Heidi Anne Heiner's Blog, page 43

Fairy Tales in Strategy Board Games Deal of the Day at Amazon

There is a great sale on Amazon for today--Strategy Board Games Deal of the Day--with a lot of wonderful games. This sale is an annual tradition on Amazon and every year I get a few new games for my family.

The selection of games on sale this year is impressive and I want more than I am purchasing myself. This is the sale that inspired me to buy Dixit several years ago which has become a family favorite. Dixit has some fun fairy tale imagery in it across the different versions. The original version, the one on sale today, is still one of our favorites however.

One of the games I did purchase today is Rumpelstiltskin Card Game. I feel like I should give that game--since I just discovered it thanks to the sale--its own post. So I will. But I do recommend checking out the sale if you like games at all. I highly recommend Dixit, obviously. And Ticket To Ride - Europe and others!

December SurLaLune Giveaway: What Fairy Tale Things Are On Your Holiday Wish List?

It's December! Time to give away a few books! So what better way to solicit giveaway entries than to ask you what fairy tale related gift you want this year for whatever December holiday(s) you celebrate?

Share your fairy tale related wish list for this year either through a comment to this blog post or through an email to me. Each wish list item, up to five items, will count as a giveaway entry.

I'll make posts of your wishlists to share with other readers here since at least I am always curious and several others have asked me to share so they might find new treasures, too. Entries will be accepted through Thursday, December 31st so you can also come back and share what you may have received, too!

You will get one giveaway entry for each item you share.

I will draw random winners from the entries in early January and giveaway to three winners a SurLaLune Fairy Tales library title of their choice. There 10 titles to choose from and this way you won't have to win a title you may already own. And, no, list price doesn't matter. So choose one of the bigger books if that is what you want!

Bargain Ebook: Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon Hale for $3.50

Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon Hale has dropped from $7.99 temporarily to $3.50. I haven't seen this one on sale before. It's a graphic novel so reading on an ereader may vary by person, but it's definitely a worthwhile read and well worth the full price let alone the sale price.

Book description:

Rapunzel escapes her tower-prison all on her own, only to discover a world beyond what she'd ever known before. Determined to rescue her real mother and to seek revenge on her kidnapper would-be mother, Rapunzel and her very long braids team up with Jack (of Beanstalk fame) and together they perform daring deeds and rescues all over the western landscape, eventually winning the justice they so well deserve.

Bargain Ebook: Sunshine by Robin McKinley for $1.99

Sunshine by Robin McKinley is on sale again for $1.99 in ebook format. This is a Beauty and the Beast story, McKinley's own catnip.

Book description:

Winner of the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature: In a world where darkness threatens, there is Sunshine . . .

Although it had been mostly deserted since the Voodoo Wars, there hadn’t been any trouble out at the lake for years. Rae Seddon, nicknamed Sunshine, head baker at her family’s busy and popular café in downtown New Arcadia, needed a place to get away from all the noise and confusion—of the clientele and her family. Just for a few hours. Just to be able to hear herself think.

She knew about the Others, of course. Everyone did. And several of her family’s best regular customers were from SOF—Special Other Forces—which had been created to deal with the threat and the danger of the Others.

She drove out to her family’s old lakeside cabin and sat on the porch, swinging her feet and enjoying the silence and the silver moonlight on the water.

She never heard them coming. Of course, you don’t when they’re vampires.

Bargain Ebook: The Door in the Hedge: And Other Stories by Robin McKinley for $1.99

Glory be! My ebook library of Robin McKinley's works is increasing to nearly match what I own in paper. The Door in the Hedge: And Other Stories by Robin McKinley is bargain priced for the month at $1.99 and just justified my owning another edition of this book. Not that I need justification, but I do own it already so it helps to own it again in another format at a low price.

Book description:

Ensorcelled princesses . . . a frog that speaks . . . a magical hind—Newbery Medal winner Robin McKinley opens a door into an enchanted world in this collection of original and retold fairy tales

The last mortal kingdom before the unmeasured sweep of Faerieland begins has at best held an uneasy truce with its unpredictable neighbor. There is nothing to show a boundary, at least on the mortal side of it; and if any ordinary human creature ever saw a faerie—or at any rate recognized one—it was never mentioned; but the existence of the boundary and of faeries beyond it is never in doubt either.

So begins “The Stolen Princess,” the first story of this collection, about the meeting between the human princess Linadel and the faerie prince Donathor. “The Princess and the Frog” concerns Rana and her unexpected alliance with a small, green, flipper-footed denizen of a pond in the palace gardens. “The Hunting of the Hind” tells of a princess who has bewitched her beloved brother, hoping to beg some magic of cure, for her brother is dying, and the last tale is a retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses in which an old soldier discovers, with a little help from a lavender-eyed witch, the surprising truth about where the princesses dance their shoes to tatters every night.

Bargain Ebook: A Wicked Thing by Rhiannon Thomas for $1.99

A Wicked Thing by Rhiannon Thomas is bargain priced this month (or less) for $1.99. This one is a Sleeping Beauty retelling if that is your particular catnip.

And it should be no surprise that the sequel, Kingdom of Ashes, will be released in February 2016.

Book description:

Rhiannon Thomas's dazzling debut novel is a spellbinding reimagining of what happens after happily ever after. Vividly imagined scenes of action, romance, and political intrigue are seamlessly woven together to reveal a richly created world . . . and Sleeping Beauty as she's never been seen before.

One hundred years after falling asleep, Princess Aurora wakes up to the kiss of a handsome prince and a broken kingdom that has been dreaming of her return. All the books say that she should be living happily ever after. But as Aurora understands all too well, the truth is nothing like the fairy tale.

Her family is long dead. Her "true love" is a kind stranger. And her whole life has been planned out by political foes while she slept.

As Aurora struggles to make sense of her new world, she begins to fear that the curse has left its mark on her, a fiery and dangerous thing that might be as wicked as the witch who once ensnared her. With her wedding day drawing near, Aurora must make the ultimate decision on how to save her kingdom: marry the prince or run.

Bargain Ebook: Stray (Four Sisters Book 1) by Elissa Sussman for $1.99

Stray (Four Sisters Book 1) by Elissa Sussman is on sale for $1.99 in ebook format. I haven't read this one yet but now it is officially on the TBR list since I own it. This is your catnip, too, if you like stories about Fairy Godmothers. And apparently some fairy tales make an appearance, too.

The companion book to this one, Burn (Stray), will be released next month. Very often when a recent title is on sale, it means a sequel is nearing its release date!

Book description:

Epic, rewarding, and provocative, Elissa Sussman’s original fairy tale tells the story of Aislynn, a princess who misbehaves and must give up her royal trappings and enter a life of service as a fairy godmother. Booklist wrote, “Sussman delightfully mixed dystopian tension with retold fairy tales, and the result is something wholly original.”

A cross between The Handmaid’s Tale and Wicked, with a dash of Grimm and Disney thrown in, this original fairy tale is part coming-of-age story, part adventure, part sweet romance. Will Aislynn remain true to her vows and her royal family and turn away from everything she longs for? Or will she stray from The Path and discover her own way? Includes a recipe for Fairy Godmother Bookbinder Bread, and a map.

Bargain Ebook: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas is on sale for $3.64 in ebook format at the moment. It was released earlier this year and this is the first time it has been discounted.

And why should you get it? Because it is a Tam Lin retelling and we collect those. Or I guess I do. So I have it.

Book description:

Perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore and George R.R. Martin, this first book in a sexy and action-packed new series is impossible to put down!

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin--one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow over the faerie lands is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin--and his world--forever.

Bargain Ebook: Someone's Been Sleeping In My Bed by Linda Jones for $.99

Someone's Been Sleeping In My Bed by Linda Jones is another ebook reprint of an out of print book originally published by another publisher. It is on sale today for 99 cents. This is a very rare example of a full length novel--a romance--inspired by The Three Bears. It is usually priced in the $4 range.

Book description:

Of late, life had hardly been a fairy tale for the lovely, golden-haired Maddalyn Kelly. Nearly killed in a stagecoach robbery, the beautiful blonde escaped deep into the forest of Wyoming. This was a far cry from the simple life she had planned for herself as a modest schoolteacher. Hungry, lost, and weary, Maddalyn finally came upon a cozy mountaintop cabin. There were three of everything: three delicious meals, three comfortable chairs, and three warm beds. She could not help dozing for just a moment . . . Maddalyn quickly learned that the cabin belonged to three burly and intimidating brothers: Karl, Conrad, and Eric Barrett. She had eaten Eric's food, slept in Eric's bed. He seemed a wild animal, but did his gruff manner belie a softer side? Feisty Maddalyn was determined to find out . . .

Bargain Ebook: Fair Peril by Nancy Springer for $1.99

Fair Peril by Nancy Springer is an ebook reprint of a now out of print book originally published by another publisher. The book is on sale today for $1.99 and is a Frog Prince retelling with a modern setting. The original cover was:


Book description:

The art of storytelling and the power of a mother’s love imbue this feminist fantasy novel—a contemporary riff on the tale of the frog prince

Once upon a time there was a middle-aged woman whose husband dumped her the month after their twentieth anniversary . . .

Divorced, overweight Buffy Murphy is not a happy camper. One April afternoon, she walks into the woods . . . and meets a talking bullfrog. He asks her to kiss him so he can transform back into his princely self. This being modern-day Pennsylvania, Buffy figures she’s better off with a talking amphibian than a cheating husband, so she takes him home. The fun really starts when her rebellious teenage daughter, Emily, kisses him.

Suddenly, Emily and her handsome prince have vanished into the land of Fair Peril, an enchanted realm that can only be accessed through a portal in the local mall. Aided by a gay librarian named LeeVon and hindered by her fairy-godmother-in-law, Fay, Buffy shuttles back and forth between the real world and Fair Peril. Does Emily really want to be rescued, or does she just need someone to love her? It’s up to Buffy to figure out the key to reclaiming her daughter—and maybe herself, as well.