Romantic Fairy Tales


Book Description

The four works collected in this volume reveal the fascinating preoccupations of the German Romantic movement, which revelled in the inexplicable, the uncanny and the unknown and, especially, the mysterious world of the fairy tale. Goethe's richly imaginative Fairy Tale (1795) depicts an ethereal underground realm and the marriage of a beautiful man and woman, whose union heralds a new age. In Tieck's Eckbert the Fair (1797) two outsiders seek refuge in the solitude of dark woods to conceal their incestuous passion from the world, while in Fouque's Undine (1811) a water nymph falls in love and acquires a soul, and so discovers the reality of human suffering. And Brentano's Tale of Honest Casper and Fair Annie (1817) portrays the tragedy of a young couple, destroyed by a false sense of honour and pride.




Love, Power, and Gender in Seventeenth-Century French Fairy Tales


Book Description

Love is a key ingredient in the stereotypical fairy-tale ending in which everyone lives happily ever after. This romantic formula continues to influence contemporary ideas about love and marriage, but it ignores the history of love as an emotion that shapes and is shaped by hierarchies of power including gender, class, education, and social status. This interdisciplinary study questions the idealization of love as the ultimate happy ending by showing how the conteuses, the women writers who dominated the first French fairy-tale vogue in the 1690s, used the fairy-tale genre to critique the power dynamics of courtship and marriage. Their tales do not sit comfortably in the fairy-tale canon as they explore the good, the bad, and the ugly effects of love and marriage on the lives of their heroines. Bronwyn Reddan argues that the conteuses' scripts for love emphasize the importance of gender in determining the "right" way to love in seventeenth-century France. Their version of fairy-tale love is historical and contingent rather than universal and timeless. This conversation about love compels revision of the happily-ever-after narrative and offers incisive commentary on the gendered scripts for the performance of love in courtship and marriage in seventeenth-century France.




Fairy Tales in Contemporary American Culture


Book Description

In the twenty-first century, American culture is experiencing a profound shift toward pluralism and secularization. In Fairy Tales in Contemporary American Culture: How We Hate to Love Them, Kate Koppy argues that the increasing popularity and presence of fairy tales within American culture is both indicative of and contributing to this shift. By analyzing contemporary fairy tale texts as both new versions in a particular tale type and as wholly new fairy-tale pastiches, Koppy shows that fairy tales have become a key part of American secular scripture, a corpus of shared stories that work to maintain a sense of community among diverse audiences in the United States, as much as biblical scripture and associated texts used to.




Lustfully Ever After


Book Description

In Lustfully Ever After, classic fairy tales are reimagined for an adult audience with twists (and kinks) to keep readers entertained. In Michelle Augello-Page's romantically charged BDSM tale "Wolf Moon," Little Red Riding Hood is the big bad wolf, while Kristina Lloyd rewrites "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" as a scorching hot MFM threesome in "The Shoes That Were Danced to Pieces." Shanna Germain's "Mirror Mirror" shows the sensual Sapphic side of Snow White's stepmother and Andrea Dale pens a contemporary version of "The Steadfast Tin Soldier" in the poignantly erotic "Steadfast." This delightful collection of fairy tales will lead you down a magical path into forbidden romance and erotic love. You won’t need those bread crumbs to find your way home—for home is where the heart is and the authors of Lustfully Ever After know your heart’s most wicked and secret desires.




Decoding Love


Book Description

Fairy tales and romantic stories have shaped our thinking about relationships for centuries. Researchers today are making fascinating, and often shocking, discoveries about how, why, and when we choose our partners.




Maiden & Princess


Book Description

In this modern fairy tale, a strong, brave maiden is invited to attend the prince's royal ball, but at the dance, she ends up finding true love in a most surprising place. "The prince is smart and strong," she confided in her mother. "But if I'm being honest, I see him as a brother." Her mother said, "Just go! And have a bit of fun. The prince might not be right, but you could meet the one." Once in a faraway kingdom, a strong, brave maiden is invited to attend the prince's royal ball, but she's not as excited to go as everyone else. After her mother convinces her to make an appearance, she makes a huge impression on everyone present, from the villagers to the king and queen, but she ends up finding true love in a most surprising place. This book is published in partnership with GLAAD to accelerate LGBTQ inclusivity and acceptance.




Paladin's Strength


Book Description

From two-time Hugo Award-winning author T. Kingfisher comes Paladin's Strength, the perfect blend of cosy fantasy romance and classic fantasy adventure featuring an order of secretive nuns, a swashbuckling paladin and a strange hive of rabbits. He's a paladin of a dead god, tracking a supernatural killer across a continent. She's a nun from a secretive order, on the trail of the raiders who burned her convent and kidnapped her sisters. When their paths cross at the point of a sword, Istvhan and Clara will be pitched headlong into each other's quests, facing off against enemies both living and dead. But Clara has a secret that could jeopardize the growing trust between them, a secret that will lead them to the gladiatorial pits of a corrupt city, and beyond... Praise for T. Kingfisher: 'T. Kingfisher solidifies her place as natural and inevitable heir to the greats of her genre, while remaining clearly and unquestionably a unique voice in fantasy' Seanan McGuire 'Exciting, deeply wise, sad, brutal and compassionate all at once. And beautifully written, with a plot as cunning as fine embroidery' Catriona Ward 'Creepy, funny, heartfelt, and full of fantastic characters I absolutely loved' Melissa Caruso, author of The Tethered Mage "Nettle & Bone brings Kingfisher's signature honesty and authenticity to a fairy tale setting: the result is refreshing, earnest but not naive, and deeply satisfying. I devoured it. This is one that's going to stay with me for a long time' Sarah Gailey, author of Magic for Liars 'A delight throughout' Louisa Morgan, author of A Secret History of Witches 'T. Kingfisher uses the bones of fairy tale to create something entirely her own, written in gloriously clear and transparent prose' Emily Tesh, author of Some Desperate Glory 'Funny, frightening, and full of heart; I loved it' Alix E. Harrow, author of The Ten Thousand Doors of January 'Charming and macabre, often both at the same time' A. K. Larkwood, author of The Unspoken Name 'Absolutely delightful and full of charm and truth' Naomi Novik, on Thornhedge




Beyond the Glass Slipper


Book Description

Some fairy tales everyone knows-these aren't those tales. These are tales of kings who get deposed and pigs who get married. These are ten tales, much neglected. Editor of Enchanted Conversation: A Fairy Tale Magazine, Kate Wolford, introduces and annotates each tale in a manner that won't leave novices of fairy tale studies lost in the woods to grandmother's house, yet with a depth of research and a delight in posing intriguing puzzles that will cause folklorists and savvy readers to find this collection a delicious new delicacy.Beyond the Glass Slipper is about more than just reading fairy tales-it's about connecting to them. It's about thinking of the fairy tale as a precursor to Saturday Night Live as much as it is to any princess-movie franchise: the tales within these pages abound with outrageous spectacle and absurdist vignettes, ripe with humor that pokes fun at ourselves and our society.Never stuffy or pedantic, Kate Wolford proves she's the college professor you always wish you had: smart, nurturing, and plugged into pop culture. Wolford invites us into a discussion of how these tales fit into our modern cinematic lives and connect the larger body of fairy tales, then asks-no, insists-that we create our own theories and connections. A thinking man's first step into an ocean of little known folklore.




A Different Kind of Fairy Tale


Book Description

Stella and Alex have been best friends since the day Stella moved into Spring Towers Apartments three years ago. Alex reminded himself time after time that Stella was just one of the guys and completely off limits in all things romantic. That is until she needs a boyfriend immediately when her ex shows up engaged to the woman he cheated on her with. Alex comes to her rescue, but very quickly fantasy becomes reality and the sparks fly. Hidden feelings are shared and a new love blossoms in this quirky friends to lovers romance. But when football loving Stella's ex-best friend Heidi sets a course for Alex, will this new couple weather the storm, or will history repeat itself once again?




The Shadow & the Sun


Book Description

Among the living or the dead, he's never needed anything from anyone. Shadow Mage Gethen is a powerful necromancer, keeper of the border between the living and the dead, and brother to the king of Besera. But with his dark powers failing and a vengeful entity attacking, Gethen should be happy when a formidable lady knight appears at his gates. He's not. The price for her aid is steep-his allegiance in a war against his brother. In battle or in bed, she's never met a man she considered her match. Militess Halina is undaunted by the threat of war between her country and neighboring Besera. She earned her titles by shedding blood and breaking bones. She uses her body to reward soldiers who serve her loyally and to punish those who don't. And Halina's never met a man she couldn't command or crush. Until now. Passion and power unexpectedly ignite when a blizzard traps Halina at Gethen's citadel. With the evil entity's onslaughts rapidly deteriorating Gethen's sorcery, they have little time to understand their unexpected attraction. But could their passion be the key to defeating an ancient enemy that's hell-bent on obliterating their world? The Shadow & The Sun combines the sword & sorcery elements of epic fantasy with paranormal elements and wraps them around a romance. It also includes a powerful heroine who makes no apologies for being a woman and a warrior, who uses her body and her mind, and who will never be confused for a damsel in distress.