Every time things get hot, Cyn has to run off to fight a fire-which makes things literally hot, and also figuratively extra-hot, because firefighters. It just happens, okay? And it’s fabulous. No, I’m not sure how she makes that combo work. When an arsonist sets Mari’s beloved garden alight, Cyn comes to her rescue (y’know, as a firewoman) and proceeds to be the smoothest, most awkward Romeo on earth. Gorgeous and wealthy Marigold is considered cold and aloof, but-surprise-she’s secretly not, and stuff. Not actual centuries, because there’s no magic or mysticism in this story (except the everlasting power of lurve) but a pretty long time nonetheless.

Woo! The drama! We love it!Ĭynthia ‘Cyn’ Robinson, called ‘Cinders’ by her buddies at the fire station, has been crushing on Marigold Grimm for centuries. Well, this contemporary F/F version swaps the grittier details for a firefighting Cinderella, a green-thumbed small town ‘princess’, and an arson epidemic. Cinder is a fabulous fairy tale transformation based on the Grimm version of Cinderella, which involves mysterious grave-haunting birds and self-mutilated feet. Will my selflessness never end?Ĭinderella retellings have had a special place in my heart ever since I saw Brandy’s brown foot slide into an iconic glass slipper. And now, here I am, reviewing four such jackpot stories purely for your reading pleasure. That’s the family resemblance.Ī combination of fairy tale elements and romance is, to me, an absolute jackpot. You can tell because, generally, they both end with a ‘happily ever after’. Why am I there? Aside from the aforementioned childhood Disney brainwashing? Why, because I’m a romance reader, of course. Whether it’s undermining the status quo in terms of who ‘deserves’ a happily ever after, flipping the switch on the gender norms so inherent in our society’s fave fables, or taking an established mythical concept and running somewhere ridiculous with it, I’m there. I also adore intriguing, modern fairy tales that transform or subvert original tropes.

One that flagrantly bends the laws of physics, human nature, and more, because it knows I watched too much Disney as a child and thus won’t be complaining. One that chucks my suspension of disbelief over a cliff with a cheeky wink because it knows I’ll keep reading anyway. I don’t know about you, but I love a good, old-fashioned fairy tale-one that hits all the cheesy tropes we know and love.

Once Upon a Princess by Clare Lydon