forbidden magic, twenty-year-old Emelin believes her hour has come. Instead, her inhumanly beautiful captor spares her life, but carries her off on his velvet wings – into the one place from which no human ever returns.

The heart of the Fae Isles. The treacherous Crimson Court, where the Mother of faekind has ruled unchallenged over fae and humans for decades.

The Silent Death is supposed to be the Mother’s loyal servant, her invincible warrior, her ruthless, soulless killer. But in the shadows he is playing a game of his own, and he needs Emelin’s magic to win it.

If she agrees to work with him, she could free all of humanity. But can she trust a fae male with so much blood on his hands? Worse, when his smouldering dark eyes and dangerous secrets reveal glimpses of the heart behind his murderer’s mask… can she trust herself?

Court of Blood and Bindings is the first book of the Fae Isles series, an enemies to lovers fantasy romance featuring a strong-willed heroine and a broody, morally grey hero. This adult fae romance is perfect for readers of Sarah J. Maas, Jennifer L. Armentrout and Raven Kennedy.

Note: Court of Blood and Bindings contains a generous dose of smouldering glances, angry yearning, and midnight meetings of the illicit type, as well as other mature themes.

The spice in this book... Chef's kiss.

Creon, deemed the Silent Death by allies and enemies alike, was bred and beaten to be his Mother's most feared enforcer. It is a reputation he has earned and prides himself in—

Until he found another way to exist.

But his powers were bound to secure his loyalty. And his voice was stripped from him as a result.

For over a century Creon has continued to fulfill the Mother's demands of him with kill after kill and slaughter after slaughter, ever seeking a solution that could put an end to her long reign.

Then he finds her, an unbound half-fae hidden amongst the humans.

And so the story of Creon and Emelin begins.

Loved it! Love Creon, as I knew I would when first he was introduced in the prequel. Expected to revisit a certain scene from that book. Alas, it never came. I forget the timeline.

Emelin was wonderful. A bit gullible but it never did come around to bite her. With Creon being mute, she carried the story. Even his written words are given her own processing and interpretation and damn it all if I have to read all four books for him to recover his voice. If he ever does at all.

The magic system relies on colors that can be pulled from unnatural objects. Red for destruction. Blue for healing. So on and so forth.

5 out of 5 stars. Cliffhanger ending.

Available in ebook | hardcover | paperback | audiobook

Previously in the series:

2026/17

Rites of the Starling (Shield of Sparrows #2)

A thousand times a day.

Available at Amazon.com

Rites of the Starling
Devney Perry
Shield of Sparrows, book two
Hardcover, 500 pages
Published April 7, 2026
ISBN 9781682816752


Calandra’s five kingdoms are on the verge of destruction. The crux migration is coming. And in the wake of a devastating attack, I’ve been separated from the man who owns my heart.

I’m lost. Terrified. Homesick. Hunted by monsters, driven to exhaustion, and kidnapped by a powerful priest, the only thing keeping me going is the little girl counting on me to keep her safe. It’s my turn to become the Guardian.

Our lives change one fateful night. A night of death. A night of monsters. A night of truths. That night, I learn the real meaning of fear—and the depth of my own strength.

Everyone wants me to be something I’m not—a queen, a spy, a sacrifice. But what if I embrace my crown? What if the secrets I uncover save our realm?

What if my sacrifice means salvation for the man I love?

For too long, I’ve feared the monsters we make.

It’s time to discover the monster within.

The long-awaited sequel to my first five-star read of 2025.

And yet...

If 'This could have been an email' was a book.



Caspia. A Starling. A new character with visions of her sister's murder by a silver-eyed male.

Murdered by the Guardian.

By Ransom. Who is currently searching for his wife.

Odessa, the Sparrow.

I could see it barely thirty pages in... I was going to need a chart.

At thirty percent in, I was bored. I was so, so bored.

Then, finally, at forty-five percent... the return of Ransom!

Thank the stars, the Eight, the Divine, the Shades even. Because I despised Andreas. He is so dull. So nice and so dull. One of those characters that will do anything you ask and believe anything you say. I think he'll wind up being my most loathed character of 2026.

::Spoilers imminent::

I was so rage-inducing bored with that side story. And even when things started to click about how they fit into the plot, what with Caspia having visions and likely being in the past and therefore would potentially be Odessa's mother... leaving Andreas to potentially be her father...

I had been curious why we never learned the Golden King's name while reading the first book.

Then he had disdain for the golden castle which was a feeling Odessa attributed to her father.

And he lit up when he saw Odessa's red hair only to immediately shut down...

Yeah, thankful when the signs clicked into place because I needed *something* to make them tolerable.

I loved Ransom. May he never be left out of the story for so long ever again.

But in the end, I would attest that this is a highly skippable sequel. Very little progress is made. While the first book revealed the origins of Lyssa, this.. urgh... this revealed the origins of the monsters that may not even be monsters if not for magic. Corrupted magic? Basically, power dependent religious fanatics are to blame. And there's a long forgotten land that holds Odessa's ancestors.

Again, all of it could have been an email. A few chapters stretched and stretched and stretched again to fill a five hundred page sequel.

Oof.

3 out of 5 stars.

Available in ebook | hardcover | audiobook

Previously in the series:

2026/16

Veil of Web and Ruin

Gods be kind to me.

Available from the Author

Veil of Web and Ruin
Aria Ashbrook
The Hirathean Path, prequel
ebook, 99 pages
Published January 1, 2025
Free Read


Before Rose enters the tournament that will change her fate, she’s fighting a different kind of battle – one she can’t afford to lose.

Cast into the slums after Prince Kyor’s lie shattered her family, Rose is barely surviving. With her parents gone and her younger sister facing a future as bleak as the frostbitten alleyways around them, Rose will do anything to protect what little she has left.

So when a ruthless underworld queen offers Kay a respectable job in exchange for a single favour, Rose takes the deal. The task? Steal a deadly plant from the Goddess’s own temple garden – a theft punishable by death.

The heist forces her into the heart of Wrohelm’s sacred rings, where priestesses tread softly, wolves sniff out lies, and the Goddess of Life watches from every shadow.

And when the night twists into bloodshed, Rose discovers that even the smallest choice can stain her hands forever.

𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒓𝒊𝒑𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒍 𝒏𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒂 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑹𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒍 – 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒉𝒆’𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑻𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒊𝒇𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑷𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒌 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅𝒔, 𝒍𝒐𝒚𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆.

This novella is available only to those subscribers on Aria’s email newsletter!

This prequel was done right! It has everything one might expect to get a fine taste of the series. The protagonist. The villains. The despair. The bloodshed. The grit. The spice. The world as a whole is introduced in these mere ninety-nine pages, and it absolutely will have you greedy for more.

What it doesn't have is the MMC.

What it has too much of? Ruben.

4 out of 5 stars.

Available in ebook

Also in the series:

2026/15