Elise Logan

Let me be quite honest. I am not really a steampunk fan, but I thought to give this book a try. Besides how much can you change the old favorites? Well, let me tell you ... a lot! This was a grittier steam punk version of all the most well known and loved fairy tales. I was fascinated. These were fairy tales on steroids.

The best part of it all, so many in one place. I am always attracted to box sets, it's the best place to look for authors that you haven't read before. And what do you know? I've found some new ones that I'm going to be reading from now on.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book… (more)

I love fairy tales since I was a little girl. Love them. I could read them every day if I could. Once Upon a Fairy tale: A Collection of 11 Fairy Tale Inspired Romances has them all. Even the classics that I love: Cinderella, Snow White and Beauty and the Beast. But there were some that I was unfamiliar with.

The one that I didn't know the most was, "The Warlord and the Nightingale". It is about a man named Hanzo, a Karakuri (clockwork figure) maker, who is challenged to make a Karakuri worthy of the mighty Lord Mizunaga. I have never heard of this fairy tale and now I know why. I felt the story was short, plain and felt like it was missing something. I got bored right away and was basically skimming through the whole story. The story seemed rushed to me. Perhaps maybe if it was a little longer, it would have been better.

The other fairy tale I didn't know was Loving a Fairy Godmother by Danielle Monsch. This is about a knight who becomes a fairy godmother. This story has the elements I love: a hero who's yearned for the heroine for a long time, the characters call each other on their shit, and the people are lacking contrived motivations. This I liked the most out of all the fairy tales in this book. It was unique and well built.

A Happily Ever After of Her Own by Nadia Lee seemed the most far fetched yet unique. This was the Beauty and the Beast retelling. Basically this was about a girl who can teleport through reading fairy tales and disrupt time continuum, making a evil queen seeing this and takes her evil plan into action. However on how silly this may seem, it was actually a fun unique kind of read.

All the authors did a great job. They are all short length novellas and would recommend to any age (no sexual content).… (more)