New Release: Reign of Shadows by Sophie Jordan

(Amazon US/UK Covers)

Reign of Shadows by Sophie Jordan is new this week. I have received a review copy but haven't read it yet. It has some definite inspiration from Rapunzel and other Maiden in the Tower tales and is the start of a series.

The Reign of Shadows (UK Edition) will be released on March 1, 2016.

Book description:

Destiny and darkness collide in this romantic, sweeping new fantasy series from New York Times bestselling author Sophie Jordan.

Seventeen years ago, an eclipse cloaked the kingdom of Relhok in perpetual darkness. In the chaos, an evil chancellor murdered the king and queen and seized their throne. Luna, Relhok's lost princess, has been hiding in a tower ever since. Luna's survival depends on the world believing she is dead.

But that doesn't stop Luna from wanting more. When she meets Fowler, a mysterious archer braving the woods outside her tower, Luna is drawn to him despite the risk. When the tower is attacked, Luna and Fowler escape together. But this world of darkness is more treacherous than Luna ever realized.

With every threat stacked against them, Luna and Fowler find solace in each other. But with secrets still unspoken between them, falling in love might be their most dangerous journey yet.

New Release: Wickedly Powerful: A Baba Yaga Novel by Deborah Blake

Wickedly Powerful: A Baba Yaga Novel by Deborah Blake is a new release this week. This is the third title in her Baba Yaga series.

Book description:

The author of Wickedly Wonderful returns to her “addicting” world of Russian witches in the latest Baba Yaga novel.

Known as the wicked witch of Russian fairy tales, Baba Yaga is not one woman, but rather a title carried by a chosen few. They keep the balance of nature and guard the borders of our world, but don’t make the mistake of crossing one of them…

The only thing more fiery than Bella Young’s red hair is her temper. She knows that a Baba Yaga’s power without strict control can leave the people she cares about burned, so to protect her heart—and everyone around her—the only company she keeps is her dragon-turned-Norwegian-Forest-cat, Koshka.

But when Bella is tasked with discovering who’s setting magical fires throughout Wyoming’s Black Hills, she finds herself working closely with former hotshots firefighter Sam Corbett—and falling hard for his quiet strength and charm.

Sam may bear the scars of his past, but Bella can see beyond them and would do anything to help him heal. Only before she can rescue her Prince Charming, she’ll have to overcome the mysterious foe setting the forest fires—a truly wicked witch who wields as much power and even more anger than Bella...

Bargain Ebook: Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson

Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson is on sale this month in ebook format for $2.99, down from the usual $9.99 range. Hopkinson uses folklore in her novels and this one uses some Robin Hood and other tale types.

Book description:

It's Carnival time and the Caribbean-colonized planet of Toussaint is celebrating with music, dance, and pageantry. Masked "Midnight Robbers" waylay revelers with brandished weapons and spellbinding words. To young Tan-Tan, the Robber Queen is simply a favorite costume to wear at the festival-until her power-corrupted father commits an unforgiveable crime.

Suddenly, both father and daughter are thrust into the brutal world of New Half-Way Tree. Here monstrous creatures from folklore are real, and the humans are violent outcasts in the wilds. Tan-Tan must reach into the heart of myth and become the Robber Queen herself. For only the Robber Queen's legendary powers can save her life . . . and set her free.

Kindle Daily Deal: The Seventh Bride by T. Kingfisher for $1.99

The Seventh Bride by T. Kingfisher is one of the Kindle Daily Deals on sale for $1.99 TODAY ONLY. This is a Bluebeard retelling with some unusual twists.

Book description:

Young Rhea is a miller’s daughter of low birth, so she is understandably surprised when a mysterious nobleman, Lord Crevan, shows up on her doorstep and proposes marriage. Since commoners don’t turn down lords—no matter how sinister they may seem—Rhea is forced to agree to the engagement.

Lord Crevan demands that Rhea visit his remote manor before their wedding. Upon arrival, she discovers that not only was her betrothed married six times before, but his previous wives are all imprisoned in his enchanted castle. Determined not to share their same fate, Rhea asserts her desire for freedom. In answer, Lord Crevan gives Rhea a series of magical tasks to complete, with the threat “Come back before dawn, or else I’ll marry you.”

With time running out and each task more dangerous and bizarre than the last, Rhea must use her resourcefulness, compassion, and bravery to rally the other wives and defeat the sorcerer before he binds her to him forever.

New Book: Beauty, Beast, and Belladonna (A Fairy Tale Fatal Mystery) by Maia Chance

Beauty, Beast, and Belladonna (A Fairy Tale Fatal Mystery) by Maia Chance is officially released this week. This is the third in the cozy mystery series that started with 2014's release of Snow White Red-Handed (A Fairy Tale Fatal Mystery) and continued with the 2015 release of Cinderella Six Feet Under (A Fairy Tale Fatal Mystery)

Maia shared a guest post in 2015 when the series was launched. Read the SurLaLune post at Guest Post: Maia Chance, Author of Snow White Red-Handed and the book announcement at Snow White Red-Handed (A Fairy Tale Fatal Mystery) by Maia Chance.

Book description:

From the author of Cinderella Six Feet Under, a beauty must solve a beastly murder.

Variety hall actress Ophelia Flax knows how to win over an audience. That’s why she’s accepted the marriage proposal of the brutish Comte de Griffe to nettle her occasional investigative partner—and romantic sparring partner—the pompous if dashing Professor Penrose.

But with his boorish table manners, wild mane of hair, and habit of prowling away the wee hours, the comte has shredded Ophelia’s last nerve. She intends to disengage from her feral fiancé at his winter hunting party—until Penrose, his lovely new fiancée, and a stagecoach of stranded travelers arrive at the comte’s sprawling château. Soon she can’t tell the boars from the bores.

When one of the guests is found clawed and bloody in the orangerie, Ophelia is determined to solve the murder before everyone starts believing the local version of Beauty and the Beast. But until the snows melt, she can’t trust her eyes—or her heart—since even the most civilized people hold beastly secrets...

Coloring Book Week: Rackham's Fairy Tale Coloring Book

Rackham's Fairy Tale Coloring Book (Dover Classic Stories Coloring Book) is not a new coloring book and predates--like many Dover coloring books--the current art therapy/coloring book trend. I love Arthur Rackham's illustrations and this book offers black and white renderings of his color paintings for you to color yourself. The other bonus is that this is priced much lower than most of the other coloring books on the market right now.

For example, here is an original Rackham:

And here is the coloring book version:

The book also offers full text of the fairy tales, so essentially you get to read the stories, see the illustrations and then color them yourself.

Book description:

Preserving all of the characteristic elegance and charm of Rackham's original drawings and watercolors, 30 renderings capture scenes from "Hansel and Gretel," "King Thrushbear," "Doctor Know-All," "Snow White," "Rapunzel," "Sleeping Beauty," and more. The coloring book also includes story adaptations of 17 Grimm fairy tales that retain the folk flavor of the originals.

Here are some more sample pages from the book.

Coloring Book Week: Princesses and Fairies Colouring Book by Tomoko Tashiro

Princesses and Fairies Colouring Book (Japanese Edition) by Tomoko Tashiro. So last week's post on Coloring Book Week: Fairy Tale Colouring Book by Tomoko Tashiro was one of the most popular entries. Good news is that next week a second coloring book featuring more fairy tales will be released. Fairy Tale Colouring Book (Japanese Edition) is so popular that it keeps going out of stock so I imagine this one will be a big hit, too, especially with offerings like Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Thumbelina, Little Mermaid, and Snow White. I wanted to give you a chance to preorder for the release date if you are a fan.

Click on any of these pages to view them larger.

Book description:

Color your own fairy tales! The Princesses and Fairies Colouring Book is a follow-up to the Fairy Tale Colouring Book illustrated by Tomoko Tashiro. Princesses and Fairies includes drawings inspired by fairy stories such as Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, A Midsummer Night s Dream, and more!

Japanese illustrator Tomoko Tashiro, best known as a packaging designer for Shiseido cosmetics, presents exquisite artworks for coloring drawn from well known tales containing princesses and fairies. Besides wonderfully illustrated scenes taken from twelve canonical stories, Tashiro has added beautiful patterns and motifs for coloring. The finely wrought illustrations within this book are all drawn in Tashiro's signature Nouveau-influenced style. Princesses and Fairies Colouring Book makes a wonderful gift book for children as well as adults!

Japanese illustrator Tomoko Tashiro has created beautiful works inspired by twelve famous tales of princesses and fairies, additionally including some fairy-tale-inspired patterns and motifs in this highly unique coloring book.

An ideal gift book for fairy-tale lovers of all ages.

Coloring Book Week: Art of Coloring Disney Princess: 100 Images to Inspire Creativity and Relaxation

Art of Coloring Disney Princess: 100 Images to Inspire Creativity and Relaxation (Art Therapy) by Catherine Saunier-Talec and Anne Le Meur was released this past November. Disney doesn't need my help with promotion but I was surprised at how much I liked some of these illustrations. A few samples are below; as always click on them to view them larger size.

Book description:

Relax, and let the creativity flow through you. Whether a skilled artist or an everyday dabbler of drawings and doodles, fans of all ages will enjoy these stunning pen-and-ink illustrations of beautiful landscapes, elaborate patterns, and memorable characters from Disney's hit animated feature films featuring the Disney Princesses. The lovely packaging includes a board cover with double metallic foil stamping.

Coloring Book Week: Once Upon a Time...: A Fairy Tale Coloring Book by Meredith Moriarty

Once Upon a Time...: A Fairy Tale Coloring Book by Meredith Moriarty was released a year ago before the coloring book trend took off.

I have several sample pages for this one. It is less full illustrations than character portraits, but with Vasalisa and The White Bride, we definitely have some lesser known fairy tales represented here!

Book description:

The magic of fairy tales spans across cultures and across time. Come take a journey with us as we travel the alphabet to meet the characters that make these tales come to life in this delightful coloring book.