Americana Fairy Tale by Lex Chase *Retro Review*

Title: Americana Fairy Tale

Series: Screw Up Princess and Skillful Huntsman Trilogy: Book One / A Fairy Tales of the Open Road Novel

Author: Lex Chase

Genre:  Fairy Tale, Urban Fantasy

Length: Novel (340 Pages)

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (September 12, 2014)

Heat Level: Moderate

Heart Rating: 💖💖💖💖 4 Hearts

Blurb:  Modern day fairy-tale princess Taylor Hatfield has problems. One: he’s a guy. Two: he’s Sleeping Beauty, the most useless princess in existence. Throw in his true love, Corentin Devereaux, a huntsman descended from child-eating witches, and Taylor’s younger brother, Atticus—this generation’s Snow White—who tried to kill him. That didn’t go so hot. 

For two years, Taylor and Corentin live their Happily Ever After. But Corentin is cursed to lose his memory every seven days, including his life with Taylor—a painful reminder that he can’t provide for the man he loves. Taylor insists Corentin has the strength to succeed, and when Taylor discovers a way to break the curse, he is more than willing to pay the cost. 

When an enchanted blizzard devastates Corentin’s hometown of New Orleans, Taylor is convinced Atticus is to blame and grows desperate to find him amid the Big Easy turned frozen wasteland. Corentin believes Taylor is chasing a ghost while he chases the ghosts of his own past. Old tensions scratch open scars, leaving both to wonder if they have each other’s best interests at heart. The clock is ticking until Corentin loses his memory and the rabbit hole goes so deep they may never come out.

ISBN: 978-1-63216-207-6

Product Link: Dreamspinner | Amazon US | Amazon UK

Reviewer: Lisa

Review: This is the first book in this series but I would say you could read it separately. Now to be truthful I really did not really care for this book. It gives you a new level on the old fairy tales you grew up on. However the story itself was well written with quite a bit of detail, which is not saying the pace was right on. It seemed to go in all directions and I lost interest in the story before the second chapter.

Now this should have been a reason not to grab the book, because fairy tells creep me out. I don’t have the same beliefs as many though. So I can see others falling in love with them. It has so many twists and turns that will keep you on the edge of your seat though.

Although I am not sure how to write the review without giving too much away. Taylor is the princess who doesn’t seem to have the curse where as his brother Atticus is pretty much Sleeping Beauty. They need their rescuer but it doesn’t work out the way it should. Nothing ever does. In fact Taylor and Corentin are at each other, but not in a good way, from the start. Then there is Corentin’s curse to get over. Taylor also has to save his brothers ass.

Now even I have to admit that this story was funny as hell. I have never laughed so hard in my life. It even had a lot of action, which did the opposite for me, it made the book dull in that part. I wasn’t too sure what to feel in the end. I was in fact bored quite a bit also. It was a mixture of feelings in the story.

It was a quirky and goofy story that should capture ones attention and be able to keep it. However it didn’t do that for me. It didn’t give me what I wanted from the book.

The book starts out at a pretty good pace then it hits a snag. I am not really sure how to put it, but right when you are getting to the good part, then wham nothing. Not that the story stopped telling but it just went downhill for me. I had wished that my feelings had changed with the story though. It has a great bit of potential though. I would recommend it because as I see it just because it didn’t do it for me, doesn’t mean that another would not love it.

Urban Fairy Tale by Lex Chase

Lex Chase - Urban Fairy Tale CoverTitle: Urban Fairy Tale

Series: Screw-up Princess and Skillful Huntsman Trilogy 03

Author: Lex Chase

Genre: Urban Fantasy, Fairy Tales

Length: Novel (274pgs)

ISBN: 978-1-63477-158-0

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (19th August 2016)

Heat Level: Low – Moderate

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥ 4 ½ Hearts

Reviewer: Pixie

Blurb: A Fairy Tales of the Open Road Novel

Modern-day fairy-tale princess Taylor Hatfield has problems. One, he’s a guy. Two, he’s an insomniac Sleeping Beauty. Three, his practically perfect brother, Atticus Hatfield, this generation’s Snow White, has been irrevocably corrupted by the Witchking. The Library, a clandestine organization, seeks to write “The End” on Atticus, and Taylor is given the impossible task when his own parents endorse his brother’s demise. With his true love, the huntsman Corentin Devereaux, at his side, they once again set out to find Atticus, but Atticus won’t go down without a fight. 

The quest ends how it began. But instead of the quirky, corkscrewing Americana road trip, Taylor and Corentin must contend with the dangers of the urban jungle. With an unexpected ally at their side, they’re forced to question all they know about the legacy of Snow White. 

As the world of the Enchants and the mundane hang in the balance, Taylor knows what he must do: go pick an apple.

Purchase Link: https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/books/urban-fairy-tale-by-lex-chase-7365-b

Review: This story is part of a series and must be read in order.

Okay, so we re-join Taylor and Corentin in Lex Chase’s completely off the wall Fairy Tales of the Open Road series (aka Screw-up Princess and Skillful Huntsman), now you can’t just pick this story up and join the series (because it would be a serious mind fuck) you have to read this series from the beginning to even have a clue what was going on and to understand what’s happening.

Being honest I’m completely flummoxed on how to write this review, because everything that’s happening in this book is the result of what happened in the previous books… *shakes head* bloody Atticus. Okay I’ll give it my best shot!

After Atticus steals The Book from the Library Taylor and Corentin are given the task of finding a certain object that will finally bring an end to Atticus’ reign of terror, but they have to work with Idi the Witchking (who is Atticus’ true love) and then the journey of ‘OMG what the hell is going on’ begins. Hmmm yeah Lex Chase takes us on yet another journey with Taylor and Corentin that is just too crazy for words.

So loads of ‘huh’ moments, quite a few ‘what the hell’ moments and several ‘bloody Atticus has lost his freaking mind’ moments. This is an amazing story that has so many things going on/ overlapping that you can just keep the thread of the story while personally wishing you could get your hands on Atticus and shove the ‘certain object’ down his throat yourself.

There’s plenty of danger, lots of more danger and some more danger to boot, there some shocking betrayals, a couple of Wandering Path journeys, seeking help from a troll, facing The Emeraldine Beast, and the final showdown. There are twists and turns, ducking and diving, hunting and hiding and just… hell I told you it would be hard to describe.

This is a fantastic story that is brilliantly written and will take you on a journey that is just brilliant, it might make you wish that you’d never begun the journey but you’ll enjoy being dragged every step of the way. Lex Chase has written a trilogy that has ended in an explosive ending and it’s not till the last couple of pages that you find out if true love actually won out!

I recommend this to those who love urban fantasy, who adore journeys into the unknown, who love characters that you adore and those you hate/sympathise with, who love well-crafted stories, and just maybe a true loves ending.