Grace by Contract - Rachel Rossano

Grace by Contract

Rachel Rossano

Once Upon a Duchy

SPOILER WARNING

Where to Purchase:

Official Blurb:

After her father uproots the family to the northern duchy of Brackenhurst, Grace Eldon and her four younger sisters struggle with a new life of hardship. Desperate to keep a roof over their heads amid mounting debts, she and her youngest sister seek employment in the Duke of Brackenhurst's household despite fearsome rumors.

Scarred and maimed from a terrible fire Silas Isling, Duke of Brackenhurst, buries himself in his work to avoid the stares of pity and fear. When one of the new maids shows no fear at his appearance, he is intrigued. That is until his meddling steward gives her the task of cleaning Silas' bookroom. It is a most unwelcome disruption since he prefers to be alone.

While a thief plagues his castle, an old nemesis reappears, and enemies invade in the guise of guests. Amidst the distractions and chaos, Grace brings some unexpected order. Once convinced his scars had stolen all hope for love, Silas finds his life forever changed by the quiet maid. Could she love a scarred Duke?

As a Retelling:

The basic hallmarks of B&B are here. An attractive young woman by name of Beauty ends up in the castle of a disfigured local lord, and ... wait, no (checks notes again), it's actually her sister, Grace who the Duke falls in love with. They are the daughters of a merchant, though this merchant is ... a bit of a rat, defrauded a bunch of his customers, and is currently allowing a fellow rat to impose upon his very beautiful but mentally challenged daughter, Beauty. Grace seeks employment from the local Duke in order to clear their debt and gain his protection.

There's a lot to this setup that has a definite feel of Pride and Prejudice - Grace's is a family of five sisters, Silas's history with Sir Webb is very Darcy-Wickham, and the head housekeeper plays a very good Catherine de Bourgh. It might have just been the fact that I read this coming right off an actual P&P retelling, but it was quite glaring to me.

Weirdly, combining the two stories in this format lessened rather than intensified the romance's conflict. There's little if any prejudice that drives our couple apart, though Grace does make a lot of noise about their class difference and his favoritism causes her issues with the head housekeeper. His disfiguring injuries are actually what throws them together, since he struggles to read and write due to weakened eyesight and the loss of his dominant hand. She used to keep the paperwork for her father, so the steward gives her the task of reading and writing for the duke.

The climax of the story does parallel the original story, with Grace leaving for home to deal with family issues, and then things quickly growing worse from there.

Arista's Thoughts:
All together, a touching romance between a duke who thinks no one can love him and a servant girl who has the world against her. It's set in Rachel Rossano's greater world that contains most of her books, and it works pretty well. I've seen most of the themes implemented better in other retellings, but they came together well for a very cohesive whole here. I felt the villains were a bit over the top, and I think the author shied a bit too hard away from Sir Webb's vileness and thus made certain aspects a bit confusing, but seeing them go down was satisfying regardless. If you like your retellings without the magic, I definitely recommend this one.

Loose Retelling: Beauty and the Beast

Unintentional Retelling: Pride and Prejudice

Cameo - Wild Swans, Twelve Dancing Princesses

Non-Magical
Indie

Traditional European

Have you read Grace By Contract? If so, leave a comment below with your own short review to help future readers!

Blood in the Snow - Sarah Pennington

Blood in the Snow

Sarah Pennington

SPOILER WARNING

Where to Purchase: Amazon

Official Blurb:

Her destiny is decided — but betrayal breaks even the best-laid plans.

Baili, the princess of the Kingdom of Seven Rivers, has always known what her future holds. Declared the fairest of all by the fabled Dragonglass, she is destined to fulfill an ancient prophecy and unite her homeland with its long-time enemy, the Kingdom of Three Peaks. And in doing so, she may save her country from death and ruin.

In order to fulfill her destiny, Baili must travel to the Kingdom of Three Peaks and marry its prince, Liu Xiang. But all Baili's plans and expectations are turned upside-down when her servants and soldiers, acting on her stepmother's orders, turn against her on the road. Baili narrowly escapes with her life, but she's left alone and adrift among strangers.

Fortunately, Baili finds refuge in the home of seven animal keepers: servants and slaves to the emperor of Three Peaks. Yet time is running out. Her servants' rebellion was only a small part of a much larger plot. Within weeks, her stepmother plans to unite the two kingdoms, not by contract, but by conquest. Baili must reclaim her rightful place and unite not just two kingdoms but many peoples in order to stop the plan. And if she fails, two kingdoms will be plunged into ruin.

Sure to delight lovers of fantasy and fairy tales, this rich and magical Asian-inspired adventure combines Snow White and The Goose Girl in a way you've never seen before.

As a Retelling:

This story beautifully blends The Goose Girl and Snow White, with the maidservant playing much of the same part as the huntsman, and allowing each fairy tale to add nuance to the other. The ending does lean towards Snow White. The backstory of Snow White's mother allowing her blood to fall into the snow and her wish coming true forms the basis for the magic system, and it seamlessly blends with the elemental magic of The Goose Girl. 

Arista's Thoughts:

Hands down a gorgeous tale. While I'd never thought of weaving these two tales together, they work together so beautifully that it feels like they belonged together the whole time. The Asian culture is well-researched and built, and it's surprising that so much can be packed into such a small book. 

True Mashup - Snow White and The Goose Girl
Book

Asian

Magical

Christian

Arista Challenge

Have you read Blood in the Snow? If so, leave a comment below with your own short review to help future readers!

Doctor & King - Camille Esther

Doctor & King

Camille Esther

The Fairyless Tales #1

SPOILER WARNING
for "as a retelling"

Where to Purchase: Amazon

Official Blurb: Not your average Sleeping Beauty retelling.
Rescuing a stranger from her poisoned sleep is one thing, but shouldering the weight of a kingdom and a hundred doubts and fears is another.

Kissing an apparently dead maiden was not what young king Gervaise had planned for the day. Nor was nursing her back to health and acting as her impromptu  protector. Forced to face and counter danger for the first time in his life, Gervaise realizes he lacks the heroism he ought to have.

As the real source of the threat against his patient comes to light, the king-turned-doctor finds himself in the sole position to thwart an ambitious new ruler. But how can he save a kingdom that doesn’t believe it needs saving? And how can a coward such as he win the day with only a handful of men?

As a Retellling: Of all fairy tales, retelling Sleeping Beauty without the magic can be the hardest to pull off. Thus, this is a pretty loose retelling. In fact, most of the "sleeping beauty" part is over within the first twenty percent of the book - a kiss alerts Gervaise to the fact that the girl he found in the woods is still alive (not as creepy as it sounds, it was a kiss on the hand and a salute of respect to a girl who had presumed to have died alone), and then he later uses a spindle as a weapon. However, there are a few larger plot elements that, if they aren't a reference to the Disney movie, including the main romance trope and the title given to the antagonist, are a pretty suspicious coincidence. They're handled in very much their own way, but the fact remains.

Arista's Thoughts: I quite enjoyed this retelling, but the hero could get on my nerves with his indecision. The main conflict of the book stemmed from some early miscommunication, which I connected the dots on early and found quite frustrating. There was also the fact that, while most of the book is first person from Gervaise's perspective, there were a couple swaps to third person from Vannie's, and some of them went back in time and I found them confusing. All said, it's a sweet tale, if a little more padded than it possibly needed, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a Christain, non-magical retelling.

Loose Retelling - Sleeping Beauty
Non-magical
Christian
Indie
Traditional European
Disney Knockoff (Again, not the worst offender, but the tropes used are 3-2 to Disney)


Alternative Covers:

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Dagger's Sleep - Tricia Mingerink

Dagger's Sleep

Tricia Mingerink

Beyond the Tales, #1

SPOILER WARNING for "About a Fairy Tale"

Where to Purchase: Amazon

Official Blurb: 

A prince cursed to sleep.

A princess destined to wake him.

A kingdom determined to stop them.

High Prince Alexander has been cursed to a sleep like unto death, a curse that will end the line of the high kings and send the Seven Kingdoms of Tallahatchia into chaos. With his manservant to carry his luggage and his own superior intelligence to aid him, Alex sets off to find one of the Fae and end his curse one way or another.

A hundred years later, Princess Rosanna learns she is the princess destined by the Highest King to wake the legendary sleeping prince. With the help of the mysterious Daemyn Rand, can she find the courage to finish the quest as Tallahatchia wavers on the edge of war?

One curse connects them. A hundred years separate them. From the rushing rivers of Tallahatchia’s mountains to the hall of the Highest King himself, their quests will demand greater sacrifice than either of them could imagine.

As a Retelling:
This story masterfully takes the story of Sleeping Beauty and ups its meaning by swapping the roles of the prince and princess, telling the stories of the two characters side by side - Alex's in the past, Rose's in the future. The spindle is swapped out for a dagger, as the title implies, which was masterfully handled. However, the romance turns out a bit differently from the fairy tale due to the addition of a new and vital character

Arista's Thoughts: 
My thoughts are pretty mixed on this one. I like its setting, tone, conflict, but am slightly annoyed with the ending. Not that I don't like the romance we got - the couple is absolutely adorable - but I find the trend of "the prince and princess don't end up together" in retellings to be a bit annoying, especially with Sleeping Beauty. I feel better about it having read the following books in the series, but I was majorly annoyed when I first read it.

Genderswap - Sleeping Beauty

Magical

Christian

Alternate Ending

Medieval America

Cameo - Snow White, Beauty and the Beast, Snow White and Rose Red

Alternative Covers:

Have you read Dagger's Sleep? If so, leave a comment below with your own short review to help future readers!