All the Fairy Tale Retellings I Have Reviewed

Not only do I write fairy tale retellings, I love to read them!  And I have reviewed quite a few of them over the years.  So here is a list of all the fairy tale retellings I have reviewed, along with what I rated them and what fairy tale(s) they are retelling.

I've grouped books that belong to a series together, and then have the stand-alones or single titles at the end here.

The Austen Fairy Tales series by Kendra E. Ardnek

Rose Petals and Snowflakes (PG) -- Snow White and Rose Red

Crown and Cinder (PG) -- Cinderella

Emmazel (PG) -- Rapunzel

Snowfield Palace (PG) -- The Snow Queen

Thornrose Estate (PG) -- Beauty and the Beast

A Little Persuaded  (G) -- The Little Mermaid

The Christmas Chronicles (multi-author series)

The Midnight Blizzard by Mary Mecham (PG) -- Cinderella

The Silent Night by Sarah Beran (G) -- Sleeping Beauty

The Evraft series by Jenni Sauer

Wait Until Tomorrow (PG) -- The Steadfast Tin Soldier

Rook di Goo (PG-13) -- Cinderella

Yesterday or Long Ago (PG -- Aladdin

A Little Beside You (PG-13) -- Snow White and Rose Red

Kling Klang Gloria (PG-13) -- Sleeping Beauty + King Thrushbeard

Collections/Anthologies

Blind Beauty and Other Tales of Redemption by Meredith Leigh Burton (PG) -- Beauty and the Beast, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and something else I couldn't identify

Cloaked in Red by Vivian Vande Velde (PG) -- Little Red Riding Hood (multiple short story retellings)

Five Enchanted Roses (anthology) by Kaycee Browning, Savannah Jezowski, Jenelle Schmidt, Dorian Tsukioka, Hayden Wand (PG-13) -- Beauty and the Beast

Five Poisoned Apples (anthology) by Skye Hoffert, Jenelle Hovde, Cortney Manning, Maddie Morrow, Rachael Wallen (PG/PG-13) -- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Once (omnibus) by Elisabeth Grace Foley, Rachel Heffington, J. Grace Pennington, Emily Ann Putzke, Suzannah Rowntree, and Hayden Wand (PG-13) -- Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, Rumplestiltskin, The Little Match Girl, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Rapunzel

Stand-alone Novels

Beauty by Robin McKinley (G) -- Beauty and the Beast

Befriending the Beast by Amanda Tero (PG) -- Beauty and the Beast

Corral Nocturne by Elisabeth Grace Foley (G) -- Cinderella

Enchanted by Alethea Kontis (PG-13) -- lots and lots of fairy tales blended together

A Flame Shall Spring from the Embers by Heidi Pekarek (PG) -- Sleeping Beauty

The Goblin and the Dancer by Allison Tebo (PG) -- The Steadfast Tin Soldier

January Snow by Hayden Wand (PG-13) -- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

The Lady and the Lionheart by Joanne Bischof (PG-16) -- Beauty and the Beast

Lost Lake House by Elisabeth Grace Foley (PG) -- Twelve Dancing Princesses

The Merchant's Daughter by Melanie Dickerson (PG-13) -- Beauty and the Beast

The Midnight Show by Sarah Pennington (PG-10) -- Twelve Dancing Princesses

The Reluctant Godfather by Allison Tebo (G) -- Cinderella

Snow White by Matt Phelan (PG) -- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

With Blossoms Gold by Hayden Wand (PG-13) -- Rapunzel

This list is another contribution to my We Love Fairy Tales Week that I am hosting on my other blog, Hamlette's Soliloquy :-)

Top Ten Tuesday: Ever After

This week's Top Ten Tuesday prompt from That Artsy Reader Girl is a Valentine's freebie -- anything about romance, basically.  I'm choosing to share my top ten favorite romantic couples from fairy tale retellings!

I've linked each retelling title to my full review of that book in case you are curious about it, and also provided my movie-style rating and what fairy tale it is retelling.

1. Cori and Bender in A Little Beside You by Jenni Sauer (PG-13) -- Snow White and Rose Red

2. Princess Holly and Dominic Klaus in The Silent Night by Sarah Beran (G) -- Sleeping Beauty

3. Emmazel and Night in Emmazel by Kendra E. Ardnek (PG) -- Rapunzel

4. Snow and Chase in "Falling Snow" by Skye Hoffert (PG-10) -- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

5. Rosanna and Grik in The Goblin and the Dancer by Allison Tebo (PG) -- The Steadfast Tin Soldier

6. Beauty and Beast in Beauty by Robin McKinley (G) -- Beauty and the Beast

7. Rue and Robbie in Wait Until Tomorrow by Jenni Sauer (PG) -- The Steadfast Tin Soldier

8. Ella and Burndee in The Reluctant Godfather by Allison Tebo (G) -- Cinderella

9. Enna and Anthony in A Little Persuaded by Kendra E. Ardnek (G) -- The Little Mermaid

10. Ellie and Cole in Corral Nocturne by Elisabeth Grace Foley (G) -- Cinderella

As well as being my entry for the Top Ten Tuesday linkup this week, this post is also one of my contributions to We Love Fairy Tales Week, a blog party I am hosting on my other blog.  Check out this post for more details, a fun blog tag, and links to all the posts from other participants!  Plus, I'm running a fairy tale-themed giveaway as part of the event, and you are welcome to enter that if you're a fairy tale fan too :-)

"Hours We Regret" by Chelsea Michelle

This was a fun mystery novella :-)  It's kind of a prequel to the Watson Twins mystery series, and I haven't read any other books in this Christian fiction series yet, so I can tell you it works great as an introduction, too.  You don't need to know the characters already.

Twins Chelsea and Michelle Watson live together in a small town.  Michelle is obsessed with trying to find a pattern in a string of recent serial killings not too far from where they live.  Chelsea thinks this is unhealthy.  

When Michelle breaks up with her boyfriend, she takes off into the Appalachians to find some peace and quiet.  When Chelsea can't reach Michelle by phone, she panics.  Has Michelle fallen victim to the serial killer?  Or, has she gone searching for the serial killer?

This is never super-suspenseful, but it does get pretty tense for a few chapters.

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG-13 for scary situations involving memory loss, disorientation, and possible abduction.  No cuss words, no smut, no gory violence.

"The Murder on the Links" by Agatha Christie

My mom gave me the gorgeous Chiltern Classics edition of The Murder on the Links for Christmas, and I promptly started reading it on Christmas Day.  And finished it a few days after New Year's.  And took almost a month to get around to reviewing it.

I swear this isn't because I didn't enjoy this mystery!  I definitely did -- it had some lovely twists I didn't see coming, plus a couple that I thought I saw coming but was not quite correct about.  Hanging out with Poirot and Hastings was delightful.  Watching Hastings fall in love without noticing was adorable.  

I don't have anything particularly long-winded to say about this book.  That's partly because it simply is a good mystery, and I have no bones to pick with it.  And it's partly because I did read this almost a month ago and then fell prey to the busyness of January and failed to review it until now.

I would like to mention that I do rather like Hastings, and I know a lot of Poirot fans don't.  My affection for him stems pretty much entirely from his portrayal by Jonathan Cecil in several of the 1980s Hercule Poirot films starring Peter Ustinov.  Cecil plays Hastings as so sweet and likeable, albeit definitely not bright, and I shall probably always be fond of him as a result.

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG-13 for murder, insinuations about people having extramarital affairs, and a sprinkling of old-fashioned cuss words.

This is my 49th book read and reviewed for my fourth Classics Club list!  One more to go, and I'll have read and reviewed 200 classics since 2014!

Top Ten Tuesday: Look What I Found!

This week's Top Ten Tuesday prompt from That Artsy Reader Girl is "Bookish Discoveries I made in 2025."

Here are ten authors I read for the first time in 2025!  I've put them in alphabetical order by last name because I don't have the emotional energy today to rank them by favorites.  After each name is the title of the first book I read by them, and that title links to my review.  I've also included what I rated those particular books, and a little something about them.

Sarah Beran -- The Silent Night (G), a fantasy Christmas fairy tale retelling

Elisabeth Aimee Brown -- What Comes of Attending the Commoners Ball (PG-13), a humorous fantasy fairy tale retelling

Carrie Brownell -- The Golden Hour (G), a Christmas fable picture book

Erle Stanley Gardner -- The Case of the Glamorous Ghost (PG-13), a mystery plus courtroom drama starring Perry Mason

Emily Golus -- Crack the Stone (PG-13), a fantasy retelling of Les Miserables

B. R. Goodwin -- Forget Me Knot (PG-16), a clean Christian romcom involving a bakery

Amber Lambda -- Comets Fade with Summer (PG-13), a clean Christian YA magical-realism teen romance

Catherine Louisa Pirkis -- The Experiences of Loveday Brooke, Lady Detective (PG), a collection of classic Victorian detective stories

Toni Shiloh -- A Run at Love (PG), a clean Christian romcom involving horse racing

Jaime Jo Wright -- The Souls of Lost Lake (PG-16), a dark Christian suspense mystery with a dual timeline

Have you read any books by these authors?  Did you share a Top Ten Tuesday post this week?  Please share!

#RevolutionaryWarReads in 2026

I mentioned earlier this month that I am planning to read at least thirteen books about or set during the American Revolution this year, one for each of the original thirteen colonies.  That feels like a really fun way to celebrate our nation's 250th birthday all year long!

Several people have asked if I would share my list of books I plan to read, and so I am doing exactly that in this post.  I will also be posting about this from time to time on my Instagram account and using the hashtag #RevolutionaryWarReads when I do.

I made one change from the plans I originally set forth in graphic you see above because I discovered that one of the books I planned to read (A Heart Adrift by Laura Frantz) actually takes place in the 1750s, not the 1770s.  I'm reading that right now anyway, and really enjoying it!  But it won't count toward my challenge.

Here are the books I currently plan to read:

Fiction

1. The Lady and the Loyalist by Stephanie McRae (Heart of the Revolution, book 1)

2. The Hero and the Patriot by Stephanie McRae (Heart of the Revolution, book 2)

3. Heart of the Revolution book 3 by Stephanie McRae (releases later this year)

4. Or Give Me Death by Ann Rinaldi

5. Spark of the Revolution by Megan Soja (Harbor of Spies, book 1)

6. Secrets of the Revolution by Megan Soja (Harbor of Spies, book 2)

7. Scars of the Revolution by Megan Soja (Harbor of Spies, book 3)

8. Harbor of Spies book 4 by Megan Soja (releases later this year)

Non-Fiction

9. The Greatest Lawyer That Ever Lived: Patrick Henry at the Bar of History by George Morrow

10. Rebels at Sea: Privateering in the American Revolution by Eric Jay Dolin

11. Strange and Obscure Stories of the Revolutionary War by Tim Rowland

12. The Swamp Fox, Francis Marion by Noel Gerson

13. Washington's Spies by Alexander Rose

I already own copies of all of these, except for those two unreleased books, so this will also be a good exercise in reading things off my TBR shelves!

Are you planning to read some books about the American Revolution in 2026?  Have you read any of these?  Let me know!

"Winter Fire: Christmas with G. K. Chesterton" by Ryan Whitaker Smith

What an intriguing concept for a devotion book!

Ryan Whitaker Smith chose thirty passages from G. K. Chesterton's writings that deal with Christmas, then paired them with Scripture verses and wrote a daily devotion around each pairing.  I had a great time reading one each morning in December, and then I spent the next week or so reading through the poems, essays, and a couple of short stories by Chesterton that fill out the second half of the book.  

And there are even some fun traditional British Christmas recipes!  They're things that got mentioned elsewhere in the book, and I just might have to try my hand at a couple of them.  And the book ends with explanations of some fun old-fashioned games to play with friends and family.  

All in all, this book is a little treasure trove, and I'm glad I have added it to my library :-)

Particularly Good Bits:

Our natural disposition is rarely the personification of cheerfulness. On this point it is crucial to remember that habits only become habits through repetition. The more we practice joy, the more effortlessly it will come to us. The more we revel, the more we will become revelers. The more we embody cheerfulness, the more naturally we will be of good cheer. Thank God that Christmas descends so inconsiderately upon us, giving a "last push" to those "afraid to be festive" -- for often we are numbered among them (p. 68).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It:  G.  Nothing here you couldn't read aloud as a family.