Think a retelling of A Christmas Carol, but in a different world with vampires. And set during Solstice. Another not bad, not great.

Deadline by Jennifer Blackstream is book 1 in the Blood Trials Series. I personally thought it was a great start for a series and cannot wait for book 2. This series has a lot of great potential to be one of my new favorite series. I really liked the main character Shade Renard. I love how she does not always have all the answers, and that all though she is a strong person she is not a strong witch. I love how she learns as she goes. All of the characters in the book were written very well, even the villains. This books was one of those I had a very hard time putting down.

 

In the book Shade is a village witch, kind of like a healer so to speak as well as taking care of problems in her village. Along with her Familiar a Pixie named Peasblossom they take on the village problems. But Shade also has a dream of being a PI.

 

An FBI Contact asks her to consult on a case of a possible haunting which includes a missing woman. Shade jumps at the chance. Then Crime Lord Anton Winters, AKA the Prince Kirill of Dacia, and also a Vampire shows up at Shades door to hire her to help find a his stolen black book, she gets her first real case, and can hopefully prove herself as a PI.

 

Dealing with stronger Otherworld creatures she will have to first survive the case, before she can solve it.

 

I was given my copy of this book by the Author and Enchantress Design and Promo as part of a book tour. My thoughts on this book are my own.

Fills in Full Moon square

 

For some of you, this will be utter catnip (or book nip): a retelling of fairy tales (slightly more on the Grimm side of things than the Disney version) with paranormal twists. For this book, it is a retelling of Cinderella with werewolves. (FYI, there was an excerpt from book two at the end of the book and it is a retelling of Snow White with vampires).

 

Loupe (our Cinderella) was the abused step-daughter whose job was to skin, treat, and package up the wolf skins for her step-family. She was bitten by a cursed werewolf during a work day. Prince Etienne (the hero) is a natural werewolf who was "blessed" (although the blessing was a curse) by a witch after he saved her from thieves. He is losing his inner wolf and needs to be re-bitten/mated with either a natural or a cursed werewolf before the end of the next full moon. Loupe and Etienne are the damn cutest couple, especially when they are playing with wolf pups and discussing political beliefs (such as how much violence should a ruler use to protect his/her kingdom). Etienne really sees Loupe as a partner in his ruling of the kingdom in the future. Etienne's parents, the current king and queen of the kingdom, (also natural werewolves) were great too, especially with helping their son in breaking the curse.

 

The prologue set up the premise of the entire series, and didn't make much sense in how this book fell into that premise. It did help explaining the relationships between the different blood princes so when Prince Kirill (hero of book 2) shows up to talk with Etienne, you know who he is and how well (or not) they got along.

 

There was just a little too much weakness in Loupe when it came to her step-family. It wasn't until the prince and the kingdom were in peril that she found/connected with her inner wolf. And then she really only went after the one step-sister. Etienne used his brains and diplomacy to get rid of the other step-sister, so Loupe didn't stand up to her at all. There was a finality in the last battle that I did like, so the step-family was not going to randomly show up in later books.

 

Overall a solid start to the series. 3.5 stars. I'll continue with the series in the future.

This is a book with several different stories (total of 11) in it that covers a lot of the Fairy Tale stories with a different spin on them. This book totals about 855 pages long and well worth the money. This book can be used for when you want a short / quick read because that what the 11 books in this one book is. Which I really liked. I sometimes would like to have a quick read that I know will be enjoyable but I don't have to enlist endless amount of time reading. Once done with one story I can put the book down if I choose and save the next story for the next day or another time..like in the doctors office and such.
I am really glad to have this book and hope that you will enjoy it too!

In mood to let you hair down? It is only Tuesday and I want to climb out the window!

 

Enjoy these Rapunzel Themed Romance Novels! 

 

My lists are never in any particular order.

 

1. Zelle and the Tower by Rrebekah R. Ganiere

 

Sweet and naïve Rapunzelle possesses a dangerous and powerful magick. Her entire life has been spent in a mage tower built by her father, to keep her safe. Or so she's been told. Flint Gwyn has spent the better part of the last year wandering Fairelle, wanting nothing more than to wash away the pain of letting his family down. Between drinking and womanizing he plummets in to despair, with only Dax the werebear to keep him from getting himself killed. When Flint and Dax stumble into Zelle's tower while running from a dragon, she finds herself drawn to him in a way that awakens startling memories she cannot place. And the longer he stays, the closer she comes to losing her heart. Unable to control his feelings for the lonely maiden who brings him peace for the first time in his life, Flint fights to release her from her prison. But in doing so, he may very well bring down the wrath of an evil that's plagued Fairelle for a hundred years.

 

2. Tarnished Knight by Shiloh Walker

 

ne look at Jack Wallace and Perci knows he’s going to be trouble. Even surrounded by soul stealers, he’s a one-man wrecking crew. What does he need Grimm training for? He’s already hell on earth, a warrior bent on destruction. And something…more. 

He’s too strong and fast to be a mere mortal. Even covered in blood, he makes her forget she’s only here to do a job and get out. It’s twisted. Sick. She hasn’t felt this alive in three centuries.

 

Born with a natural talent for killing unnatural things, Jack has always known things he shouldn’t. The fact that Perci is one of them glows all over her. Giving him an unholy urge to see just how far he can push her before don’t touch me melts into touch me there.

When they come together, it isn’t careful or cautious. It’s heaven and hell, exposing all their raw and wounded places to healing heat, resurrecting memories of a destined love from the distant past. But the evil that destroyed them once before has tracked them here, threatening their second and last chance at forever. Demanding a sacrifice no one—Grimm or human—should ever be asked to make…

 

3. Rapunzel in New York by Nikki Logan

 

Galloping up a crumbling tower block, he crashed into the chamber where she was imprisoned! The Maiden gasped and said – that she was perfectly happy, thank you very much, and certainly didn’t need saving, especially by a smug, designer-suited billionaire, and why had he just kicked in her front door?

It’s sometimes hard for a modern damsel in distress to admit she needs rescuing – but at least this heroine plans to rescue her hero right back!

 

4. The Chocolate Kiss by Laura Florand

 

The Heart of Paris

Welcome to La Maison des Sorcieres. Where the window display is an enchanted forest of sweets, a collection of conical hats delights the eye and the habitués nibble chocolate witches from fanciful mismatched china. While in their tiny blue kitchen, Magalie Chaudron and her two aunts stir wishes into bubbling pots of heavenly chocolat chaud.

But no amount of wishing will rid them of interloper Philippe Lyonais, who has the gall to open one of his world famous pastry shops right down the street. Philippe's creations seem to hold a magic of their own, drawing crowds of beautiful women to their little isle amidst the Seine, and tempting even Magalie to venture out of her ivory tower and take a chance, a taste. . .a kiss. 

 

Parisian princesses, chocolate witches, pâtissier princes and sweet wishes--an enchanting tale of amour et chocolat.

 

5. Golden Stair by Jennifer Blackstream

 

A devil-may-care incubus with a ravenous appetite . . . 

Adonis is a demon prince determined to bury his desire for love in the pleasures of the flesh. Bound by a vow to maintain his physical form, Adonis requires a great deal of energy just to live, energy he can only absorb through the carnal arts…more energy than any one woman could ever provide. Adonis knows he could never offer a woman the fidelity she would deserve as his wife, and so carries on with his wild ways, his cryptic smile hidden behind a puff of smoke. No woman can reach beyond the heat of his embrace to touch his heart. Not even the golden-haired maid whose lonely eyes keep wooing him back to her side. 

A damsel in distress with the power to destroy him . . . 

Ivy has lived in a tower, locked away from the rest of the world, for her entire life. Her mother, a witch who leads the resistance against the bloodthirsty kings of the five kingdoms, is her only company. Ivy knows that her battle-weary mother relies on the golden power flowing through her veins for the energy to continue the good fight, but she can’t completely smother the selfish yearning to see the world beyond the safety of their hidden valley…especially when her wildest fantasy almost literally falls into her lap. Despite their best intentions, they’re drawn together like phoenixes to flame—and if they’re not careful, they’ll both burn. 

An incubus can only deny his nature for so long . . . 

Long golden hair. A tower with no stairs. A witch with serious possession issues. Debilitating blindness. None of these are enough to keep a demon from climbing…the Golden Stair. 

 

6. Cress by Marissa Meyer

 

Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, now with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they're plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and prevent her army from invading Earth.

 

Their best hope lies with Cress, a girl trapped on a satellite since childhood who's only ever had her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker. Unfortunately, she's being forced to work for Queen Levana, and she's just received orders to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice. 

 

When a daring rescue of Cress goes awry, the group is splintered. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a higher price than she'd ever expected. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to Emperor Kai, especially the cyborg mechanic. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has.

 

7. Rapunzel by Selena Kitt

 

Rachel runs Rapunzel’s, a high-end salon on the lower level of a downtown Chicago high rise and lives happily in self-imposed exile in an apartment at the top of the tower—that is until Jake Malden walks in with his teen daughter, Emma, and presents Rachel with a dilemma. 

Young Emma is determined to defy her mother’s wishes and get her long, beautiful, untouched hair cut off so she can donate it to charity to honor a friend with cancer. 

Rachel’s decision to cut the girl’s hair starts a snowball of drama, turmoil and hidden secrets rolling downhill on a course with destiny that no one is able to stop, one that ultimately threatens not only Rachel’s livelihood, but her slowly melting heart as well. 

 

8. Braided Silk by Ella Drake

 

Rapunzel was made with technologically advanced hair. As a trained Mother agent, Zel can't escape the DNA that makes her a pawn in corporate espionage. Kidnapped and held in a tower on Gothel Island, she falls to the sexual allure of her captor’s son, Langley, a man whose every tantalizing touch makes her forget she wasn’t born human. 

Langley Gothel protests the existence of creations such as Zel, but when faced with losing her, he sees the truth: Life is precious, whether born, modified, or shaped in a Petri dish. He does the one thing he's thought he'd never do. He has to give up Zel, or become a mod. But will that be enough to get them down from the floating islands and safely to ground?

 

9. The Crystal Heart by Sophie Masson

 

 girl in a tower. An underground kingdom. A crystal heart split in two, symbolising true love lost . . . 

When Kasper joins the elite guard watching over a dangerous prisoner in a tower, he believes he is protecting his country from a powerful witch.  

Until one day he discovers the prisoner is a beautiful princess - Izolda of Night- who is condemned by a prophecy to die on her eighteenth birthday. Kasper decides to help her escape. But their hiding place won't remain secret forever. 

Will they find their happily ever after?

 

10. Golden by Cameron Dokey

 

efore Rapunzel's birth, her mother made a dangerous deal with the sorceress Melisande: If she could not love newborn Rapunzel just as she appeared, she would surrender the child to Melisande. When Rapunzel was born completely bald and without hope of ever growing hair, her horrified mother sent her away with the sorceress to an uncertain future. 

After sixteen years of raising Rapunzel as her own child, Melisande reveals that she has another daughter, Rue, who was cursed by a wizard years ago and needs Rapunzel's help. Rue and Rapunzel have precisely "two nights and the day that falls between" to break the enchantment. But bitterness and envy come between the girls, and if they fail to work together, Rue will remain cursed...forever.

 

Vote on my Goodreads list so the best retelling win: Rapunzel Themed Romance Novels .