The Beast and the Enchantress - Camille Peters

The Beast and the Enchantress

Camille Peters

A Villain's Ever After

Where to Purchase: Amazon

Official Blurb:

If there’s one thing Astrid, an aspiring enchantress with budding magical powers, has learned throughout her studies, it's that magic must only be used for good. But when an egocentric prince breaks her sister’s heart, Astrid’s only focus is revenge, and what better way to enact it than with a well-chosen curse?

A simple incantation is all it takes to transform the arrogant prince's appearance to match the state of his heart. But something goes wrong, causing the spell to affect not only the prince, but its caster as well. As the curse begins to change her appearance to reflect the state of her own vengeful heart, Astrid becomes desperate to break it at all costs, even if it means entering the castle in disguise and interacting with the prince she loathes.

To her surprise, Astrid encounters not a conceited prince, but one very different from the one she cursed. She soon finds her heart softening, but not in the way she expects—she’s losing it to the cursed prince she has vowed to hate. The closer they become, the more desperate Astrid is to free the prince, and herself, from the curse. But in so doing, she may lose the man she loves forever.

For how could a prince ever love the woman who turned him into a beast?

As a Retelling:

This is a more cozy retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Astrid's curse only affects the prince and herself, and does not condemn a whole castle to ghostly status as in the original. This retelling also effectively combines the reasons for the curse in both the original tale (jilted love) and the Disney version (rejection of a rose). However, because the Enchantress was an invention of the Disney film, that solidly makes this retelling of said film, rather than the original story. 

Arista's Thoughts:
While I like the idea and the romance was sweet, unfortunately, once the curse was cast, the rest of the book was just a succession of conversations and nothing happened. There was no external conflict to challenge the characters, just Astrid and the prince talking and then feeling betrayed. 

I do appreciate that this book did let the heroine actually be the villain and that it gave her a proper redemption arc, which is ... not really the route taken by the rest of the series. However, I have read better retellings with the Enchantress as the heroine. 

Alternate Perspective - Beauty and the Beast

Alternate Ending

Reimagining 

Disney Influence

Book 

Magical 

Traditional European 

Multiauthor Collection

Have you read The Enchantress and the Beast? If so, leave a comment below with your own short review to help future readers!

Do You Take This Quest? - Kendra E. Ardnek

Do You Take This Quest?

Kendra E. Ardnek

The Bookania Quests #2

SPOILER WARNING

Where to Purchase: Amazon 

Official Blurb:

Once Upon a Time...

When Arthur's parents were lost at sea, his Uncle Mordreth became the regent for the young boy. Yet now that he's ofage, Mordreth seems to have no intentions of relinquishing the throne. It looks as though Arthur will have to fight for his throne. If only he had more than just his two servants and the old man he met in the woods for friends. So the old man takes things into his own hands and whisks Arthur off to the wedding of a fellow prince, with the intention of finding him some allies.

All is not right at the wedding, however. The groom is missing and the bride has called quits. Where's the groom? Well, he's found a new bride. Now if he can just get her home ...

As a Retelling:

This book twines together two story lines that come together towards the end. The Arthur plotline is very much a reimagining, with an Arthur who knows his status as crown prince, and the Mordred and the Sir Ector characters are combined in Mordreth. Merlin is a nameless old man who goes by Grandfather, who spirits Arthur away in the middle of the night to attend a wedding and gain allies to take his kingdom.

Meanwhile, Sleeping Beauty's prince is on his way to wake Sleeping Beauty, and we watch this through the perspective of his great-aunt who attended the party and, thanks to her gift of sensitivity to magic, is able to dream about what is happening to her twin brother's family. This means that she's not caught off guard, like the rest of the party, who had no awareness of the passing time. This plotline is about adjusting to change as everyone needs to discover where they belong to this new world. 

Arista's Thoughts:
I freely admit that this is my messiest book, especially as it lacks any proper climax. However, there are scenes that I absolutely love. It's not a great book, but it's generally fun, has good messages, and sets things up well for the next book in the series. 

After Ever After - Sleeping Beauty
Reimagining - King Arthur 

Ensemble - Robin Hood, Toads and Diamonds, Capserl and the Princess

Alternate Perspective

Magical 

Traditional European 

Indie

Book

Alternative Covers:

Have you read Do You Take This Quest? If so, leave a comment below with your own short review to help future readers!