Once Upon a Time…

Once upon a time, there was a king. He was a cruel king, of handsome face yet harsh of hand, with a taste for conquest and lack of mercy, who exerted his power with the ease of one who dismisses everyone else’s comfort.

Yet he was king, and for that, he was afforded power.

Noblemen feared him, but supported his conquering efforts as means of seeing their own riches grow; his army feared him as well, for lack of discipline was punished with death, but were loyal to his war campaigns and the glory of battle; the common people feared him too, and all they had was their fear, for they died of cold and hunger, and suffered in their flesh the excesses of the king’s desires.

The king loved food, wine and blood, but nothing fired up his soul more than women, the youngest and prettiest doomed to fall prey to his wild appetites. It was well known among the villagers that daughter or wife could be claimed at any moment and made to be companion in the king’s bed. Fathers hid their beautiful daughters away, chastised their wives if they dared let their hair loose or uncover their skin past their face and hands. And in fear women lived, too, for beauty was cause for punishment, and vanity the most terrible sin.

There came a day when two beautiful sisters were born. Twins they were, and handsome as the sun. Together they grew happy, unawares under the jolly roof of their mother and father, farmers who had a hard life but who always had bread to put on their table, and hot broth to pass the hard colds of winter. The family was loved by all at their village, and none more so than the two beautiful little girls, whose laughter brought joy to the most difficult of days.

Lily Rose and Marigold were their names, and indeed they looked like flowers. So beautiful and alike they were, and such taste they had for walking in the forest, that the rumors soon said that they had a touch of the fae. They did, for the faeries of old favored them, and often appeared to them as the girls strolled amongst the woods. The fae sang their song of old and played at placing light kisses on the girls’ cheeks and hands.

The girls grew, and so did their beauty. Many warned their father to be wary of such gift and, most of all, of the envious hearts that would wish them ill. Lily Rose and Marigold’s parents had never known hate, however, and they couldn’t understand why someone would ever envy them or wish to hurt them. They were good people, after all, happy to lend a hand where it was needed and to offer a roof and warm soup to those who had none during the winter. They provoked envy, though, for they had a blissful and charmed life. And so it was that some people of ugly hearts and ugly minds started up the rumors that they knew would soon reach the king’s ears.

The king heard of Lily Rose and Marigold during a time of peace, in which entertainment was but hunting and drinking wine. The king was bored without a battle to fight and with no woman to bed, so that claims of such beauty brought fire back to his chest. He took off that same afternoon, and he galloped through forests and dusty paths, past rivers and high mountains, and mounted on his favored steed, he arrived at a small village at the edge of his kingdom, where the beautiful girls dwelled in naïve comfort. Among screams they were torn from their home and their parents’ loving embrace, and among cries they were taken to the royal palace, where they would become favored pets and enslaved companions.

The years passed, and despite the king’s cruelty and abuse, Lily Rose and Marigold remained beautiful, exotic caged birds that the king admired and hurt with placid ease. The king took a wife, yet Lily Rose and Marigold remained his favorites, trapped in a tower, behind a set of heavy doors and guarded by his most loyal men, with only a window for a means of seeing the world. Marigold withered as the days ticked by and the winters passed, and in her sadness, she was made more delicate, a porcelain doll ready to be broken. Of the two, it was her the king favored, for Lily Rose had grown angry with the years, and the king had learnt to fear the fire burning behind her eyes.

Lily Rose watched over her sister’s spirit as best as she could, yet she didn’t cry alongside her. She spent her days praying for the faeries of old, who had once upon a time kissed her cheeks and played with her hair as she walked through their fae woods. She prayed not for release but for revenge, and swore that she would pay whatever price the faeries asked for if only her wishes were met.

There came the day when Marigold perished, her grief growing like a root around her heart and condemning her to die young and beautiful. Lily Rose looked upon her sister’s body, driven silent by pain, and longed for the days when they were children, and when Marigold’s pale cheeks were rosy and filled with life. She cursed the king then, promised retribution fit for his crime, clawed at his face and claimed his blood with her nails. Tired of her, more fearful than he was doting, the king pushed Lily Rose away from his palace and his life, nothing but her dress turned into rags to carry with her.

Alone and grieving, Lily Rose wandered the lands, and soon found her feet taking her to the woods, where the fae spoke to her in song, and played with her hair, and kissed her fair cheeks and her soft hands. Following their song, Lily Rose found a secret grove where water flowed warm and flowers swam in the surface, and where birds sang amongst thick, green-leaved trees. Lily Rose bathed in the magical waters, and she felt as if she were washing a pain as old as herself. She slept on the soft grass, naked, and felt herself become part of the earth. And as she did, she dreamed of revenge.

The fae whispered in Lily Rose’s ears, and soon she understood that they would help her, if only she paid the right price. The faeries dressed her in flowers and leaves, and she emerged as a nymph from the woods, her beauty crowned by sunrays and cleansed by water. Thus, she seduced the king’s most trusted general, a man of strength, of square chin and bright eyes, with a scar that crossed his cheek and touched the corner of his lip. She dragged him to the woods at the witching hour, and laid claim to his strength, his pride and his gumption under the full moon. Then, she made her offer to the fae, cutting the general’s throat and letting his blood flow into the earth.

A babe was born; a baby girl so beautiful that Lily Rose’s own beauty paled in comparison; a baby girl so beautiful that her beauty would become avenging fury. Her head was crowned by hair the color of burnt copper, and since she was born of blood and rage, she was named Harlow.

Harlow grew up in the forests, wild and free, cared for and loved by her mother and the fairies of old. She ate wild berries and slept under the open skies, and for years, she tasted the freedom that her mother Lily Rose commanded her to cherish and enjoy, for it would not last forever. Harlow’s destiny was fury and revenge, and so her mother told her as the winters passed and Harlow grew. Lily Rose bid her grow up strong and fierce, and as she dressed Harlow’s dark red hair in flowers and bathed her skin in warm waters, she told of her sister Marigold, and of the terrible destiny that had befallen her at the hands of a cruel king. She told of the promise the faeries had made, of Harlow’s wretched father, and of the night Harlow was born under a full blood moon, a promise of punishment to come.

On her sixteenth birthday, Harlow emerged from the woods, dressed in flowers and leaves, as her mother once had. She bid her mother goodbye, and took comfort in the whispers of the fae, which followed her past the edges of the woods, and guided her steps. She arrived at the palace’s doors, and she was welcomed with surprise and fear both, for her beauty was grand yet foreign. Her hair shone like fire as it fell on wide waves down her back, her eyes were bright hazel and otherworldly, and her skin was tan, the color of gold. Upon seeing her, the king fell at her feet and promised to pray at her altar, for surely she must be a goddess.

The king barked orders for clean water and fine fabrics, and so Harlow was spruced up prettily, her flowers and leaves left behind to rot. She allowed it even as she yearned for the freedom of the woods and the warm water of her mother’s secret grove. She closed her eyes and begged for company, and the faeries answered to the call of her blood and found a place to dwell behind the palace’s mirrors, where they could whisper their secrets, which only Harlow would hear.

The king’s wife had died years ago after years of illness, and since the king found himself in need of a new companion, he proudly announced to Harlow that she would have the honor. A fortnight passed while the wedding was prepared, during which Harlow prevailed upon the king’s kindness and ordered him away from her bed until they were man and wife. So taken was he with her beauty and her spell that he complied, and so took to their wedding feast with fiery disposition and anticipation burning his loins.

Night fell, and under the glint of a full moon, the king found Harlow and forcibly claimed that which he had deemed his. Harlow sacrificed her virtue and her beauty to the king’s cruel hands, and as he lay atop her, passion parting his lips, Harlow looked within her for the magic that was in her blood. She brought her hand to the king’s chest, and with fury in her heart and revenge as her end, her fingers crossed nimble flesh and dug themselves inside the king, taking hold of his heart.

“Look at me, cruel king,” she said, staring at the eyes above hers, at the old features of this cruel king that were now contorted in pain. “Look at me and fear me, for I was born to take revenge on your merciless evil, and to rain death upon you.”

Such was the death of the cruel king, and upon his passing, so did Lily Rose die. Harlow felt it in her heart, a pain so gripping that it left her breathless, and that her whispering mirrors could not console.

Harlow thus cried during her ill-fated husband’s wake, not for the king that had died by her hand but for the mother that had left her alone in the world, with a new crown upon her head and nowhere to turn to. And as she cried, she felt a small hand take her own, a grip so strong that it surprised her. Harlow looked at the person by her side, and for the first time, laid eyes upon Snow White.

The king had had a wife, a young princess that had afforded him lands and riches upon marriage, and who had been as much a slave as Lily Rose and Marigold themselves. Sickly from childhood, a little feeble-minded and with a taste for books, she had been thrown into the northern tower of the palace, opposite where Lily Rose and Marigold had been enslaved. In her tower, the princess made queen by mere title, had looked at the cloudy skies of autumn and the clear ones of summer, and had dreamed of a better world. She had found it amongst her books, and with them she had traveled without taking a step outside her tower. She had too forgotten of her husband’s crimes, of the unkind hands he had laid upon her, escaping his merciless character through the pages that told of princesses and heroines, of spell and the power of true love.

Sick as she had been growing up, the queen hadn’t expected to bear children, yet she had discovered herself pregnant during a wintry morning where the sun had shone clear white rays through her window. She had smiled for the first time in years, and had cherished the life growing inside her. A baby girl had been born, of dark hair and pale skin, of lips so red that they had reminded the queen of spring poppies and summer skies. However, as she’d been conceived during bright winter days, the queen had named her Snow White.

Snow White had grown up in her mother’s tower, amongst her books and her fantasies. She too had grown among the kindness of the servants, and running wild around the forests that surrounded the palace. She would often be seen by noblemen running shoeless and careless, long dark hair free from ties and cheeks flushed with joy. She had laughter in her, and because of that the kingdom loved her, for her abandon was cheerful and easy to cherish. Most of her time was spent in the tower, though, where she read to her mother and heard the birds sing, where she weaved her own dreams to those of her mother, and wished for the day that she would escape this palace made of gloom.

The queen took ill upon Snow’s tenth birthday. Forced into bed and unwilling to fight her fate, she consumed herself slowly, her mind leaving her body before life did so that she spoke of lands she had never visited, and of adventures she’d never lived. Snow took to her caring with faithful hands, and even as the queen blabbered in confusion, Snow read to her, and perched herself by their single window so she could speak of the days outside, the singing birds and the winds of winter. The queen died amongst fluffy pillows, her mind far away and her hand cradled inside her loving daughter’s.

Snow grew moody after her mother’s death, and found that stories could no longer take her away from her sad existence. Ignored by her father and neglected of care, she took to wandering the woods for days, and to spending her days surrounded by critters and birds. Sharp tongues condemned her for a lunatic, and it was said that she spoke to the animals and the wind, that she had a touch of magic. She was more loved than she was hated, though, for the queen had been sweet and undemanding, and Snow was as well.

Years passed, and at fourteen, Snow saw the king take a new wife. Snow watched the new queen during the wedding feast, her copper hair and her hazel eyes, her skin of gold and her fairy beauty, and she wondered if there was spell in her, and whether she was a creature of another world. Upon the king’s death, however, and during his wake, Snow looked at the new queen once more, and saw the traces of grief etched into her eyes, and saw that she was young, and lonely, and scared. Her spell was no less powerful for it, yet it was human and not otherworldly, and it softened Snow’s heart. Snow took the new queen’s hand, and when the queen looked down at her, she smiled.

“I am Snow White, Your Majesty,” she said. “If you so wish, we shall become friends.”

The queen blinked once, twice, as if surprised. Then, she smiled, and her smile was spellbinding as she said, “Let us wait and see, Princess Snow.”

Princess and queen both grew up together, and as they did, they grew apart. Fate thrust them in different directions, and as Snow grew kinder and loved by the kingdom, Harlow grew cruel and feared by her peers.

Harlow spoke to her mirrors, and soon she was called a witch. She was seen walking into the forest, dressed in flowers and leaves, and the people spoke of evil spell and dark magic, of forces beyond their control. Harlow turned an angry heart to those who spoke ill of her, for darkness had taken root in her chest and she had no wish to fight it. She had been born of avenging desire, and now that her revenge had been exacted, she lacked direction and will both, and had only pain of old to hold onto. Thus, she took to potions and bewitchment, and looked for advice inside her whispering mirrors.

Nonetheless, she was queen, and now that the kingdom lacked its king, the noblemen turned to her for official business. Harlow took the offered power and made use of it with caution, knowing nothing of the world beyond her mother’s secret grove. Advised by counselors and making use of books for knowledge, Harlow found a new world to love within the confines of her royal title. She became head of her army with gusto, head of her household with dutiful commitment, head of her council with aplomb, and head of her kingdom with agile intellect.

However so, her mirrors whispered and so did her kingdom, and both spoke of fear and ruin. Harlow’s hand was decisive and true in her rule, and even when she fought hunger and cold, when she offered education and work, when she gave fair advice and just authority, she was deemed a witch, and thus unfit to rule. Stricken by grief and growing hard of heart, Harlow listened to her mirrors and found that they spoke truths that she didn’t wish to hear – for so long as Snow White lived, the people would claim her as their true queen, and they would deny Harlow her rightful place.

Harlow’s mirrors claimed Snow’s blood, yet Harlow wavered. The princess was so kind, after all, and was so enthralled by Harlow, too. She sought her even now, when Harlow’s temperament had turned harsh and unforgiving, when an aura of dangerous magic clung to her very being and scared even the most valiant of men away. Snow betrayed no fear, and in her naïve admiration, she stopped Harlow’s hand from becoming deathly.

Years passed, and upon Snow’s eighteenth birthday, a riot begun at the heart of the kingdom. The people claimed Snow as their true ruler, and they dismissed Harlow as witch and priestess of death. They called her the Evil Queen, and upon receiving such title, everyone forgot that she had ever had any other name.

Harlow took the name as if it were a gift and dressed herself in its power of legend. She became the Evil Queen, and in doing so, she left mercy behind. She listened to her mirrors, heard them speak of what was to be done, and made a harsh decision. The princess must die for the Evil Queen to reign free of burden, and so the royal hunter was ordered to take the princess to the forest and to do away with her life. Her blood would flow into the earth, and become sacrifice to the faeries of old.

Snow had remained kind, and so it was that she called upon the hunter’s mercy and escaped her deathly fate. Relentless, the Evil Queen used her magic to dress herself as an old hag, and poisoned the princess to sleep forever, a red apple her condemnation, and her naiveté to blame for her fall. It would not be the end of her story, for she was found by a handsome prince and soon awoken from the terrible spell, and made wife and princess again, by virtue of marriage.

Death was deemed the fair punishment for the Evil Queen; yet she was still queen, and head of her army, head of her household, head of her council and head of her kingdom. The queen’s generals and noblemen were loyal to her, and so a war started. A war of magic and blood, a war fought between the most beautiful women in the world, a war of terrible destiny and grim resolution. And it was thus, upon a rainy battlefield after years of war that a deal was struck. A deal between a princess and an Evil Queen, that would perhaps deny fate its claim for blood.

Now available on Amazon…

The Princess and the Evil Queen

A lesbian erotic romance retelling of the classic fairy tale Snow White

AND…

Win a personalised Reader’s Gift Box – AWARDED

We are celebrating!

The Princess and the Evil Queen has FINALLY come out, and to great success. The response to this wonderful project of mine has been incredible, and I’m feeling in a gifting mood.

Enter to win!

reader's gift box, mug, bookmark, wooden bookmark, coaster

A “Drink Good Tea and Read Good Books” wooden bookmark personalised with your name.

A “Drink Good Tea and Read Good Books” classic mug personalised with your name.

A wooden coaster personalised with your name, and a quote from The Princess and the Evil Queen

To enter, answer this question:

Which classic fairytale would you love to see retold as lesbian fiction?

Sound off in the comments, and get a chance at winning this cool prize!

Winner will be announced April 30th!

18 Lesbian Romance Books for Fairytale Lovers

Who doesn’t love a princess? Or a knight? Or a witch? Fairytales have survived thus far as part of our collective cultural conscience, which is why updating them is so much fun (both for readers and writers!). The magic lands of old are populated by all sorts of female archetypes and female issues, so it’s no wonder that they’re ripe soil for a little female on female love.

Take a look at these recommendations, and enjoy!

Ash

In the wake of her father’s death, Ash is left at the mercy of her cruel stepmother. Consumed with grief, her only joy comes by the light of the dying hearth fire, rereading the fairy tales her mother once told her. In her dreams, someday the fairies will steal her away. When she meets the dark and dangerous fairy Sidhean, she believes that her wish may be granted.

The day that Ash meets Kaisa, the King’s Huntress, her heart begins to change. Instead of chasing fairies, Ash learns to hunt with Kaisa. Their friendship, as delicate as a new bloom, reawakens Ash’s capacity for love–and her desire to live. But Sidhean has already claimed Ash for his own, and she must make a choice between fairy tale dreams and true love.

Read full review here!

Beneath The Loch: A Novella: A Dark Lesbian Romance

As a child, Mairi made a deal with a young fae – a kiss in exchange for gills.

Now, betrothed to a man she hardly knows, Mairi is desperate to escape her fate. When she finds that same fae at the river’s edge, she’s offered a proposal that makes her skin grow cold . . . and her blood run hot.

Romance meets horror in this lesbian fairytale. Do you dare dive . . . Beneath the Loch?

Caged Bird Rising: A Grim Tale of Women, Wolves, and other Beasts

“Women don’t ask questions. Let alone clever ones.”

Robyn lives in a world where proper girls are raised by men. She, who grew up with only her grandmother, has to go out of her way to meet the requirements of being a fertile wife. It’s the greatest honor Robyn could have dreamed of that Hunter Wolfmounter, the handsome and brave Captain of their village’s guardsmen, wants her of all women to become his wife.

Cinderella

Cinderella is the first book in the Lesbian Fairy Tales Series, and a tale of romance between two women.

Check out the rest of the series here!

Cinder-Ella

Ella is transgender. She’s known since she was young; being a woman just fit better. She was happier in skirts than trousers, but that was before her stepmother moved in. Eleanor can’t stand her, and after Ella’s father passes she’s forced to revert to Cole, a lump of a son. She cooks, she cleans, and she tolerates being called the wrong name for the sake of a roof over her head. Where else can she go?

An opportunity to attend the royal ball transforms Ella’s life. For the first time, strangers see a woman when she walks down the stairs. While Princess Lizabetta invited Cole to the ball, she doesn’t blink an eye when Cinderella is the one who shows. The princess is elegant, bold, and everything Ella never knew she wanted. For a moment she glimpses a world that can accept her, and she holds on tight.

Girls Made of Snow and Glass

Entwining the stories of both Lynet and Mina in the past and present, Girls Made of Snow and Glass traces the relationship of two young women doomed to be rivals from the start. Only one can win all, while the other must lose everything―unless both can find a way to reshape themselves and their story.

Read full review here!

Gretel

Once in a while love gives us a fairy tale…

Tormented by a pack of bloodthirsty wolves, Hans and his sister Gretel, run for their lives.

Desperation leads them into the comforting arms of a beautiful woman who asks for nothing in return for her kindness. While Gretel finds herself drawn to the seductress, Hans grows suspicious of her motives. Torn between a brother she adores and a woman she can’t help but admire, Gretel is forced to make a choice.

Will sibling bonds override the lure of a newfound love?

Kissing the Witch: Old Tales in New Skins

Thirteen tales are unspun from the deeply familiar, and woven anew into a collection of fairy tales that wind back through time. Acclaimed Irish author Emma Donoghue reveals heroines young and old in unexpected alliances–sometimes treacherous, sometimes erotic, but always courageous. Told with luminous voices that shimmer with sensuality and truth, these age-old characters shed their antiquated cloaks to travel a seductive new landscape, radiantly transformed.Cinderella forsakes the handsome prince and runs off with the fairy godmother; Beauty discovers the Beast behind the mask is not so very different from the face she sees in the mirror; Snow White is awakened from slumber by the bittersweet fruit of an unnamed desire.

Like A Queen: Lesbian Erotic Fairy Tales

Five lesbian fairy tales that feature classic stories like “Cinderella” and “The Princess and the Pea” with a queer twist. What are the erotic possibilities of the enchanted princesses and forbidding queens that we learned about as children? Discover the love story between Gretel and the Witch and the intoxicating tale of Cinderella’s seductively severe stepmother. It wasn’t a pea in her mattress that kept the Princess up all night, and the story didn’t end when the Prince found Snow White in the woods. Instead of competing for princes or beauty, the women in these stories are made more powerful by their desire for each other.

Roses and Thorns: Beauty and the Beast Retold

A greedy father. A beautiful daughter. A faceless noble. With a word, Aloysius bargains away Angelique’s future for a hefty bride-price, and no one, not even Angelique’s beloved mother can save her. Angelique is taken to a strange and marvelous estate where she is befriended by Culdun, her Liege’s fey companion. And though Culdun hints at darker forces, Angelique is drawn to her host and ever so slowly, she wins Drew’s trust. But old fears and an older curse resurface, threatening to drive them apart and banish Drew into an eternity of loneliness. Will Angelique’s growing love be strong enough to save her Liege? Or will she flee once the secret is revealed?

Seeing Red: A Contemporary Red Riding Hood Lesbian Romance

Hunter has spent the last two years running in place.

Trying to get ahead of the bills.
Trying to provide for her sister, Piper, and her nephews.
Trying to finish her nursing education.
Trying to keep Piper out of her criminal husband’s claws.

Then along comes a beautiful girl in a red cap. Her grandmother is sick, she needs Hunter’s nursing help, and the pay is great. It’s just what they need and soon Hunter is able to catch her breath. Stop running in place. Start to feel something that she hasn’t had time for in years.

Sleeping Beauty, Indeed & Other Lesbian Fairytales

Fairy tales have long intrigued readers. They’re the first stories we remember, and they resonate within us as adults. In Sleeping Beauty, Indeed, editor JoSelle Vanderhooft offers us a new take on an ancient theme: fairy tales from a lesbian perspective. From Cinderella to Sleeping Beauty, from original myths by talented authors to classics retold with a deft hand, these tales are by turn erotic and sensuous, loving and wicked. Take a bite of the magic apple and make this anthology your bedtime story tonight.

So Fey: Queer Fairy Fiction

The legends of Fairyland tell that one should never taste the food or sip the drink, or else risk being caught there forever. But the tempting morsels in So Fey are irresistible! Lambda Award-nominated editor Steve Berman brings together acclaimed fantasy writers with some of the brightest names in speculative and LGBT fiction to create tales that are moving and magical. These stories of romance and grief, adolescence and identity, struggle and hope will enchant readers who long for a fantastic escape—and a wonderful twist! One sample of this bewitching treat is sure to trap you in its pages!

From the pains of loss in Holly Black’s “The Coat of Stars” to dealing with issues of identity in Richard Bowes’s “The Wand’s Boy” to Melissa Scott’s look at the dangers of love in “Mister Seeley,” So Fey: Queer Fairy Fiction takes you into worlds that are at once amazing and familiar. With tales that tear and tug at the heart but never cease to enchant, this exciting and unique collection will long last in the minds of readers.

The Beast that Never Was

What if Beauty was the Beast?

Lise’s father is dead, and the life of plenty and freedom that she has known as the daughter of the King’s Huntsman is gone. She must now live a life of duty to her mother and sisters, helping them to cope in their altered circumstances. But where her mother would have her wed a childhood friend to secure their future, Lise knows that is not what she longs for.

When she meets a mysterious woman in the forest, Lise feels the stirrings of emotions she cannot give voice to, but with this woman, she doesn’t have to say anything—Senna knows.

The Raven & The Reindeer

When Gerta’s friend Kay is stolen away by the mysterious Snow Queen, it’s up to Gerta to find him. Her journey will take her through a dangerous land of snow and witchcraft, accompanied only by a bandit and a talking raven. Can she win her friend’s release, or will following her heart take her to unexpected places?

The Second Sister

ELEANOR OF SANDLEFORD’S entire world is shaken when her father marries the mysterious, reclusive Lady Kingsclere to gain her noble title. Ripped away from the only home she has ever known, Ellie is forced to live at Baxstresse Manor with her two new stepsisters, Luciana and Belladonna. Luciana is sadistic, but Belladonna is the woman who truly haunts her. When her father dies and her new stepmother goes suddenly mad, Ellie is cheated out of her inheritance and forced to become a servant. With the help of a shy maid, a friendly cook, a talking cat, and her mysterious second stepsister, Ellie must stop Luciana from using an ancient sorcerer’s chain to bewitch the handsome Prince Brendan and take over the entire kingdom of Seria.

The Spindle and Other Lesbian Fairy Tales

A collection of four short stories and one full-length play about lesbian princesses, woman-princes, goddesses, and fairy godmothers! Magic, mystery, romance… with a radical politic!

Winterglass

The city-state Sirapirat once knew only warmth and monsoon. When the Winter Queen conquered it, she remade the land in her image, turning Sirapirat into a country of snow and unending frost. But an empire is not her only goal. In secret, she seeks the fragments of a mirror whose power will grant her deepest desire.

At her right hand is General Lussadh, who bears a mirror shard in her heart, as loyal to winter as she is plagued by her past as a traitor to her country. Tasked with locating other glass-bearers, she finds one in Nuawa, an insurgent who’s forged herself into a weapon that will strike down the queen.

 

Share your faves in the comments!

Bookish Naughty or Nice List Tag

I’m excited to do this bookish themed Naughty-or-Nice tag created by Jenniely! I wasn’t tagged, because I’m pretty new to the blogosphere, but I’ve had so much fun reading other people’s answers. What do you think I’ll be, then? A goody-two-shows, or a naughty, naughty girl?

Here are the rules for this tag:

  • Tag & link the person who tagged you
  • Tag and link me/this post (if you would be so kind, I love reading your answers!)
  • Mark off the ones on this list you’ve done.
  • Tag more people!

1. Received and ARC (Advance Reader Copy) and not reviewed it  X

Never! I’m a struggling author, and I know how much time and hope goes into writing and particularly into trying to get reviews for an ARC. I try to leave at least an honest review line, if that’s all I can do.

1

2. Have less than 60% rating on Netgalley ✔

I… don’t have one of those. Is that bad? Am I bad blogger now?

3. Rated a book on Goodreads and promised a full review was to come on your blog (but never did one.) X

Nope. Nope.

3

4. Folded down the page of a book 

Yes, all the time, and I’m not a monster! … I can feel the wrath of all book lovers upon me. I swear it’s not a punishable crime.

5. Accidentally spilled on a book X

Nah, I don’t read next to food. I’m clumsy and I love wine. I’m basically a recipe for disaster, so I avoid it before it can happen.

5

6. DNF (did not finish) a book this year ✔

Yep. It used to make me feel terribly guilty, but there are so many books I want to read, that it feels worse to force myself to finish something I’m not enjoying.

7. Bought a book purely because it was pretty with no intention of reading it ✔

You say that like it’s not something everyone does, right? Right?

8. Read while you’re supposed to be doing something else ✔

That’s what book lovers do, I suppose.

9. Skim read a book ✔

Yeah, I’ll usually skim read before I decide to completely put down a book I’m not enjoying.

10. Completely missed your Goodreads goal 

Yeah, pretty much. I read a lot, but time is an issue and I’ve working like a beast this past year. I work as an IT Consultant, I’ve been writing my debut novel (+ some other ideas), and occasionally I do clean my house and stuff. I too have a family and a girlfriend, so yeah.

11. Borrowed a book and not returned it X

No, I’m really good about this. People trust me with their books, so let’s keep that up.

11

12. Broke a book buying ban X

I’ve been good about this one this year, but then again, time issues…

12

13. Started a review, left it for ages, then forgot what the book was about X

I finished everything I started!

13

14. Wrote in a book you were reading ✔

I guess I mark up non-fiction a lot.

15. Finished a book and not added it to your Goodreads ✔

Yeah, it gets hard to keep up!

*drumroll, please*

Verdict: 9/15

So I’m… almost good? That counts, right?

14

I’ll tag

DirtySciFiBuddha

and some other friends on Twitter to participate, but do so even if you’re not tagged, and share!

10 Best YA Lesbian Romance and Fantasy Books

There’s something about young people discovering themselves and falling in love, isn’t there? Add a dash of magic, a few adventures, a whole new world, and you have the best recipe for entertainment!

Ash / Huntress

In the wake of her father’s death, Ash is left at the mercy of her cruel stepmother. Consumed with grief, her only joy comes by the light of the dying hearth fire, rereading the fairy tales her mother once told her. In her dreams, someday the fairies will steal her away. When she meets the dark and dangerous fairy Sidhean, she believes that her wish may be granted.

The day that Ash meets Kaisa, the King’s Huntress, her heart begins to change. Instead of chasing fairies, Ash learns to hunt with Kaisa. Their friendship, as delicate as a new bloom, reawakens Ash’s capacity for love–and her desire to live. But Sidhean has already claimed Ash for his own, and she must make a choice between fairy tale dreams and true love.

Check out full review here!

Nature is out of balance in the human world. The sun hasn’t shone in years, and crops are failing. Worse yet, strange and hostile creatures have begun to appear. The people’s survival hangs in the balance.

To solve the crisis, the oracle stones are cast, and Kaede and Taisin, two seventeen-year-old girls, are picked to go on a dangerous and unheard-of journey to Tanlili, the city of the Fairy Queen. Taisin is a sage, thrumming with magic, and Kaede is of the earth, without a speck of the otherworldly. And yet the two girls’ destinies are drawn together during the mission. As members of their party succumb to unearthly attacks and fairy tricks, the two come to rely on each other and even begin to fall in love. But the Kingdom needs only one huntress to save it, and what it takes could tear Kaede and Taisin apart forever.

Girls Made of Snow and Glass

Entwining the stories of both Lynet and Mina in the past and present, Girls Made of Snow and Glass traces the relationship of two young women doomed to be rivals from the start. Only one can win all, while the other must lose everything—unless both can find a way to reshape themselves and their story.

Check out full review here!

Girls of Paper and Fire

Each year, eight beautiful girls are chosen as Paper Girls to serve the king. It’s the highest honor they could hope for…and the most demeaning. This year, there’s a ninth. And instead of paper, she’s made of fire.

Check out full review here!

Inkmistress

Asra is a demigod with a dangerous gift: the ability to dictate the future by writing with her blood. To keep her power secret, she leads a quiet life as a healer on a remote mountain, content to help the people in her care and spend time with Ina, the mortal girl she loves.

But Asra’s peaceful life is upended when bandits threaten Ina’s village and the king does nothing to help. Desperate to protect her people, Ina begs Asra for assistance in finding her manifest—the animal she’ll be able to change into as her rite of passage to adulthood. Asra uses her blood magic to help Ina, but her spell goes horribly wrong and the bandits destroy the village, killing Ina’s family.

Moribund (Circuit Fae Book 1)

Dark Fae. Romance. Evil Plots. High school. Our heroines could be in for the greatest adventure ever. If only they could decide whether to kill or kiss each other.

Check out the rest of the series!

Noble Falling

Duchess Aleana Melora of Eniva, future queen of Halvaria, is resigned to the gilded cage of her life, facing a loveless marriage to Tallak, the prospective king, and struggling under the pressure to carry on the family name despite her wish to find a woman to love.

When her convoy is attacked on the journey to Tallak’s palace, Aleana is saved by her guard, Ori, only to discover her people have turned against her and joined forces with the kingdom of Dakmor, Halvaria’s greatest enemy. Her only hope is to reach Tallak, but she and Ori don’t make it far before another attack and an unlikely rescue by Kahira, a Dakmoran woman banished from her kingdom for reasons she is hesitant to share.

Of Fire and Stars

An atmospheric and romantic debut fantasy perfect for fans of Ash and The Winner’s Curse.

Betrothed since childhood to the prince of Mynaria, Princess Dennaleia has always known what her future holds. Her marriage will seal the alliance between Mynaria and her homeland, protecting her people from other hostile kingdoms.

But Denna has a secret. She possesses an Affinity for fire—a dangerous gift for the future queen of a land where magic is forbidden.

Ship of Smoke and Steel (The Wells of Sorcery Trilogy Book 1)

Ship of Smoke and Steel is the launch of Django Wexler’s cinematic, action-packed epic fantasy Wells of Sorcery trilogy.

In the lower wards of Kahnzoka, the great port city of the Blessed Empire, eighteen-year-old ward boss Isoka enforces the will of her criminal masters with the power of Melos, the Well of Combat. The money she collects goes to keep her little sister living in comfort, far from the bloody streets they grew up on.

When Isoka’s magic is discovered by the government, she’s arrested and brought to the Emperor’s spymaster, who sends her on an impossible mission: steal Soliton, a legendary ghost ship—a ship from which no one has ever returned. If she fails, her sister’s life is forfeit.

Unicorn Tracks

When a vicious assault compels sixteen-year-old Mnemba to leave her village, she joins her cousin Tumelo as a tracker in his booming safari business. It doesn’t take her long to become one of the best safari guides in Nazwimbe. Her work allows her to escape into a new world of wondrous creatures, and to avoid thinking about what happened at home.

When Mr. Harving arrives with his daughter Kara to research unicorns, Tumelo assigns Mnemba to them as a guide. The attraction between Mnemba and Kara is almost instant, but Kara is engaged to be married when she returns home. Venturing into the savanna alone, they uncover a plot by a gang of poachers to enslave the unicorns, harnessing their supernatural strength to build a railway. They must save the creatures Kara loves while struggling not to succumb to forbidden love themselves.

 

What awesome reads did I miss? Sound off in the comments!

18 Awesome Lesbian (and Bisexual) Witches You’ve Probably Never Heard About

Sometimes they’re evil, and sometimes they’re not. Sometimes, they just like a bit of mischief. But all of these women are have a bit of magic, and they want a taste of all that life has to offer. Are you going to miss their adventures?

A Witch’s Mortal Desire 

My name is Sadie, and I’m a nymphomaniac.

Oh yeah… and I’m also a witch…with almost zero magical powers. The only place I fit in is with my two roommates—a vampire Dominatrix stripper and a gay shapeshifter. 
But against my better judgment, a new human in town wants to squeeze into our ménage à many. Of course, part of his charm is that my mother hates him. But before meeting Ryder, I never even considered letting some possessive, alpha-hole man-candy come between me and freedom.

Cursed Mage: Witch School Book One

Jaska was the greatest witch in a generation, greater even than those fools at the Academy, so it was only natural she would turn to the dark arts and try to take over the world.

There was one problem. A pesky chosen one prophesied to bring her dark reign to an end. Most dark overlords would be furious at having a chosen one rattling around out there destined to defeat them, but not Jaska.

No, she decided to have a little fun with prophecy and predestination.

Demon Called (The Demon Queen Book 1)

They call me Uniter of Realms, Bringer of Peace, High Queen.
But I’m just a fake psychic with a bad childhood and a stack of past due bills.

Five realms hang in the balance, three races whose lives depend on magic, and one corrupt king hoarding it all for himself.

My role?
Oh, just fixing it. Easy, right?

Check out the rest of the series!

Freed by Her Spell: A Lesbian Witch Story

Hungary, a very long time ago. Yana is a simple peasant girl. She enjoys working in the fields and running through the forest. When marriage is forced upon her, she turns to the woods, mesmerized by a strange chant, following it into the night.

She stumbles upon a beautiful witch. The witch recognizes that Yana is being brought to her by spiritual powers and offers here a new life and uninhibited bodily pleasures.

Gretel: A Fairytale Retold

Once in a while love gives us a fairy tale…

Tormented by a pack of bloodthirsty wolves, Hans and his sister Gretel, run for their lives.

Desperation leads them into the comforting arms of a beautiful woman who asks for nothing in return for her kindness. While Gretel finds herself drawn to the seductress, Hans grows suspicious of her motives. Torn between a brother she adores and a woman she can’t help but admire, Gretel is forced to make a choice.

Will sibling bonds override the lure of a newfound love?

Midnight’s Blossom (The Queen of Ruin Book 1)

A chance encounter plunges Lily and Rose headlong into a dangerous world of forbidden magic, political intrigue and the ever-looming specter of war and a terrible calamity that threatens all People, human and fey alike.

MIDNIGHT’S BLOSSOM is the first chapter in the exciting tale of Lily, Rose, their friends and allies as they find themselves thrust into danger at the heart of the evil and corruption that threatens the entire world!

Samhain Shadows

If you were lost and lonely, where would you look for love and belonging?

Samhain has come too soon for Brigit. Her mother has recently passed and she is feeling lost and isolated in her new role as the owner of Morrigan’s Promise. She is not the witch her mother was no matter what she sets out to do. To top it off, her mother’s cat is ill, and she hasn’t heard from the dreamy Dr. Oliver all day.

Taking a much needed rest, she finds herself awakened by a murder of crows and a vision that will leave Brigit’s world upended.

Will a blessing from The Morrigan help Brigit find her own power?
Does a visit from the sexy Dr. Julia Oliver hold the belonging she seeks?

Sworn to the Night (The Wisdom’s Grave Trilogy Book 1)

When Marie’s case draws her into Nessa’s path, sparks fly. What comes next is more than a furtive whirlwind affair; it’s the first pebbles of an avalanche. Nessa and Marie are the victims of a curse that has pursued them across countless lifetimes; a doom designed to trap them in a twisted living fairy tale, with their romance fated to end in misery and death.

Check out the rest of the series!

The Avatar’s Flames (Through the Fire Book 1)

Ruethwyn’s life was promising. Talented in magic, the young elven woman didn’t fit in in her hometown, but was scheduled to attend the most renowned academy of magic in the kingdom, and was even building up the courage to confess her love in the hope that it might be returned.

That all ended in a dragon’s fire. Resvarygrath the Gilded, lord of the Golden Dominion, destroyed Ruethwyn’s village, killed her parents and teacher, and stole away the young women of the village.

Check out the rest of the series!

The Book Addict

From award winning author Annette Mori comes the captivating story of Tanya, a young woman whose life is unremarkable without any friends or lovers. Although she has her books and faithful furry companion, Tolstoy, she’s merely existing. Then she meets Elle, the alluring owner of the new bookstore, The Enchanted Page. Elle looks like she stepped out of a Nordic adventure and Tanya is immediately infatuated with the mysterious woman.

The Eldritch Heart

Princess Oona Talomir enjoys the little things that come with her station: a handmaiden, her lavish bedchamber, and scores of fancy dresses―the duty to win a decades’ long war, not so much.

Oh, did I mention assassins?

The Exile and the Sorcerer (Lyremouth Chronicles Book 1)

The quest for the stolen chalice is a sham – her family’s excuse to get rid of Tevi. Exiled in a dangerous and confusing world filled with monsters, bandits, and sorcerers, Tevi battles demons within and without as she searches for her place in the strange new world. Jemeryl has her future planned out – a future that will involve minimal contact with ordinary folk who do not understand sorcerers. Her ambition is to lead a solitary life within the Coven and to devote herself to the study of magic. It is all very straightforward – until she meets Tevi. Two unlikely allies join forces to defeat an insidious evil and on the journey find one another.

Check out the rest of the series!

The Raven and the Witchhunter: The Rise of the Light

Vanessa lives a charmed life as a rising star in a hit new TV series. She has friends and family that love her, as well as the secret perk of being able to turn into a raven and fly away if life gets too stressful.

When her best friend moves away and a mysterious woman enters her life warning of danger, her perfect life takes an unexpected turn.

The Sting of Victory: A Dark Fantasy Lesbian Romance (Fallen Gods Book 1) 

 

When a foreign emperor dies at the hands of a mysterious interloper, one who seeks to collect the greatest sources of power in the realms, Flowridia’s kingdom is charged to stop him. But Flowridia’s devotion is torn between duty to her own and the woman whose claws grip her heart. In the ensuing clash of Gods, Flowridia must choose her loyalties with care – the fates of kingdoms rest in her hands.

The Witch Queen

While the King and his armies are away the kingdom of Caranthrir faces many threats. With a rash of terrifying and bizarre murders in the capital putting strain on Queen Brunhilde and the tenuous peace she is desperately trying to maintain, she also has to contend with a series of horrifying nightmares and an openly contemptuous court. Now may not be the best time to start an illicit romance with her handmaiden, Sophie. Larger forces are afoot, threatening to change not only Caranthrir and its Queen but the entire realm, and Brunhilde must fight to defend her people. With her lover at her side Brunhilde is ready to face all these threats and more.

Wild Magic (The Veil Chronicles Book 1)

It only takes one to upset the balance of magic.

Ania Zaleska lives a perfectly ordinary—albeit floundering—life in Poland’s second-biggest city until the day she explodes. She’s dug from the rubble of her apartment building by shadow mage Noah Otieno, whose job it becomes to get Ania’s wild magic under control.

Noah is affiliated with the Society for Psychical Defense but she has kept herself away from magical politics as much as possible. Now she is in charge of potentially the most powerful magical weapon on either side of the war, she must decide how she can best keep her safe—especially when their magic brings them together in ways only wild magic can.

Check out the rest of the series!

Witch Wolf (Kassandra Lyall Preternatural Investigator Series Book 1)

 

Preternatural Private Investigator and Paranormal Huntress Kassandra Lyall is used to working alone. Whenever there’s a murder or a mystery to solve that involves the preternatural—she’s the witch they call. When she’s called in to help the local cops work on a mysterious murder case, she finds herself needing all the help she can get.

Check out the rest of the series!

Witches, Princesses, and Women at Arms

In this sexy, erotic anthology of twisted fairy tales, the damsels are the ones doing the rescuing! Full of ancient, adapted tales that were changed to include female/female pairings and also some brand new stories of feminine heroics and sexual dominance, this collection of stories will leave readers under a spell of lesbian love!

 

 

And this one’s mine!

A Queen Rises Ebook

Hey, would you like to read the first five chapters of A Queen Rises for free? Sign up here!

 

Did I miss your favorite witch? Sound off in the comments!

 

Subscribe and get first five chapters for free!

Copia de Sin título

A tale full of romance, betrayal, and tragedy, inspired by classic fairy tales. Perfect for fans ofGirls Made of Snow and GlassPrincess of Dorsa, and the cult TV Show Once Upon a Time.

A TERRIBLE BETRAYAL. A TOUCH OF FAIRY MAGIC. A HEART BEATING FOR REVENGE.

Marcela, her mother tells her, doesn’t know how good she has it. Of noble birth, wealthy, and all but guaranteed a life of luxury, Marcela has only to learn how a real lady behaves — but that proves to be more difficult than it sounds. Chastised again and again, Marcela spends whole days locked in the cellar, going without food and shrouded in darkness. There, she dreams of the faraway lands of her father’s stories and wonders about her mother’s grim and mysterious past.

When the queen dies, all the noble families of the kingdom flock to attend a ball thrown to honor the king’s search for a new wife. There, Marcela finds herself seduced by a duchess’s daughter in-law and attracts the devoted attention of Princess Primrose, who Marcela rescues from the dark, fae woods beyond the manor and who now wants Marcela for a mother.

But those woods hide worse things than beasts. The faeries whisper in Marcela’s ears, and as she grows closer to the crown and further from her abusive mother, she discovers power beyond anything she’d ever dreamed of. And power, Marcela soon learns, will always corrupt.

For fans of fantasy epics and fairy tales… with an LGBT twist!

Preorder here!

Book Review: Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan

Each year, eight beautiful girls are chosen as Paper Girls to serve the king. It’s the highest honor they could hope for…and the most demeaning. This year, there’s a ninth. And instead of paper, she’s made of fire.

In this richly developed fantasy, Lei is a member of the Paper caste, the lowest and most persecuted class of people in Ikhara. She lives in a remote village with her father, where the decade-old trauma of watching her mother snatched by royal guards for an unknown fate still haunts her. Now, the guards are back and this time it’s Lei they’re after – the girl with the golden eyes whose rumored beauty has piqued the king’s interest.

Over weeks of training in the opulent but oppresive palace, Lei and eight other girls learns the skills and charm that befit a king’s consort. There, she does the unthinkable – she falls in love. Her forbidden romance becomes enmeshed with an explosive plot that threatens her world’s entire way of life. Lei, still the wide-eyed country girl at heart, must decide how far she’s willing to go for justice and revenge.

First of all, this book comes with a trigger warning for sexual abuse and violence.

Please, don’t let that deter you! Girls of Paper and Fire is definitely the revelation of the year, with an intricate plot that weaves themes of self-love and identity with a beautiful coming of age story built in a well-crafted and very interesting fantasy world.

Girls of Paper and Fire introduces us to Lei, the member of an oppresed caste who is chosen to become a Paper Girl, or the equivalent of a sex slave to the king. Along with her, seven other girls get chosen, a ritual that happens every year and that once upon a time saw Lei’s mother taken away from her. Lei meets Wren, another Paper Girl, which in turn twists the story into a romantic adventure in the search for justice.

The setting of the world is beautiful, weaving elements from Asian mythology with original fantasy imagery. Ngan’s world is evocative, and it becomes an enchanting spell of scents and sights in which to root the story of these young girls.

Thematically, this book is dense, but only in the best of ways. It carves out a society in which women are objectified, and offers a very clear view on rape as a tool for power. The topic is difficult, but it is treated with genuine care and without being unnecessarily graphic. Thus, the book tells a powerful tale of male sexual violence used as a means of exerting domination, rather than as depravation or mere lust.

The girls in this book meet during a traumatic period in their lives, and find strenght in each other and in the reclaiming of their own selves, their minds and their bodies. The focus on recovering from trauma is beautiful, and it makes for character archs that build into three-dimensional stories of great complexity, and great hope.

I recommed Girls of Paper and Fire for fans of fantasy, lesbian romance, and well-crafted young adult novels with great characters.

Buy Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan Lo here.

Find the author

Amazon

Goodreads

Twitter

girlinthelens.com

You can find this book in my list Top 10 Best Fantasy and Romance Novels