Once Upon a Time Series

• Belle: A Retelling of "Beauty and the Beast" by Cameron Dokey - Belle (Annabelle Evangeline Delaurier) is the youngest of three daughters; her sisters are named Celestial Heavens (Celeste) and April Dawn. Belle often feels as though she cannot quite live up to the expectations of her name the way that her sisters have been able to, and takes solace in non-feminine pursuits, like wood carving. When the family fortune turns south, they pack up and move to a small country cottage on the other side of "the Wood." According to stories, a unique tree, the Heartwood Tree, is at the heart of the Wood, waiting for someone with the skill to carve its wood and reveal the face of true love. When Belle's father meets a fierce Beast at the heart of the Wood, he realizes that the story may not be all fable - and now Belle will have to use her skills to unlock the secrets before time runs out.
  
  
  
• The Crimson Thread: A Retelling of "Rumpelstiltskin" by Suzanne Weyn - Bridget O'Malley and her family have just moved to New York in 1880 to escape the famine in Ireland and find a better life. But it turns out that life is just as difficult in New York, forcing them to change their names and take whatever they can get to remain afloat. Bridget (now Bertie) gets a job as a seamstress working for a textile tycoon thanks to her father's over-inflated description of her skills. When an ordering glitch threatens the entire company, Bertie recklessly claims that she can salvage it - and she manages to do it with the help of Ray Stalls, a mysterious neighbor who spins straw into the cloth to make it look as though it is spun from gold. As a joke, Bertie offers her firstborn child to him, since she has no other payment, but then it looks as though he might have taken her at her word...
  
  
  
• The Storyteller's Daughter by Cameron Dokey - In this retelling of The Arabian Nights, two brothers (both kings) are betrayed by those they love, leaving them bitter and searching for vengeance. When one of the kings threatens to kill the young women one-by-one unless someone agrees to marry him, everyone is relieved when Shahrazad chooses to risk her own life and wed the king. Now she has a plan to save herself, the other women of the kingdom, and the king himself but other plots threaten to ruin her hard work. Now she will need to use all of her storytelling skills, and her wisdom to save the kingdom which she has come to love as much as the king.
  
  

Generally, I'm a fan of retellings. The books in this series are always quick reads that give a new and interesting voice to the fairy tales. Belle is similar to some other retellings of Beauty and the Beast, but gives a different twist to the story, even as often as it's been re-written. The Crimson Thread gives a realistic, real-world interpretation of Rumpelstiltskin similar to other historic stories told about this time period. The Storyteller's Daughter takes the story of Shahrazad and adds a touch of magic and romance. Overall, I would recommend The Crimson Thread to fans of historic fantasy, and any of these books to fantasy fans looking for something quick or who love reading old tales retold in new ways.


Other titles in the Once Upon a Time series include:

• Beauty Sleep; Before Midnight; Golden; Sunlight and Shandow; Wild Orchid; and Winter's Child by Cameron Dokey


• The Rose Bride by Nancy Holder


• Snow by Tracy Lynn


• Midnight Pearls and Violet Eyes by Debbie Viguié


• The Diamond Secret; The Night Dance; and Water Song by Suzanne Weyn

• If this book sounds interesting, consider these: The Two Princesses of Bamarre, Cecelia and Kate, The Prophecy, or Once Upon a Marigold