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

The Awakening by Kelley Armstrong

In this sequel to The Summoning, Chloe finds herself locked up by the Edison Group with several others of her housemates from Lyle House (a group home for "troubled" teens). Chloe (a necromancer who can summon ghosts) is finding out new things about herself and the Group's experiments every day, but unfortunately, she doesn't have many options. When she and Tori (a witch) manage to escape and meet up with some other friends (Simon, a sorcerer, and Derek, a werewolf), they realized that their adventures - and problems - have just begun.


I actually enjoyed this book a lot more than the first one. Once the story picked up, it was much more engaging and there was more character development than the first book really addressed. Honestly, I would suggest skipping The Summoning (you only miss a few minor details) or making sure that you have both of them so that you can go straight on to the second. I would recommend this series to fantasy fans who enjoy books that take place in the real world and are less about "magic" and more about the supernatural elements.

• If this book sounds interesting, consider these: Wicked Lovely, Swoon, Gifted: Out of Sight, Out of Mind, or Dragonhaven

How to Ditch Your Fairy by Justine Larbalestier

In New Avalon, everyone has tiny, invisible fairies. Charlie's friend, Rochelle has a shopping fairy (one of the more useful sorts) and their hated enemy, Fiorenze has an all-the-boys-like-you fairy. Either of these would be better than Charlie's parking fairy. Since she is only fourteen and can't drive, Charlie's fairy is only good for turning her into everyone's favorite passenger and she's tired of it. But Charlie has a Plan to get rid of her fairy and get a better one. Unfortunately, things aren't going so well and it might require some unexpected allies (and dangerous situations) to get rid of the parking fairy for good.


This book was amusing and somewhat unpredictable. It took a few chapters for me to get used to the slang (which seems to be a mix of American and Australian words, and possibly some that are only used in the world of New Avalon), but once I got oriented, the story was very easy to follow. Even though this story isn't set in the "real world" it would appeal to readers who enjoy books like Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging since it has that same kind of tone and story. Generally, I would recommend this to fantasy fans looking for something a little bit fluffy with a "chick lit" feel.

• If this book sounds interesting, consider these: Gifted: Out of Sight, Out of Mind, Beastly, or Magic Can Be Murder

Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore

Nimira is a "trouser girl" who works as a singer in a music hall for little money and even less respect. When Hollin Parry, a mysterious sorcerer, offers her a position singing to accompany a piano-playing automaton, Nimira decides to take a chance for better luck. When Nimira gets to Parry's country estate, however, nothing is quite what it seems. Parry attempts to build a tentative romance with Nimira even though he has never gotten over the death of his wife - who may not actually be dead, after all. The automaton is rumored to be "haunted" and Nimira begins to suspect that there may be some truth to the gossip. Meanwhile, all of the rumors are part of larger political problems and Nimira wonders if she'll be able to find happiness after all.


This story was interesting and engaging although it did feel rather familiar. The main plot is almost identical to Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, retold in a fantasy world, although it does take a completely different direction somewhere around the middle. Nimira's character is fairly well developed and it's easy to sympathize with her, even though some of the other characters did not seem quite as deep. I was definitely curious to see what direction the story would take at the end of the book, and there did seem to be a definite set up for a sequel, though nothing has been said about one yet that I know of. I would recommend this to fantasy fans looking for something quick and slightly less fluffy, particularly if you want a story about romance.

• If this book sounds interesting, consider these: Cecilia and Kate, Bewitching Season, A Posse of Princesses, or Reserved for the Cat

Morganville Vampires Series by Rachel Caine

Claire Danvers really wanted to go to MIT, but since she's only sixteen, her parents have decided that it would be better for her to go to a small, local college instead. Unfortunately, Texas Prairie University in Morganville, Texas leaves a lot to be desired. A bad experience in the dorms leads Claire to look at off-campus housing, ending up with roommates Michael, Eve, and Shane. But that's when things get even more complicated: Morganville is run by vampires. Claire isn't willing to stand idly by, which means that soon she is in the thick of vampire-human relationship issues, dragging her new friends along with her.

The current books in the series are: Glass Houses, The Dead Girls' Dance, Midnight Alley, Feast of Fools, Lord of Misrule, Carpe Corpus, and Fade Out. (The first two books were also published in a single volume titled The Morganville Vampires.)


These books were fast-paced and highly addicted. They're slightly more fluffy than some vampire books, but less fluffy than I expected. The main characters are well-developed and the plot is not entirely predictable. One of the things that I like best about these books is that the characters and dialogue feel very realistic. I would definitely recommend this series to older teens who are looking for books about vampires or something set in the real world full of life-or-death fantasy situations.


**Note: Book 8, Kiss of Death, is supposed to be released April 27, 2010; Book 9, Ghost Town is set to come out in November.

• If this book sounds interesting, consider these: Wicked Lovely, Fablehaven, or Tantalize