Showing posts with label romance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label romance. Show all posts

Sunday, July 5, 2015

"Desperately Ever After" (Book 1) - Review by Emily Rasely


"Desperately Ever After"

Book 1: Desperately Ever After Series

by Laura Kenyon

Review by Emily Rasely
Editor's Note: This is the first book in a series that had a lot of excellent reviews and been touted by many as 'not the romance novel you were expecting'. It's had acclaim in fiction-fantasy and humor categories, which is something unusual all by itself. I've been looking forward to seeing what our reviewer Emily has to say about it.
Jacket description: 

Imagine what might happen if our most beloved fairy tale princesses were the best of friends and had the dreams, dilemmas, and libidos of the modern woman. How would their stories unfold after the wedding bells stopped ringing? Set in a fictional realm based on New York City, DESPERATELY EVER AFTER sprinkles women’s fiction with elements of fantasy, and encourages readers to rethink everything they know about happy endings. 

Years after turning her husband from beast back to man and becoming his queen, Belle finds out she’s finally going to have a child. But before she can announce the wondrous news, she catches him cheating and watches her “happily ever after” go up in flames. Turning to her friends for the strength to land with grace, she realizes she’s not the only one at a crossroads: 

Cinderella, a mother of four drowning in royal duties, is facing her 30th birthday and questioning everything she’s done (or hasn’t) with her life. 

Rapunzel, a sex-crazed socialite and one-woman powerhouse, is on a self-destructive quest to make up for 20 years locked away in a tower. 

Penelopea, an outsider with a mother-in-law from hell, is harboring a secret that could ruin everything at any moment. 

One part Sex and the City, two parts Desperate Housewives, and three parts Brothers Grimm, DESPERATELY EVER AFTER picks up where the original tales left off—and reimagines them a la Gregory Maguire’s Wicked. With the wit of authors like Jennifer Weiner and the vision of ABC’s Once Upon a Time, the women of DESPERATELY EVER AFTER rescue each other from life’s trials with laughter, wine, and a scandalous new take on happily ever after.
Laura Kenyon’s Desperately Ever After series sits at the crossroad of traditional fairy tales and Sex in the City. In an alternate New York City, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and Beauty all struggle with their lives a decade or so after “happily ever after”. What happens, after all, when Beauty’s relationship runs its course?  What does romance look like for Cinderella and her prince after 10 years of running a kingdom and parenting 4 children? Questions like these are what this book is all about--with a little bit of magic, some glass slippers, and a fairy godmother or two. 

Too often, the debt modern romance novels and romantic comedies owe to fairy tale narrative structures goes unacknowledged.  However, Kenyon refreshingly takes readers beyond the familiar arc of courtship, love, and marriage. There aren’t enough stories about what relationships look like in practice. Desperately shows that post-honeymoon relationships certainly looks different than before and explores whether that difference is bad, interesting, fabulous, boring, or great. , 

By far, the highlight of this book is the friendship between the princesses. This element is particularly well developed and delightful as each have made incredibly different choices in their lives. This book gives them the time and space here to think about their decisions.  While some of them make changes in their lives and others choose to stay the course, each make informed and thoughtful choices. Both the princes and princesses are three dimensional characters with names, personalities, faults, hobbies, desires, and goals. It’s easy to empathize with them and the pressures they function under.  

 As a page-turning subversion, this novel will let fairy tale enthusiasts read beyond earlier endings of well-known tales. This makes it an ideal entry point to fairy tales for a wide range of readers interested in dipping their toes into the well of Perrault and the Grimms.
Disclosure: A complimentary copy of the book was sent by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Emily Rasely works with teens in a library by the sea and is a recovering academic who writes, reads, and thinks mostly about fairy tales, gender, queerness and cats.  When not playing minor-key Celtic tunes on her fiddle, she avidly tracks down obscure fairy tale anthologies and voraciously hordes anything written by Catherynne Valente.  As ever, she pursues that culinary Questing Beast, the perfect guacamole.

Friday, April 17, 2015

"Desperately Ever After" Double Sale Starts TODAY

Starting TODAY, author Laura Kenyon is having a "double ebook sale" on her popular Desperately Ever After novel and its sequel,  Damsels in Distress.

New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Evanovich says: “Laura Kenyon makes happily ever after desperately delicious!"
Adds Elizabeth Blackwell, author of While Beauty Slept:
"At times laugh-out-loud funny, and at times very touching, Desperately Ever After is the debut of a real talent.”
If you're not familiar with Laura Kenyon's series, just think:
Sex and the City + Desperate Housewives + Brothers Grimm = Desperately Ever After. 
Book One was named a 2014 National Indie Excellence Awards chick-lit finalist. In October, the e-book skyrocketed to the top of Amazon’s charts, hitting #49 and becoming the #1 Best Seller in each of its three categories: Women’s Humorous Fiction, Women’s Fantasy Fiction, and Paranormal Fantasy.
Laura explained more about what inspired her to write the series on her blog, some of which I thought I'd share, in case these books are new for you. (Excerpted from a two-part post):
Like so many women today, I grew up on Disney movies and fairy tales. 
Then… shocker… I grew up. I got to know the real world. I experienced heartbreak and cursed the very notion of “true love” as a bunch of poison we were all force fed as a generation. I took a second look at the tales I used to love and  wondered how each princess would have really felt in her situation. What would they have said if they had the freedom to do so? If their choices weren’t marriage, poverty or spinsterhood? If they had the luxury of deciding between the story’s chosen hero, someone else, or self-sufficient independence...
You can read more about the issues she explores in the rest of the post HERE, but for now, here's a good little summary. ;)
The sale details for the books, by country, are below:
In the US (Amazon.com -- ebook only):
• The price of Desperately Ever After drops to 99 cents on Friday, April 17, and steadily climbs back up until the sale ends at midnight (PST) April 24. Link: http://amzn.to/1zamP3j
• Damsels in Distress will be 99 cents from April 17 through April 23. Link: http://amzn.to/1DbMjkL

In the UK (Amazon.co.uk -- ebook only)
• Desperately Ever After will be 0.99 GBP from 8 a.m. (GMT) April 17 through April 23. Link: http://amzn.to/1ykox7c
• The price of Damsels in Distress drops to 0.99 GBP at 8 a.m. (GMT) April 17, and steadily climbs back up until the sale ends at midnight April 24. Link: http://amzn.to/1aKc9md
For more about the books, please visit http://laurakenyon.com/the-desperately-ever-after-series or see Laura's many links below:

Website: laurakenyon.com
Twitter: @laura_kenyon
Facebook: laurakenyonwrites
Goodreads: Laura Kenyon

Friday, February 19, 2010

True Love and Fairy Tales (Article)

Rapunzel and her Prince
by Emily Forgot

Part one of my two-part article "True Love and Fairy Tales" is now live at Supernatural Fairy Tales.

Here's the intro to get you started:
When most people think of love and fairy tales it tends to get boiled down to something like this:
Love-at-first-sight = true love = happily ever after (with maybe a task in the middle in which the hero proves just how far BEYOND the ends of the earth he’s willing to go for this true-love-at-first-sight-girl.)
The thing is, fairy tales are rarely like that at all, particularly if they’re about love...
You can keep reading HERE. Enjoy! (Part two is coming on March 4th.)

Monday, February 15, 2010

Beauty vs Beast? (Article)

Beauty & the Beast

I didn't post half of what I wanted to yesterday for Valentine's Day so please forgive me if I continue with this love and romance in fairy tales theme for a couple more days yet.

WARNING: CONTROVERSY AHEAD!

I've gone back and forth on whether to post the link to this but fairy tales don't shy away from dark and difficult issues so here goes:

I found this post, originally by Rod Van Mechelen quite a few years ago, at a site labeled "What Every Man Should Know About Feminist Issues". (You read the warning above, right?) It discusses the problems one man has in using "Beauty and the Beast" as an allegory for a successful marriage/relationship.

The article/post appears to have been written in response to a book called "Why Women Shouldn't Marry", which should tip you off to the strong feelings/opinions discussed. (In other words, it's one guy's complaint at feminist expectations (and treatments) of potential male partners. And no, I have not read that book.)

Please note: I do not agree with the points the writer of the article is trying to make, though I do not mean any disrespect. I actually think there's rather a lot wrong with the whole thing BUT at the same time I can understand some of the concerns the article writer has, as extreme as they are. The reason I'm posting a link here is because this is - apparently - how some people think, and it's a good example of the sorts of problems people have with using fairy tales as templates for relationships. (And yes, usually people of this mind have not read the originals or read fairy tales in general at all but are responding to the pop-cultural impression of the tropes.) It also is a different example of how fairy tales can be interpreted and how, even from a negative point of view, they can touch on deep issues.
Beauty and the beast
by Johanna Ost

Needless to say (but I will anyway) the post is written rather defensively in its presentation of worrying-yet-interesting ideas. If for nothing else, here's a great example of how some disillusioned or negative characters might think, which can be very useful for writers of fairy tale retellings.

Here's an excerpt:
The essence of the myth of the marriage relationship, as it is endlessly replayed in the timeless allegory Beauty and the Beast, is that marriage transforms the "Beast" into a man, and thereby empowers the "Beauty." But today's reality is that women are helping to transform most men into sex starved "Beasts" by eroticising themselves as evanescent "Beauties," and then promoting their sex as a scarce commodity by making men beg and pay for it.

Every woman who "plays hard to get" or lets men make all the first moves, plays a part in this.

Told you it may read as controversial! ;)

You can read the whole post HERE.

One final note: if you wish to leave a comment on the article (or this post) I welcome all points of view - I just ask that you please be respectful in choosing your words and be aware that issues like these can be emotional (and sometimes confusing) for people in their personal situations.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Wish You Were Part of a Fairy Tale Couple? You May Want to Think Again...

by Annie Leibovitz

Today is Valentine's Day and that means many things to many people. Not growing up in the US, Valentine's was not a day for kids. It was really to give a little push to couples who could use it - whether in declaring their unspoken feelings to new beaus or their long time partners. Of course, once Hallmark got a hold of the 'holiday', the pressure was on and now just having dinner with someone of February 14th is loaded with meaning. It's become a day full of unreal expectations and not many people are secure enough in themselves and their relationships to enjoy the day without feeling any pressures. Of course, the idea of 'a fairy tale romance' comes up a lot around today's date but if you really stop and think about it, fairy tale love isn't always what you might think.
Artist unknown

I have an article on "True Love and Fairy Tales" coming up in the next week at Supernatural Fairy Tales (so look out for that one) but for today I wanted to share something I found while researching: a priceless old blog post of Sarah Beth Durst's from 2008 on "Fairy Tale Couples".

If you're not aware of Sarah, you should be. She's written three fairy tale based books so far with her latest being "Ice", a retelling of "East Of the Sun, West of the Moon" (you can read my post on "Ice" HERE). In addition to telling a good story she's wonderfully funny on her blog and often takes a good hard look at fairy tales with her tongue firmly planted in her cheek.
The Prince sees Snow White by Margaret Tarrant

Here's an excerpt from "Fairy Tale Couples" in which she looks at the cons of fairy tale couples or:
WHY I DON'T WANT A FAIRY-TALE RELATIONSHIP (or Reasons to Buy the Card with Love Birds on it Instead)
Snow White and Prince
HER: Leaves her loyal friends after just one kiss.
HIM: Falls in love with a dead girl. Ick.
After a few other dubious fairy tale couple examples she goes on to the pros or:
WHY I'M GIVING MY HUSBAND THE CARD ANYWAY (or Why I Still Think Fairy-Tale Love is Romantic)
Snow White and Prince
As a wedding present, he lets her murder the evil witch. Now that's true love.
Development art by Gustav A. Tenggren for Disney's Snow White

It's not a long post but it's very funny and very smart. You'll find yourself laughing and both being thankful for what you have (or don't have - ick!) and finish reading with your fairy tale romance dreams still somehow intact. Go read the whole thing HERE (then go support her by buying her books, so she'll be able to write more great stuff - we need writers like Sarah!).

Thank you Sarah, and Happy Valentine's day everyone.