Mel's Shelves: Blog Tour/Review: Jenni James Faerie Tale Collection

Series: Jenni James Faerie Tale Collection
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Fairytale, Romance, Young Adult
Publisher: StoneHouse Ink
Publication Date: June 4, 2012
Number of pages: 142

Beauty and the Beast (Faerie Tale Collection #1)
Beauty and the Beast is the first in a new series of fairy tales for young adult readers. Fans of Disney, fairy tales, and fantasy will love the Faerie Tale Collection by Jenni James. A prince by day and a wolf by night--

Prince Alexander has been turned into a werewolf and has one year to find someone to love the beast and break the spell, or he will be a wolf forever. He has nearly given up achieving the impossible, knowing no girl would ever fall in love with such a monster.

Just when he is about to abdicate the throne to his cousin, he meets Cecelia Hammerstein-Smythe, while a wolf, and begins to hope for the first time in months. Can he balance both worlds as a human and beast, gaining the love and trust of a girl who has every reason to despise him?

Cecelia detests the prince. She only knows Alexander as the arrogant monarch—the tyrant who has made her life miserable—though perhaps he's changed right before her eyes. He's not as full of himself as he once was. The prince is gentle now... but then again, so is the beast.

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Series: Jenni James Faerie Tale Collection
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Fairytale, Romance, Young Adult
Publisher: StoneHouse Ink
Publication Date: August 15, 2013
Number of pages: 123

Sleeping Beauty (Faerie Tale Collection #2)
The sleeping girl has no idea she is asleep.

After Aleyna witnessed the cruel deaths of her family, she was put to sleep by Ezralon the unicorn. He has been keeping her safe, hidden in the forest, until her true prince could come and rescue her.

While Aleyna is protected in the forest, her spirit walks the halls of her ruined, deserted castle in a dream-like existence, believing everything is still perfect. However, she is halted in this state—almost as if time were frozen—until the prince awakens her.

Prince Darién of Lybrooke Court loves a challenge as much as the next man, but believes it will be a fool’s errand to rescue a ghost who is already dead! He’s convinced no one could have survived sleeping thirty years, so what is the point of rescuing a girl who is quite content to haunt on her own?

Of course, if Darién wasn’t so afraid of ghouls, this whole thing could be much easier to fathom...

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Series: Jenni James Faerie Tale Collection
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Fairytale, Romance, Young Adult
Publisher: StoneHouse Ink
Publication Date: August 15, 2013
Number of pages: 213

Rumplestiltskin (Faerie Tale Collection #3)
A young prince crippled by a witch--

When Fredrico watches his cruel family mourn his false death and announce to the kingdom their cursed prince has died, is the day he truly embraces his new life and new name Rumplestiltskin. How could he be known by anything else? —His skin is completely rumpled and stilted now. He hides away from the king and queen and grows up as a crippled servant in the castle.

Years later, his younger brother, Marcus, becomes king and humors Aubrynn’s father when he boasts that his daughter can turn straw into gold. Intrigued Marcus locks the distraught maiden in a tower and declares to the kingdom that if she can transform the straw, he will marry her, but if she cannot he will kill her father.

Rumplestiltskin is determined to help Aubrynn save her father and marry the king. Now, if only he can remember to keep his real identity a secret and not fall in love with her himself…

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Series: Jenni James Faerie Tale Collection
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Fairytale, Romance, Young Adult
Publisher: StoneHouse Ink
Publication Date: July 31, 2013
Number of pages: 236

Cinderella (Faerie Tale Collection #4)
When Prince Anthony spies Eleanoria Woodston outside her family home dressed as a servant, he knows something is amiss. Pretending to be John, his cousin’s outrider, he decides to take matters into his own hands and figure out why Ella hasn’t been seen at court. And more importantly why the daughter of one of the wealthiest families in the kingdom dresses like a pauper.

Ella has had her own bout of trials, including losing her beloved father and facing the wrath and jealousy of her stepmother and stepsisters. Becoming a servant doesn’t seem all that bad until the handsome John comes into her life, now he appears to be upsetting everything. Never before has she been so unsettled. Just his presence is making her dream of a life beyond this one.

When John invites Ella to the ball and she grudgingly accepts, he wonders if he’s truly losing his mind. How would he ever pull off pretending to be John while obviously hosting the ball as Anthony? Especially when the stubborn girl has made it quite obvious she would never attend a ball with a snobbish prince.

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Series: Jenni James Faerie Tale Collection
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Fairytale, Romance, Young Adult
Publisher: StoneHouse Ink
Publication Date: April 23, 2013
Number of pages: 160

Hansel and Gretel (Faerie Tale Collection #5)
Hansel's father finds a child lost and alone during a violent thunderstorm. After bringing her in from the tempest, he and his son are startled to discover that she is Gretel, a princess of Larkein the enemy kingdom their own king has just destroyed. Fearful for her life, Hansel pleads with his father to save her. He believes they can make Gretel good by teaching her their ways. His kindhearted father agrees, but with great trepidation.

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Series: Jenni James Faerie Tale Collection
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Fairytale, Romance, Young Adult
Publisher: StoneHouse Ink
Publication Date: March 31, 2013
Number of pages: 162

Jack and the Beansalk (Faerie Tale Collection #6)
The quest to save a girl from a giant--

Jack Waithwrite is livid when he learns that his fiancée, Rachel, has been stolen by a giant and taken up to a kingdom in the sky. Without the means to save her, he travels with his sister to Larkein, the place where dark magic abides, to discover a way to help Rachel. While there, a cunning witch knows who he is and offers to help him. However, when he finds out the kidnapping was orchestrated by the witch to use him as her pawn for her own schemes, his true quest begins. Now Jack must outwit a giant and stay one step ahead of the witch in time to save Rachel.

Enjoy Jack and the Beanstalk, the continuing tale of Hansel and Gretel and what happened after they were married. Jack and Jill Waithwrite are the children of Hansel and Gretel, and as their parents before them had adventures, now it is their turn.

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Series: Jenni James Faerie Tale Collection
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Fairytale, Romance, Young Adult
Publisher: StoneHouse Ink
Publication Date: September 21, 2013
Number of pages: 238

Snow White (Faerie Tale Collection #7)
An enchanted mirror, a tale of envy--

Raven and Snow White have been the greatest of friends for years, so when Snow’s father, King Herbert, and Raven’s mother, Queen Melantha, wed, the girls’ dreams come true—now they are sisters! However, in an act of exceeding folly, the king presents his new bride with the enchanted Lythereon Mirror as a wedding gift. Its dark power soon corrupts the queen.

Prince Corlan, Raven’s brother, is determined to find a way to destroy the mirror before he loses his mother completely—or it kills them all. Already the queen’s envy of Snow has become obvious. Corlan has been in love with Snow White since they were children and would do anything to protect the beautiful princess, even defy his mother. But when Queen Melantha uses the mirror to force Corlan into killing Snow, he knows it will take a battle of great strength to outwit the evil spell surrounding him and save the girl he loves.

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Series: Jenni James Faerie Tale Collection
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Fairytale, Romance, Young Adult
Publisher: StoneHouse Ink
Publication Date: December 6, 2013
Number of pages: 170

The Frog Prince (Faerie Tale Collection #8)

A prince disguises himself to find true love--

Prince Nolan has had enough of Princess Blythe—the woman to whom he has been betrothed since infancy—and her simpering letters. Does the princess truly not have a brain in her head? Never before has he communicated with someone who seemed so childish and spoiled. It was time he met her for himself, to decide if he could actually follow through with this marriage. But to do it right, she must not see how handsome he is. He needs a disguise—something that would show him her true nature.

Nolan asks an old herb woman to transform him into a creature that is disgusting to any female—a frog. The spell will last thirty days unless the princess does the impossible and kisses him. Now the true test begins. Will Blythe prove to be as monstrously annoying as he believes she is, or will he learn to see past his judgments and find a loving princess waiting for him?

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Series: Jenni James Faerie Tale Collection
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Fairytale, Romance, Young Adult
Publisher: StoneHouse Ink
Publication Date: February 17, 2014
Number of pages: 184

The Twelve Dancing Princesses (The Faerie Tale Collection #9)
Twelve princesses, one gardener, and a mysterious secret . . .

As the castle gardener, Aleck is paid well, has his own room above the stables, and he is able to support his mother and younger brothers and sisters. Why would he risk it all for one girl?

For weeks now, Princess Cascadia and her eleven sisters have awakened each morning to swollen feet and tattered dancing slippers without any recollection of what happened. Why would someone do this to them? The king calls all the worthy men in the land to come and help solve the riddle of the twelve dancing princesses. The man who is able to sort the mystery will be allowed to choose one of the princesses to wed.

Cascadia immediately turns to Aleck for assistance. If anyone can help her, she knows it is him, and she knows of no man she would rather marry. But will Aleck be able to unravel the mysterious happenings and save the kingdom before those behind the scheme succeed?

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Series: Jenni James Faerie Tale Collection
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Fairytale, Romance, Young Adult
Publisher: StoneHouse Ink
Publication Date: October 2014
Number of pages: 164

Rapunzel (Faerie Tale Collection #10)
A kidnapped girl faces insurmountable odds …

On Rapunzel’s sixteenth birthday, her parents are turned to stone by the evil witch, Lady Vactryne, and the girl is taken to be forever hidden away in a tower. The young princess is afraid and all alone, and as the months pass by and her attempts to escape become more desperate, she begins to lose hope that anyone will come to save her.

Prince Jonathan of Balligyrn has loved Rapunzel since they were children and has vowed to battle the witch, bring Rapunzel back, and restore her kingdom, no matter the cost. It has been years since he last saw her and asked her to wait for him to return from school. Now Jonathan only hopes he is not too late.

The cunning witch has other plans for them both, one that does not involve losing her dreams to mere fools. Who will win—the woman bent on revenge, or the young girl determined to overcome it all?

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The Little Mermaid (Faerie Tale Collection #11)
Is grass truly greener than ocean blue?

Pearl has always dreamed of visiting the land of humans, to walk with them, eat with them, and learn everything she can from them. But no one in the North Seas agrees with her. In fact, they are all convinced that the landfolk are a dangerous, scary group of people who would harm the mermaid if they could.

Keel, the great merprince of the North Seas, has never loved anyone as much as he loves Pearl. He knows of her fascination with mankind and realizes she will never be truly settled until she has walked among the humans. So he finally relents, giving her a potion to grow legs of her own so she can experience the world above the water. He vows to come on land and protect her, as he doesn’t trust humans and never will.

Join us in this unique twist of a tale about a princess determined to find a world and life better than her own, and the prince who is willing to risk it all to guarantee that she finds her own happiness.

Series: Jenni James Faerie Tale Collection
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Fairytale, Romance, Young Adult
Publisher: StoneHouse Ink
Publication Date: May 26, 2015
Number of pages: 186

Peter Pan (Faerie Tale Collectoin #12)
Peter Pan needs help, and he's convinced the effervescent Wendy Darling is just the girl to champion his cause. Ever since the mischievous fairy Tinker Bell began recruiting—more like, snatching—boys from London's orphanages to take them to a magical place called Neverland, things have gotten out of hand. Captain Hook has only become more violent and the boys more lost as their memories of life before Neverland begin to fade. Peter's only hope is to get the boys back to England and help bring balance to Neverland before Hook's dangerous escapades kill them all.

Wendy is not quite certain why such a handsome young man would need her—especially a lad who clearly has a touch of madness in him. What boy learns to fly? But whatever the reason, home life has become too much for her now that her parents are hoping she marries an acquaintance she can barely abide. There is something about Peter Pan that intrigues her greatly, and then there is this magical world he talks about, this Neverland . . .

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Books in the Series and Books Still to Come...

Other books in this series still to come:

13. Return to Netherland
14.Captain Hook
15. Princess Red
16. Princess with the Golden Touch
17. Princess and the Pea
18. Rose Red
19. Thumbelina
20. The Ugly Princess
21. Diamonds and Toads

22. The Ice Queen
23. The Forgotten Princess
24. King Thrushbeard
25. The Swan Princess
26. The Goose Girl
27. The Light Princesses
28. Princess Nightingale
29. The Princess Who Never Laughed
30. The Disenchanted Queen

Jenni James is the busy mother of ten kids (7 hers, 3 her hubby's) and has over twenty-five published book babies. She's an award-winning, best-selling author, who works full-time from home and dreams about magical things and then writes about what she dreams.

Some of her works include The Jane Austen Diaries (Pride & Popularity, Emmalee, Persuaded...), The Jenni James Faerie Tale Collection (Cinderella, Snow White, Rumplestiltskin, Beauty and the Beast...), the Andy & Annie series for children, Revitalizing Jane: Drowning, My Paranormal Life, Not Cinderella's Type, and the Austen in Love Series.

When she isn't writing up a storm, she is chasing her kids around their new cottage and farm in the tops of the southwestern mountains, entertaining friends at home, or kissing her amazingly hunky hubby. Her life is full of laughter, crazy, and sunshine.

THE TWELVE DANCING PRINCESSES

CHAPTER ONE

“HELLO!”
Aleck looked up from snipping at the ornamental hedges in the palace garden to see Princess Cascadia coming toward him. He immediately dropped his shears and lowered into a bow. “Your Highness,” he said as he came back up to face the pretty, dark-haired young woman. She looked exceptionally fetching today in pale blue ribbons and a matching gown.
She smiled and stopped right in front of him. “Hello,” she said again, her fingers slowly twirling the handle of the white lace parasol that shaded her head.
He waited a moment for her to say something while his stomach did flip-flops. How many days had he watched the beautiful princess and wished for opportunities like this, to get to know her and speak with her? And yet, when they seemed to come, he had nothing to say. But how did a simple gardener go about speaking with royalty?
She continued to twirl and wait, her grin growing.
Say something, you dolt! He swallowed nervously and asked, “Would you like a flower?”
“A flower?” She looked at the hedge he had been pruning.
“No. Not from here.” He pointed behind him. “We could pick one from the queen’s garden, if you would like. I know of some lovely roses that have just bloomed.”
“Oh! Yes, please.”
“If you follow me, I will show you just where they are.” He began to walk, but when he noticed she was not with him, he turned around. Princess Cascadia stood in the exact same spot. Confused, he asked, “Would you rather I went without you and brought back a couple?”
She shook her head. “No.”
Good heavens, how was a man supposed to know what a woman wanted? “Then you would not like to follow me?”
She chuckled, her laugh floating about her like tinkling fairy bells. “No, Aleck. I wish for you to lend me your arm so that we may go together.”
How could he be so thoughtless? “Of course.” He rushed to her side. “Forgive me.” Being so close to her, close enough to smell the lavender soap she used, caused his breathing to become quite erratic. He glanced down at her side, and then slowly raised his arm out. He willed himself to act natural as she daintily wrapped her elbow around his shirtsleeve and placed the top of her gloved hand upon his. He gazed into those sky-blue eyes a moment, reminding himself to breathe.
He was holding her arm. Her hand was upon his, her waist mere inches from him. They were together—truly together for the very first time. A warmth spread through him he had never known before, sending a concentrated group of tingles at their touching limbs. He grinned at her and watched in amazement as she inhaled sharply.
This overwhelming feeling affected her as well! She could feel it.
Those eyes sparkled back at him. He was lost. Utterly and foolishly lost.
Could she possibly think of him as he thought of her? Could the princess actually wish to be with a mere gardener?
A hound barked some distance away and snapped him back to the present. “Come, and we shall find the most enchanting roses for you.”
He took a step forward, and then another, half expecting her to turn around and run the other way, but she did not. Instead, she quite happily followed him.
Nothing had ever felt more right and wonderful than this moment.
“Aleck?” she asked as they slowly made their way to the flower garden.
“Yes?”
“I know this is highly improper, and I will most likely get scolded if I am caught walking with you, but thank you for doing so.”
His gaze met hers again. “It is my pleasure.”
She nodded and glanced away, a faint blush stealing across her cheeks. All at once, the parasol began to twirl twice as fast as it had before. “Sir, you flatter me.”
“I do not mean to flatter, Princess,” he said with a grin, loving this new game of theirs. “Indeed, I only mean to speak the absolute truth. This is by far the most enjoyable moment of my day.”
She gasped and glanced at him before biting her lip and looking away again.
He could not believe his eyes. If he did not know better, she would seem to be genuine in her response to him. “Why did you ask to hold my arm?” he brazenly asked, curious as to how she would reply.
She kept her profile to him as they continued to walk. “Because I knew you would never think to do so, and so I asked myself.”
“Because?”
“Because I wanted to,” she replied.
“Fair enough.” He let the subject drop. “And have you had any news to impart? Any reason for us to be thus engaged?”
“News?”
“Yes. For when your father asks why you have been traipsing the grounds with a lowly gardener, you will have a much better reply to give him than because you wanted to.”
She blushed again and then shook her head. “You are incorrigible.”
“I know. I think it is why you like me.” He said the last looking straight at her.
She gasped in shock. “I have said no such thing!”
He stopped, his back toward the many windows of the castle. Stepping forward and hiding her for a brief moment, he said, “You did not have to say anything to me. I can tell by your actions.” His heart grew a bit heavy. “Princess, as much as I wish to keep you near me to learn every possible secret of yours and gain your trust, I also fear this.”
“I have come outside every single day for the past several months in hopes of …” She trailed off.
To speak with him. “Aye. I think I understand. But it will not do. I am simply a gardener. And as much as you would be scolded for doing such a thing, I would be dismissed from my post completely if this were to continue.”
“No.” Her breathing became labored. She looked distraught over this declaration.
Did she honestly have no idea that such things were frowned upon? “What is it?”
“’Tis not fair,” she said after a few moments. “I—I do not know how to express myself, or why. It does not make sense to me. But there is something about you that calls to me. Something I cannot dismiss.”
She did feel it too! He clutched her hand. “Princess Cascadia!”
“Please, call me Casey. I have despised that name my whole life. Casey is what I prefer.”
“I cannot. I do not dare. You know the help is not allowed to speak so casually of you,” he whispered as he glanced around, making certain they were alone.
She squeezed his fingers. “Please?”
How could he deny her anything? He took a deep breath.
“Please?”
“Casey.” The name as he said it was so profound, it was as if it echoed between them for several seconds.
And then she smiled. Her whole face lit up. “Thank you.”
At that moment, he saw the head gardener walking toward them. “Give me a reason to be standing here with you. Tell me something important so that I may continue working here.”
Her eyes frantically searched his before they lit up and she said, “I have it! There is a great secret happening in the house. And who knows, perhaps you will be the one to solve the mystery.” She grinned. “Yes! Father is to send out a proclamation within a week asking for brave men to solve the puzzle of the princesses’ dancing slippers.”
He blinked. “Your what?”
“Every morning, when we awake, our shoes are completely worn through, as if we had been dancing all night. But none of us can remember leaving our beds. Indeed, it is frightening to see the state of the slippers. And our feet! Sometimes they are swollen and blistered. And yet, we were asleep.”
“This happens to all twelve of you?”
“Yes. Oh!” She laughed out loud, causing the head gardener to speed up his walk toward them. “It is perfect!” she said, clasping his hand tighter. “For whoever is able to solve the mystery, Father has said he will allow him to choose one of his daughters to wed!”
Aleck felt as though he had been punched in the chest. My word! Could it be true? Could this actually be happening to him? Was there a way to have this angel near his side permanently?
“Aleck? Aleck? Are you well?”
He glanced at her. “I believe so.”
“Then will you try to solve the riddle?”
The gardener glared at him, but remained silent as he passed the princess. Aleck knew this would be horrendous for them both. His eyes searched Casey’s, and he nodded. “Yes, I will try my best to solve the mystery of the dancing princesses.”

I received a copy of The Twelve Dancing Princesses via Singing Librarian Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.

I've read several of these books and have enjoyed them all! I was excited to get The Twelve Dancing Princesses because it is one of my favorite fairy tales and I love to read re-tellings of this one in particular.

Princess Cascadia (Casey) is one of the princesses and has been making frequent trips to the garden lately to be around Aleck, one of the gardeners. During one of their conversations, she lets him in on the secret happening in her house: the princesses shoes are all worn through every morning, as if they've been dancing all night, but none of them remember leaving their beds. The King will allow whoever solves the mystery to wed one of his daughters so Aleck promises Casey that he will try his best to solve the mystery.

We meet Aleck's family and see how they play into the story. The basics to this fairy tale are all there but there some twists and the reason behind the dancing is original. The length is perfect for me. I was able to read it in one sitting and, since it is short, the story moves quickly. I was thoroughly entertained from beginning to end! This is a great collection to read if you enjoy fairy tale re-tellings. I'm excited for the books that are still to come and look forward to reading more!

My Rating=5 Stars

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April 18--Beauty & the Beast--Singing Librarian Books
April 19--Sleeping Beauty--Bookworm Lisa
April 20--Rumplestiltskin--26 Countless Possibilities
April 21--Cinderella--Reading Is My SuperPower
April 22--Hansel & Gretel--Katie's Clean Book Collection
April 23--Jack & the Beanstalk--Wishful Endings
April 25--Snow White--Katie's Clean Book Collection
April 26--The Frog Prince--Smiling Book Reviews
April 27--The Twelve Dancing Princesses--Mel's Shelves
April 28--Rapunzel--Reading Is My SuperPower
April 29--The Little Mermaid--Wishful Endings
April 30--Peter Pan--Singing Librarian Books