Glamour: Contemporary Fairytale Retellings and Skye Warren

Glamour: Contemporary Fairytale Retellings (Various)

 

SUMMARY

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.
  
 Includes the following retelling...

BEDTIME STORY by Skye Warren
A Sleeping Beauty story

MY REVIEW

A story that takes place at the same world as Endgame and Masterpiece.

Jessica drives away from the horrible father of her child before he finds her and takes the infant away.
Before she sleeps at the wheel, the local sheriff stops her and orders her to sleep at the local prison in order not to cause an accident and hurt herself and her baby. Scared and desperate Jessica follows sheriff Finn. Finn may not be Prince Charming, but he will give her a kiss and wake her up.

I need to touch and be touched, to know that my worth isn't down the drain alongside the rest of my sad little life in Tanglewood. But I can't bother him with that. He's my jailer and my caretaker, not my lover. He doesn't need to be bothered with this, with me.
He catches my wrist as I move to leave, so quick I can only gasp.
"Stay," he murmurs.

If you have read 'The King' by the same author, you will probably remember Penny's friend, Jessica and the only love of her life i.e. her son Ky.
I was pleasantly surprised with the beginning of her love story with Fynn. This is one of the nicest adaptations that I have read on the fairytale of sleeping beauty.
I really hope that this the prologue of another great full-length book by the author.

The Queen (Masterpiece Duet #2) by Skye Warren

The Queen (Skye Warren)

SUMMARY

I have one chance at a new life. A college education. A future outside of Tanglewood's dark walls. For a breathless moment it seems like I might actually escape.

Then I get a phone call from home.

Damon Scott is my own personal dragon, the fight I've always lost, the secret hope of my heart. And he needs my help right now. Only my mind can solve the puzzle. Only my presence can keep him sane as the city fights against him.

Only my heart can unlock a man with such a tragic past.

This is my final gamble, with everything at stake. One last game to win a future for both of us.

And a love strong enough to break the city apart.

MY REVIEW

Normalcy is overrated, anyway.

THREE YEARS AGO, during her final gambling game, little naïve Penny gambled it all and in the end she lost her father.

SINCE THEN, Penny left Tanglewood , Damon Scottand and her heart behind and she has started studying Mathematics (in its purest form) at Smith University; while she enjoys the affection of the persistent and hopeful Dr. Stanhope.

It won’t take long and the past will come knocking on her door. Her father is in trouble, her best friend in trouble and Damon has his own demons to battle in order to admit his feelings.

“And now here you are with your Bambi eyes, acting like you didn’t just walk into the dark fucking forest. What am I supposed to do with you?”

Penny knows how to solve puzzles and there are three puzzles that need to be answered:
1. A mathematical puzzle with instructions.
2. What is the matter with Damon?
3. Who is the enemy now?

Penny will become Queen before the book finishes.

Obviously, this is not an ordinary book. It is intense, with raw feelings, but also with abstract and strict mathematical logic.

It definitely deserves 5 stars, but there are some points in the story that really run forward too fast. There is a parallel story about Gabriel and Avery that maybe needs to be told in full detail.

The King (Masterpiece Duet #1) by Skye Warren

The King (Skye Warren)

SUMMARY

The highest stakes...

My father gambles every night, falling deeper and deeper into debt. When he hits the bottom, he places a new bet: his daughter. I'm his entry bet to the biggest underground poker game.

Every kind of danger circles the velvet-covered table, but only one man makes me tremble.

A trailer park princess.

The son of a criminal king.

We don't belong together, but I'm caught in a twisted game.

His eyes meet mine with dark promise. And when he puts down his cards, I know I'm going to lose more than my body. I'm going to lose everything.

MY REVIEW

"I want to break you down into parts -into hope and despair. Into love and fear. I want to consume your humanity, feast on you, until there's nothing left but a small, jagged core at the centre."

If you have read "Endgame", you surely remember psycho, paedophile, disguising, pathetic excuse for a human being: Jonathan Scott.
If you haven't read Endgame, you will learn very soon in "The King" all the things he is capable of doing.
When his young son, Damon, shows his interested in Penny; Jonathan Scott knows once more how to play people and how to make them miserable.

Damon and Penny met when they were children.
Damon will grow up as the Prince of crime and he will be much older than 15 years old poor Penny with the gamble addict father. His father (and his worst enemy at the same time) will try to hurt him through Penny.
Still Damon will try to help her, to save her and to send her back to her mediocre life.

The book is - of course- dark and it focuses mainly on characters and less on the characters' surroundings.
The events take place nowadays, but I think they could have taken place in Victorian England without any problem.

A Spinoff from the Endgame series.

The Prince (Masterpiece Duet, #0.5) by Skye Warren

The Prince (Skye Warren)

SUMMARY

Penny doesn't dream about a prince coming to save her from the trailer park. She knows better than that.

And the boy she finds hiding in the woods out back is too wild and dangerous to trust. But he may be her only chance at survival.

 

MY REVIEW

 

The scene where desperately lonely Damon and desperately hungry little Penny met by the river, is actually my favourite scene in the The King.

"What's your name?"
"Penny. What's yours?"
"Quarter." 

The Castle (Endgame #3) by Skye Warren

The Castle (Skye Warren)

SUMMARY

I’m safe in the ivory tower Gabriel Miller made for me. That’s what he says. Enemies lurk outside, waiting to strike. An army of enemies held back by these walls.

Except some animal instinct warns me the danger is much closer. It’s already here. Is Gabriel Miller my protector or my enemy? Is this house a castle or a cage?

There’s nowhere for me to go, no one left for me to trust.

No escape from a past determined to capture its prize. 

 

MY REVIEW

...and the conclusion of the Gabriel and Avery's story

I really do not want to say anything about how the story of Gabriel and Avery continues in this third book. Whatever I say, it will be a spoiler.

But there are so many unexpected twists. Good and seriously bad ones.

And the feelings. There are so many amazing feelings. I just want to share my favorite passage from the book.

“Stay.”
Hope flickers across his face, doused by stoicism. “That isn’t how the game is played.”
“I’m done playing.”
“So am I.”
“I love you.” I’m out of breath, the words falling like gasps.
“What did you say?” he demands, taking a step closer.
And something matters more to me than losing. “I love you, Gabriel Miller.”
He takes another step closer, almost compulsively. And stops. “God. Don’t.”
“I really do.”
“It’s suicide. To love a man like me.”
“Then what is it to love a woman like me?” My laugh sounds maniacal even to myself. “Hearing voices. Chasing cars. I’m a little bit insane.”
“You’re a queen, little virgin.”
I throw myself into his arms. Of course he catches me. “Then you’re my king.” 

The Knight (Endgame #2) by Skye Warren

The Knight (Skye Warren)

SUMMARY

The power of pleasure...

Gabriel Miller took everything from me. My family. My innocence. My home. The only thing I have left is the determination to get back what's mine.

He thinks he's beaten me. He thinks he's won. What he doesn't realize is that every pawn has the chance to become a queen.

And the game has only just begun.

MY REVIEW

"At one in the morning I wake to the sounds of a headboard banging on the wall..."

Nothing is the same for innocent Avery any more.
Thrown out of Gabriel’s home after he forcefully took her virginity, Avery ends up in a cheap motel trying to survive until the month finishes and she can get the one million dollars. Luckily Gabriel is paying for the expenses of her father’s private clinic. But unfortunately her house has been stolen from her. More nasty surprises will come in the life of Avery.

She will be constantly used by Gabriel, publicly humiliated, belittled by her father’s ex friends and she will suddenly discover her mother’s diary which will prove that her life was not full of love and flowers before she died.

The story of Avery’s mother dominates the book and explains the behavior of many people. Three key players could have been responsible for her death:
1. Avery’s father
2. The ex best friend
3. The secret ex lover

One of them could also be the villain who torments Avery and possibly wishes her death. Or not. Everything will make sense at the last ball where all the three key players will meet with Gabriel and Avery.

Thankfully, not everything will be dark for Avery. Her best friend will be there to support her, a homeless guy will keep an eye for her and there will be unspoken feelings all around Gabriel. Even her ex fiancé will try to save her.

When I finished the second book of the series I had more questions than answers. The plot has thickened. More main characters have been introduced.
I still miss Gabriel’s POV from the explanations and the words virgin and virginity are still there in large quantities.

But I really started liking Avery in this one. At least now she is making fun of the auction and the loss of her virginity.

“He’s trying to make it up to you by giving you what you lost.”
“My virginity?”
She giggles. “Would you want that back?”
“God no. Totally useless. The only thing that ever got me was a million dollars.”

I just love Avery when she is drunk and/or high. She is funny.

The Pawn (Endgame #1) by Skye Warren

The Pawn (Skye Warren)

SUMMARY

The price of survival…

Gabriel Miller swept into my life like a storm. He tore down my father with cold retribution, leaving him penniless in a hospital bed. I quit my private all-girl’s college to take care of the only family I have left.

There’s one way to save our house, one thing I have left of value.

My virginity.

A forbidden auction…

Gabriel appears at every turn. He seems to take pleasure in watching me fall. Other times he’s the only kindness in a brutal underworld.

Except he's playing a deeper game than I know. Every move brings us together, every secret rips us apart. And when the final piece is played, only one of us can be left standing.

MY REVIEW

Gabriel Miller: "You're innocent. And I'm going to ruin you."
Avery James:"You can have my body. But you can't touch my heart."

It is time for:
-a game of chess,
-some greek mythology
i.e. Iliad,Minotaur and Ariadne and Theseus
-an amazing library
-a naïve virgin about to become homeless
-a disturbing, disgusting uncle/godfather
-an auction only for the richest, ruthless, shameless bidders
-an Alpha male with unknown, ununderstandable motives
-some homemade moonshine
-lots of training
-few sacrifices
-rage and revenge
-betrayal and lies
-lust and passion
-money, money, money

I really do not know how to play good chess, but I could still follow the reasoning and I truly enjoyed the book.

The only negatives of the book are:
a) The repetition every other page of the words “virgin” and “virginity”
b) Not enough details about who this mysterious Gabriel is or his motives. If I remember correctly we do not even know his age – or did I miss this?

Hopefully since the story continues with the book “The Knight”, the two negatives that I have mentioned will be corrected.
Nobody is a virgin in the series anymore.

Skye Warren and her series Endgame and Masterpiece duet

In September I would like to focus on super talended author Skye Warren and her latest series:

1. Endgame

• The Pawn (Endgame, #1)
• 
  
• The Knight (Endgame, #2)
• 
  
• The Castle (Endgame, #3)

and 

2. Masterpiece duet which is an Endgame's spinoff 

• The Prince (Masterpiece Duet, #0.5)
• 
  
• The King (Masterpiece Duet, #1)
• 
  
• The Queen (Masterpiece Duet, #2)

Author's website is:http://www.skyewarren.com