Mirror, Mirror

August 19, 2013
Returning novella contributors Robb, Blayney, McComas, and Ryan (The Unquiet) are joined by newcomer Fox in this interesting collection of fairy-tale–inspired stories of romance and intrigue. Robb’s Eve Dallas must track down a pair of missing twins in a Hansel and Gretel police procedural, “Taken in Death.” Blayney’s wish-granting coin entwines a pair of lonely adventure seekers in romance beyond their lives as a servant and a sergeant in her charming 1816 fantasy, “If Wishes Were Horses,” which gives a nod to Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Fox introduces a charming ghostly television reporter to the woman who buys his haunted house in “Beauty, Sleeping,” a clever, turned-on-its-head version of Sleeping Beauty. McComas’s phenomenal modern retelling of “The Little Match Girl” gives a too-generous activist and the cop who thinks he’s too old for her a chance at love in “The Christmas Comet.” In Ryan’s Cinderella tale, “Stroke of Midnight,” a teacher travels to her father’s hometown in Ireland, falls in love, and nearly lets her wicked stepmother ruin everything before an improbable conclusion. Though varying dramatically in approaches to the theme, each novella successfully captures the spirit of magic and happy endings.

October 1, 2013
Five new romantic takes on classic fairy-tale themes by five romance authors. A short Eve Dallas & Roarke romantic suspense fashioned with Hansel & Gretel elements but with typical Robb intensity leads off this quirky, fun collection of stories. In "Taken In Death," Eve Dallas must save two frightened but clever twins who use an electronic toy to help rescue them from a truly evil witch. In "If Wishes Were Horses," Blayney's inventive take on "Goldilocks," a series of misunderstandings nearly keeps two souls destined for each other apart, in spite of the best efforts of a magic wishing coin. In "Beauty, Sleeping," Fox spins the fairy tale on its head and updates it in a winning way with a modern-day prince bewitched into a ghostly existence by a scorned fairy and the woman who must bring him back to life to save him. McComas fetchingly combines elements from the tragic "Little Matchstick Girl" with a virtually unknown Brothers Grimm fable, "The Star Money," and updates them to a contemporary fairy tale that has readers simultaneously wanting to strangle and celebrate the heroine-with-a-heart of gold, Natalie, and feeling very grateful for her vigilant, love-struck guardian cop, Miles, in "The Christmas Comet." Finally, in "Stroke of Midnight," Ryan pens a modern-day Cinderella story that uses engaging facets of the traditional and Disney versions of the classic and turns them inside out for a completely novel take on the tale. The stories are smoothly written and refreshingly original, with likable characters and magical aspects that will keep the romance audience invested. Modern readers may perhaps be a little annoyed with Sydney, who seems to be too much under the thumb of a stepmother whom she should be well rid of yet is too easily swayed by, even though she herself knows the woman is wretched; and also with Natalie, who is generous to a major fault. Yet, the stories are enchanting, and since it all works out in the end, in sigh-worthy ways, readers will be quick to forgive flaws. Clever, winsome and fun fairy-tale fare.

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