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.

Fairytale Gloom

Fairytale Gloom, by Atlas Games, is part of their Gloom series but is standalone and doesn't require the other versions of Gloom or familiarity with them. Here are some of the game cards. There are definitely familiar fairy tales included.

The biggest criticism I am seeing for the game is that it is better to play with creative people. That is my same observation with my beloved Dixit. It's my family's favorite game but when I tried it with a bunch of teenagers, it wasn't as successful. Not a failure, just not as creatively fun as when my family (ranging in ages from 8 to 69) plays it.

Game description:

The Game of Grim Incidents
and Unhappily-Ever-Afters

A fairytale toad in a prince's crownLet's face it: Fairy tales are awful. Wolves and old women eat children, giants fall from the sky, and even young girls break-and-enter to steal porridge from unsuspecting families.

In Fairytale Gloom, custom collections of fairy tale characters like Jack, Gretel, Puss in Boots, and Little Red Riding Hood do their best to stay happy, but circumstances conspire to rain woe on their sad, benighted heads.

These heroes become beasts, give up on Grandma, and cry wolf once too often. Even though they look into magic mirrors and kill golden geese, most end their days living in giant shoes… or worse.

Eventually, enough Unhappy Endings come to pass that the game ends. And then? The most miserable collection of characters wins.

Fairytale Gloom is a stand-alone game that's also compatible with all existing Gloom core games and expansions.

In Fairytale Gloom…
Each player chooses their own collection of fairy tale protagonists.
Modifiers add or subtract points. You could play "Dwelt With Some Dwarfs" on "Rapunzel," for example.
Unhappy Endings lock in points for good or ill. Perhaps "Goldilocks" "Cried Wolf Once Too Often."
It's all about storytelling: Players weave tales around what comes to pass. What happened, exactly, when "Joe the Giant" "Married a Murderer?"
With transparent cards, the points you can see are the points in play — it's that simple!

Designer: Keith Baker | Artist: Jaume Fabregat
Stock Number: AG1332 | ISBN: 978-1-58978-158-0 | MSRP: $24.95 US
Format: Two decks of 55 transparent cards, and a rules sheet in a tuckbox
Release Date: June 2015

New Book: The Fairy-Tale Matchmaker by E. D. Baker

The Fairy-Tale Matchmaker by E. D. Baker is another new release this week. Baker is perhaps the most prolific fairy tale author right now and this is the start of a new series--her third with fairy tale inspirations--that hints at a fairy godmother theme in the book description. Do I smell a publishing trend in Fairy Godmothers? I hope so!

Book description:

Cory is a young tooth fairy in training who wants to be anything but that, except there's no way the Tooth Fairy Guild or her mother will let that happen. After yet another bad night on the job, Cory quits to explore other things—like babysitting an adventurous Humpty Dumpty, helping Suzy organize seashells by the seashore, and attempting to finally rid the spiders that plague Marjorie Muffet. But it isn't until Marjorie asks Cory to help set her up with a boy that Cory taps into a power s he never knew she had. As she tries to understand her new-found romantic visions, will Cory finally discover her own true path?

Just as she did with her Wide-Awake Princess series, E. D. Baker spins a tale that is poised to launch her to the top of the fairy tale canon with a new series that fans of Gail Carson Levine and Diana Wynne Jones.

New Book: Stray (Four Sisters) by Elissa Sussman

Tomorrow, October 7th, is one of the biggest fairy tale release days of 2014. When I say "big," I mean that there are several fairy tale related titles released tomorrow. So expect a lot of book posts this week. I thought I would start with one of the more unusual and thus intriguing to me titles: Stray (Four Sisters) by Elissa Sussman. It's intriguing because it is about fairy godmothers. I've mentioned trends in Prince Charming and Baba Yaga and I'm all for a fairy godmother trend if that is starting.

Book description from Amazon, comparison heavy for marketing:

A cross between The Handmaid's Tale and Wicked, with a dash of Grimm and Disney thrown in, Stray is part coming-of-age story, part fairy tale, part adventure, part sweet romance.

Stray 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. 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? Epic, rewarding, and provocative, Stray will appeal to readers of Entwined, by Heather Dixon; to those who grew up watching the Disney princess movies; and to fans of the acclaimed musicals Into the Woods and Wicked.

I'm also curious to know if other fairy tales make an appearance, say those with a fairy godmother in them. And the real question is which Wicked are they referencing there? The musical or the book? Cause that's a wide range of atmosphere. And then throw in Handmaid's Tale and I think the powers that be may be overmarketing this one as dark and dreary without realizing it to savvy readers who know their books because the book flap description below is much less dark in tone. I have a feeling TPTB mean Wicked the Musical which is more appealing to a wider audience in my experience.

And from the book cover which is more helpful:

Princess Aislynn has long dreamed about attending her Introduction Ball, about dancing with the handsome suitors her adviser has chosen for her, about meeting her true love and starting her happily ever after.

When the night of the ball finally arrives and Nerine Academy is awash with roses and royalty, Aislynn wants nothing more than to dance the night away, dutifully following the Path that has been laid out for her. She does not intend to stray.

But try as she might, Aislynn has never quite managed to control the magic that burns within her—magic brought on by wicked, terrible desires that threaten the Path she has vowed to take.

After all, it is wrong to want what you do not need. Isn't it?

About the Author

Elissa Sussman received her BA from Sarah Lawrence College and in a previous life managed animators and organized spreadsheets at some of the best animation studios in the world, including Nickelodeon, Disney, DreamWorks, and Sony Imageworks. You can find her name in the credits of The Croods, Hotel Transylvania, The Princess and the Frog, and Tangled. She lives in Los Angeles with her boyfriend and their rescue dog, Basil. Stray is her first novel.

Bargain Ebook: My Unfair Godmother by Janette Rallison

My Unfair Godmother by Janette Rallison is on sale today only for $1.99 in ebook format. This is the first time this one has been discounted to my knowledge. It is the sequel to My Fair Godmother which has been discounted previously.

Book description:

After her parents' divorce Tansy never really felt like her life got back to normal. And now that her too-busy parents and their respective new spouses don't seem to have time for her, Tansy has been sent to live with her semi-neurotic grandmother. After one incident involving a bad date, a can of spray paint, and the police, Tansy fears she is doomed for life. Enter Chrissy Everstar, Tansy's fairy in shining er... high heels. With three wishes to help set her life right, Tansy is taken along for a ride that includes Robin Hood and his Merry Men, who turn out to be trouble when they steal from the rich in her town. When the police chief's son, Hudson, sees Tansy hanging out with these fairy tale criminals, she'll have some serious explaining to do. That's if Tansy can find a way to stop spinning gold and undo the "help" that Chrissy has bestowed.

Books: The Fairy Godmother Dilemma by Danyelle Leafty

The Fairy Godmother Dilemma: Catspell and The Fairy Godmother Dilemma: Firespell and The Fairy Godmother Dilemma: Applespell by Danyelle Leafty comprise a trilogy of books about fairy godmothers. And fairy godmothers are always popular around here, so I had to share. Through the end of March, the royalties for Catspell are also going to Kindles for Kids.

Book description for The Fairy Godmother Dilemma: Catspell:

Sixteen-year-old Breena never thought anything could be worse than being forced to leave the faerie realm. Then she got stuck with a fairy godmother. But if she has to choose between the two, she’d leave the Faerie Realm over getting bossed about by a faerie with a pointed stick any day. Unfortunately, her attempt to evade her fairy godmother gives her growing pains in the form of fur, whiskers, and a tail.

Turning into a cat is the least of her worries, though. The potion wasn’t meant to bring out her inner feline, it was meant to put her to sleep. Forever. If Breena wants to make it to her Happily Ever After, she’ll have to accept that sometimes a fairy godmother really does come in handy, after all.

Book description for The Fairy Godmother Dilemma: Firespell:

The fairy godmother dilemma continues in book two: Firespell.

When Alora’s Prince Charming is chosen due to political expediency, she tries to put her best foot forward. But thanks to a magical mishap, her feet are webbed and her body resembles that of an overgrown goose.

Her brother creates a charm that enables her to look human from moonrise until moonset, so she sets out hoping she can convince the prince she is a girl, rather than the main course. Alora soon learns that she isn’t the only one with secrets after she stumbles upon an ancient plot that would warp the threads of magic holding the land together. When her plan to foil the plot ends up with her Prince-Charming-to-be walking into a trap, Alora finds herself caught between an age old grudge and the most powerful creature in the world: the Firebird.

What she needs is a fairy godmother. What she gets is a frog.

Book description for The Fairy Godmother Dilemma: Applespell:

Book Three in The Fairy Godmother Dilemma Series.

When the faerie queen is unable to revive Mara, Nerissa decides that she's done with fairy godmothering, finished with being a winged problem solver, and no longer willing to deal with the heartbreak that comes from wishes, wings, and wands.

She is not, however, going to give up dealing with DIDs. (Damsels in Distress)

But now, rather than mopping up messes and helping them achieve their perfect Happily Every After, she must stand in the way of the DIDs and their Prince Charmings. A good wicked faerie never rests until she uncovers an Unhappily Ever After, and Nerissa is nothing, if not dedicated.

She has already chosen her new DIDs--a girl named Snow White, and her sister Rose Red.

As the tale unfolds, Nerissa soon learns that being a wicked faerie isn't all that different from being a fairy godmother. It's all in the application--and where the heart lies.

Extraordinary by Adam Selzer

Released today: Extraordinary*: *The True Story of My Fairygodparent, Who Almost Killed Me, and Certainly Never Made Me a Princess by Adam Selzer.Which appears to win the prize of "cutest" title in a while. Yes, it sounds like it could be related to Ella Enchanted in plot devices, but it is modern and may appeal to some of the readers in your life. The cover looks more like a B-Grade movie poster, but I'm not the target audience am I? I know I sound jaded, but the book and its author sound like fun, yet the title and cover are somehow off-putting to me. I'll await more buzz and see if it is liked by its primary audience.

Here's the usual:

From the publisher:

Jennifer Van Der Berg would like you to know that the book ostensibly written about her—Born to Be Extraordinary by Eileen Codlin—is a bunch of bunk. Yes, she had a fairy godparent mess with her life, but no, she was not made into a princess or given the gift of self-confidence, and she sure as hell didn't get a hot boyfriend out of it.
Here's the REAL scoop . . .

About the Author

Adam Selzer was born in Des Moines and now lives in Chicago, where he writes humorous books for young readers by day and runs ghost tours by night. (If you can find two cooler jobs than those, take them!) He is the author of I Kissed a Zombie, and I Liked It, The Smart Aleck's Guide to American History, Andrew North Blows Up the World, I Put a Spell on You, Pirates of the Retail Wasteland, and How to Get Suspended and Influence People, and he is just famous enough to have a page on Wikipedia. Check him out on the Web at adamselzer.com.

Bargain Book: My Fair Godmother by Janette Rallison

My Fair Godmother by Janette Rallison is currently bargain priced in ebook edition for $1.99 on Amazon. I've featured the book and its sequel--My Unfair Godmother--here on the blog previously but here is your chance to try it out at a great price if you haven't yet.

Book description from the publisher:

After her boyfriend dumps her for her older sister, sophomore Savannah wishes she could find a true prince to take her to the prom. Enter Chrysanthemum Everstar: Savannah's gum-chewing, cell phone-carrying, high heel-wearing Fair Godmother. Despite a few wish-granting mishaps, Savannah's fairy-tale ending might not be as far off as she imagined.

Bargain Book: How to Ditch Your Fairy by Justine Larbalestier

How to Ditch Your Fairy by Justine Larbalestier is bargain priced as a Kindle ebook for $4.79 and in hardcover for $6.45 right now. This is a fun one and might be of interest to Larbalestier fans although then you probably already own it. Since there is a subset of you interested in fairy godmothers this one might be of particular interest with its different twist on the fairy stuff so I thought I would share it here.

Book description from the publisher:

Welcome to New Avalon, where everyone has a personal fairy. Though invisible to the naked eye, a personal fairy, like a specialized good luck charm, is vital to success. And in the case of the students at New Avalon Sports High, it might just determine whether you make the team, pass a class, or find that perfect outfit. But for 14-year-old Charlie, having a Parking Fairy is worse than having nothing at all—especially when the school bully carts her around like his own personal parking pass. Enter: The Plan. At first, teaming up with arch-enemy Fiorenza (who has an All-The-Boys-Like-You Fairy) seems like a great idea. But when Charlie unexpectedly gets her heart’s desire, it isn’t at all what she thought it would be like, and she’ll have resort to extraordinary measures to ditch her fairy. The question is: will Charlie herself survive the fairy ditching experiment? From the author of the acclaimed Magic or Madness trilogy, this is a delightful story of fairies, friendships, and figuring out how to make your own magic.