Annie 's Reviews > Mirror, Mirror

MIRROR, MIRROR is an anthology comprised of five authors: J.D. Robb, Mary Blayney, Elaine Fox, Mary Kay McComas and R.C. Ryan. Of these five, I’ve only read Robb so I decided that it would be nice to explore the works of the others while still getting my Roarke fix!

What intrigued me about this anthology is that all the stories in this book are retellings or twists on well-known fairytales and we all know that I’m a sucker for those kind of things!

TAKEN IN DEATH by J.D. Robb – 4 stars

Robb’s story is based loosely on Hansel and Gretel and whoa, it’s a little chilling. The villain is a different kind of crazy! She harbors extreme jealous for her sister who has lived a great life. As someone who believes in witchcraft and cannibalism, this crazy woman kills the nanny taking care of her sister’s children and kidnaps the poor seven year old twins to use them as leverage over her sister. It’s a dramatic event that leads to a rollercoaster of emotions. I felt a spike in my pulse as I read this book, it was that suspenseful ! Robb does a fantastic job of taking the moving parts of the fairytale and make it her own. It’s such a well-done story that I’m surprised it’s only a short one. Robb is just so talented.

IF WISHES WERE HORSES – 3 stars

Mary Blayney’s story is a historical that deals with a magical coin that changes the lives of whoever wishes on it. While not my favorite of the series, I did enjoy the story and think that I could be persuaded to try more of Blayney’s work. As I said, this is the first of her novellas that I have tried and I believe that she plans to write more novellas that are all Regency set and revolve around this magical element.

BEAUTY, SLEEPING by Elaine Fox – 3.5 stars

Now this story was very very entertaining. Never having read this author before, I thought this story would be a little more somber in tone. It definitely wasn’t! It’s fun, flirty and quite funny too. I loved the upbeat narration. I read this book in the middle of the night and found myself smiling as I read it. It just enlivened my senses and brought a big smile to my face. I think after having read this unique take on Sleeping Beauty, I will want to read more from Fox. Her writing is so much fun!

THE CHRISTMAS COMET by Mary Kay McComas – 3 stars

McComas’ story is a mixture of two fairytales that I’m not very familiar with so I don’t think I could appreciate the author’s take on this tale as much as the others. However, I will say that it was enjoyable to read. McComas chose to be inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s THE LITTLE MATCHSTICK GIRL and Brothers Grimm’s THE STAR MONEY.

STOKE OF MIDNIGHT by R.C. Ryan – 3 stars

R.C. is another author I haven’t read but I do like the writing style of. STROKE OF MIDNIGHT is Sydney and Cullen’s story. I don’t think this one was my favorite of the collection but I have had my eye of Ryan’s other work so I may try thought instead.

I am actually quite surprised by the wide variety of sub-genres that this anthology has. Usually you have authors put together who have a similar style or are from the same genre, but this one seems to jump around and give readers a bit of everything.

*ARC provided by publisher