Glamour
Contemporary Fairytale Retellings by Skye Warren, AL Jackson, Sophie Jordan, Aleatha Romig, Lili St. Germain, Nora Flite, Sierra Simone and Nicola Rendell
Publication Date: July 18, 2017
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iBooks
Once upon a time… Remember the fairy tales your parents read to you when you were little? These are NOT those fairy tales. From modern day royalty to metaphorical dragons, contemporary castles to sexy heroes, these bestselling authors twist tales as old as time into something new. GLAMOUR contains eight exclusive never-before-seen novellas that each have an HEA… because they all lived happily ever after.
Every single reader who one-clicks the new book for the low limited-time release price ALSO gets 6 FREE bonus books from the bestselling all-star author lineup. These are SIX five-star full-length books that the authors are giving away exclusively here to show their immense gratitude for your support.
GET YOUR BONUS BOOKS ➤ https://goo.gl/forms/F7ve5ycwvRaH6srr1
Read on for my review….
Glamour is a collection of eight modern, sexy fairy tale retellings. This book is chock full of sexytimes and kink, and it is not for the faint of heart! Whatever you’re into, you’re likely to find it here.
Anthologies are hard for me to rate – I think I’ve found a compromise at four stars – and even harder for me to review. Read on for eight mini reviews of these eight novellas.
Music Box Girl: A Twelve Dancing Princesses Story by Sierra Simone
In Music Box Girl, an overprotective father hires a private investigator to find out where his nineteen-year-old daughter and eleven of her ballerina friends sneak off to every night. (Suffice it to say it’s nowhere a father would like to think of his daughter going.)
I don’t read a lot of orgies. In fact, I don’t even read a lot of threesomes. I’m more of a one-on-one person, but this was better than I expected. A little over-the-top, for sure, but in a very, very hot way. It’s not my kind of relationship, but more power to Cal and Tamsin for making this arrangement work.
Bedtime Story: A Sleeping Beauty Story by Skye Warren
In Bedtime Story, Jessica and her son are on the run from Jessica’s abusive partner. Trying to escape town without running into any crooked cops, they stumble upon Sheriff Finn, who immediately feels a need to protect them.
Immediately I felt for Jessica, who only wanted to keep her kid safe. She was in a terrible position, and I was so happy for her when she found Finn. I’m sure that they’d be good together, but wow, they moved quickly. I wasn’t surprised to learn that this was part of a larger work since I definitely felt like I was missing something.
Ripples: A Prince and the Pauper Story by Aleatha Romig
In Ripples, Natalie is kidnapped by the wealthy and powerful Dexter, who has fantasized about her for years. She comes to love and desire Dexter and only hopes that her family can accept their unconventional relationship.
I was so excited to read Ripples because it’s been getting amazing reviews on Goodreads, but
- I definitely felt like I was missing something,
- I don’t find Stockholm Syndrome romantic,
- and I’m glad that Natalie found some enjoyment in her terrible situation, but what did I just read?
I guess this just wasn’t my kind of story.
Royal Mattress: A Princess and the Pea Story by Nicola Rendell
In Royal Mattress, Lisa finds herself stranded in a blizzard and is saved by the kind and attentive Dave. Nearly dead from hypothermia, Dave nurses Lisa back to health while his sassy grandma cracks jokes in the background.
This was my first experience with Nicola Rendell, and it will not be my last. This was my favorite story of the book. It’s the perfect combination of sweet, sexy, and funny. I liked both Lisa and Dave and loved that Rendell poked fun at east coast meteorologists, who often blow storms out of proportion:
And yes, of course, I knew there was a storm, but I also knew that the weathermen in the Northeast sometimes got a little… excited about storms, which then fizzled out with all the glory of a soggy taco collapsing on a plate.
In a Stranger’s Bed: A Goldilocks Story by Sophie Jordan
In this Goldilocks retelling, an American tourist finds herself stranded in middle-of-nowhere Scotland after her tour bus leaves without her. Stumbling upon a cute cottage in the middle of nowhere, she knocks and knocks, but nobody answers. Stepping inside, she finds warm clothes, delicious food, and a comfy bed. She might have expected some anger or confusion when the owner returned, but she never expected this drop dead gorgeous man.
I’d never read anything by Sophie Jordan before, but I’ll need to fix that soon. This was a good, solid, sexy story that left me fanning myself. It’s a little too heavy on the sex in the middle, but I genuinely felt the connection between Thea and Niall and I never doubted their relationship.
Broken Harp: A Jack and the Beanstalk Retelling by Nora Flite
In Broken Harp, Jack is a young man whose life was changed for the worse by the villainous Mister Big. Harper is Mister Big’s stepdaughter, and he’s blackmailing her into working as a stripper at his club. Jack swears revenge on this villain and his family, but what happens when he finds out that Harper once saved his life?
I was, honestly, kind of indifferent to this story. I didn’t feel any connection to either of the characters and thought that the whole retelling thing felt pretty forced. Trying to imagine a necklace made of kidney bean-shaped emeralds was kind of hard. Still, the plot was twisty and I rooted for Mister Big’s demise.
Red Hot Pursuit: A Little Red Riding Hood Story by A.L. Jackson
In Red Hot Pursuit, lawyer Lillith Redd takes on businessman Broderick Wolfe as he attempts to bulldoze a beloved landmark in favor of a swanky hotel. Their heated exchanges often turn sexual, leaving both of them wondering what exactly they’re fighting for. What will win – their desire or their responsibilities?
Objectively, this was well-written, well-paced, and just hot enough. Subjectively, I just don’t think I was in the right mood for it. I enjoyed it, but in the right mood, I would have loved it. This is definitely a case of “it’s not you, it’s me,” so I’m not going to let my mood affect my rating.
Knot: A Rapunzel Story by Lili St. Germain
Seraphina has been kept in a tower for eighteen years by a man who masquerades as her father – except when he’s abusing her. Xavier is a surgeon who remains on call for criminals, turning a blind eye to the less desirable elements of his job. When Xavier gets a call about a young woman with probable appendicitis, he can’t ignore the evidence of her mistreatment.
It’s no secret that I’m not a big fan of dark romances. I like the fluffy stuff. The friends-to-lovers. The romcoms. The roommates who realize they’re in love. Stuff like drugs, rape, and murder? Keep that as far away from me as possible.
This story falls firmly into the dark romance genre, and it is absolutely not something that I would have picked on my own. I was immensely uncomfortable through the first half, but the second half more or less made up for it. I didn’t 100% buy the HEA, but this is setting up a full-length work, so it only makes sense that it would leave some things open-ended.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
In the end, I enjoyed this collection of short stories and added two new authors to my must-read list. If you’re looking for something quick to read to take your mind off your daily life, you could do far worse than Glamour.
Recommended for any fan of erotica, or anybody who is looking into the genre but isn’t quite sure what floats their boat.
I received a free ARC of Glamour from Indie Sage PR in exchange for my participation in this blog tour.
#mmdreading: a book about a topic or subject you already love (fairy tale retellings)
The Bibliophagist 