You guys, this cover reveal post will be epic. Because it is a WHOLE SERIES cover reveals!!!!!!!! 😱😍 Unless you're following me on Instagram, you will be getting the whole deal at once. It was suggested and I was like, "oh, yes please" because I didn't really want to do several mini posts. It isn't the style of this blog, you know?
Yeah, I like long posts for you all to read.
Anyway, settle down with a cup of your beverage of your choice, and get ready see 12 amazing covers and stories.
A Villain's Ever After is a a fairy tale retelling collaboration by 12 different authors who, obviously, giving villains a happy ever after.
The blurb for the series:
What if the Enchantress fell in love with the Beast?
Or the sea witch wasn't so evil?
Suppose the sorcerer won the swan princess's heart?
"A Villain's Ever After" will take you to places where wishes really do come true... from a certain point of view. Expect the unexpected as we fall in love with the villains who might not be the "bad guy" after all.
Featuring twelve short novels full of magic, romance, and adventure, you'll see villains in a whole new light.
Who said villains can't have happily-ever-afters?
Who here likes to read/watch villain stories? ✋ *raises hand* *coughs* I mean I haven't yet read/watch a villain story that I was completely satisfied with, but that isn't the point right now. Despite my experience so far with villain stories, I'm still 100% willing to try them still. Because some day someone will get it right for me, you know? Plus all of the stories just sound so awesome.
Also who here loves getting another side to the classic villains? I don't know why, but this idea of seeing villains, especially the really evil ones, in a viewpoint where you will be able to see their human side, where you are able to maybe see the good part of them, is just so fascinating to me. (Wait, I do know why. 😂) As long as it isn't a tool for justification of their evil actions, I'm cool with it. Because I know if these villains were real, they wouldn't be so black and white like a lot of times they are shown to be (which in most cases makes perfect sense for the story being told).
I could go on, I have a lot of thoughts about villains, but I figure you guys want to jump in the details for the individual books now, am I right?
If I'm not right, oh well. It's for another day.
Book 1: The Beast and Enchantress
If there's one thing Astrid, an aspiring enchantress with budding magical powers, has learned throughout her studies, it's that magic must only be used for good. But when an egocentric prince breaks her sister's heart, Astrid's only focus is revenge, and what better way to enact it than with a well-chosen curse?
A simple incantation is all it takes to transform the arrogant prince's appearance to match the state of his heart. But something goes wrong, causing the spell to affect not only the prince, but its caster as well. As the curse begins to change her appearance to reflect the state of her own vengeful heart, Astrid becomes desperate to break it at all costs, even if it means entering the castle in disguise and interacting with the prince she loathes.
To her surprise, Astrid encounters not a conceited prince, but one very different from the one she cursed. She soon finds her heart softening, but not in the way she expects - she's losing it to the cursed prince she has vowed to hate. The closer they become, the more desperate Astrid is to free the prince, and herself, from the curse. But in so doing, she may lose the man she loves forever.
For how could a prince ever love the woman who turned him into a beast?
It releases on August 13th
Book 2: The Sultan and the Storyteller
For thirty-nine nights, the sultan of Zunbar has chosen a new wife.
For thirty-nine dawns, they are pronounced dead.
When the Sultan Zayne summons my best friend to be taken as his newest victim, I can no longer pretend to be blind and volunteer in her stead. My only plan - weave a story each night and hopefully learn why he would kill in the first place.
As I unravel the tapestry of lies, I learn there's more going inside the gilded walls of the palace than anyone in the land could ever realise. I've woven myself into the story, and if I don't pull on the right thread, it's not only my life at stake but my heart.
It releases on August 20th
Book 3: Bluebeard and the Outlaw
Marriage: the ultimate heist.
Robin of the Wood spends her days robbing from the rich to feed the poor. But she and her merry band of her bothers never seem to get anywhere. The more she she steals, the more evil Lord Guy "bluebeard" taxes the villagers.
When Robin discovers that Lord Guy plans to marry yet again, she conceives a plan for a final, big score. As Guy's wife, she will have access to his wealth. The lord is notorious for killing his wives shortly after he marries them, but Robin has no plans to be dead wife number four. The only problem is that Lord Guy is devastating handsome, brooding, and nothing at all what she expected. If she isn't careful, she might just find that he steals her heart before she can rob his riches.
It releases on August 27th
Book 4: The Stepsister and the Slipper
What if the prince fell in love with the stepsister?
Lady Charlotte needs a rich husband, and fast. Good thing she has plenty of beauty and charm, with no foolish ideas of love to get in the way of her plans. When the chance to catch the wealthiest, the most eligible bachelor in the kingdom appears, she will do everything in her power to win such a prize; even if she must break a few hearts along the way. But in the end, it is her own heart that's troubled. Perhaps true love really does exist, but if so, it's not with the man she has caught...
It releases on September 3rd
Book 5: The Goblin and the Dancer
Grik the goblin spends his days as a janitor cleaning the Metropolitan Dance Hall, drawn to the Elvish world and tired of the darkness of his underground home. He secretly pines for the ballet company's lead dancer, Rosanna, but his own ugliness and shyness stand in the way of confessing his love.
When a handsome solider named Paul appears on the scene to make a bid for Rosanna's affections, Grik's jealousy bubbles over and he commits the unthinkable, plunging the threesome into a river and down into the depths of the earth.
Determined to redeem himself, Grik leads Rosanna and Paul through the place he calls home: but even a goblin can't be prepared for everything that is found underground. Trapped in the dark, nightmares both within and without rise to the surface, threatening to destroy them all.
A magical and heartfelt retelling of The Steadfast Tin Soldier about finding your worth.
It releases on September 10th
Book 6: Hansel and the Gingerbread Queen
No matter how the sugar sparkles, never sample the sweets.
Evony is the daughter of a witch, with all of her reputation but none of her powers. She's spent her whole life in the heart of the forest, safe from outsiders in a wondrous candy cottage as dangerous as it is beautiful. Kept company by a trio of tiny companions - a loyal gingerbread dragon and two mischievous brownies - Evony's one desire is to find a place in the human world. But first, she must find a way to undo her mother's spells and free the poor souls who fell to temptation. Only two obstacles stand in her way. A traveler with distracting molasses-brown eyes, and the creation the witch left behind with the power to stop her: the gingerbread man.
It releases on September 17th
Book 7: The Dark King and Eternal Dance
An unwanted proposal. An unexpected curse. Will Rayna, and her eleven sisters ever be free of the Dark King and this eternal dance?
Rayna is not usually the boldest of her sisters. However, when her eldest sister, Faelynn, seems ready to abandon her own happily ever after and accept the Dark King's proposal, Rayna knows she must act and take drastic measures before someone gets hurt. Measures that just might cost her her heart.
Drake's reputation as the Dark King precedes him - a reputation he doesn't quite deserve. When the opportunity arises, Drake seizes the chance to barter for Princess Faelynn's hand. Weaving his magic, establishes a weekly ball to court his intended. After six months of rejection, something must change. He never anticipated finding Princess Rayna in his castle disrupting his quiet life.
Will he change directions and acknowledge his heart before it is too late? Or will he live up to her reputation as the Dark King, shattering more than one happily ever after?
It releases on September 24th
Book 8: Gothel and the Maiden Prince
Deep in the forest, far from the light, a sorceress with magic of the blackest kind keeps prisoner the princess she stole away years ago. From time to time, a prince will come to challenge her, but by and large, life is peaceful for Gothel.
And that's just the way she likes it.
She's not prepared for the earnest young prince who seems more determined to talk her to death than challenge her to a duel of magic; nor, having tricked him into a battle of questions, is she expecting him to show more interest in her than the tower-bound princess.
And Gothel is certainly not prepared to give up any of her power to keep him around, though she might be prepared to answer just a few more questions...
It releases on October 1st
Book 9: Sorcerer and the Swan Princess
A usurped princess. A mercenary sorcerer. A fate neither expected.
As a crown princess, Ava has always anticipated betrayals - but never from her own twin. The unspeakable treachery comes the night Ava meets her true love, when Lina hires the infamous sorcerer, Dietrich Von Rothbart, to turn Ava into a swan, and takes her place.
Kept across the mountains in Dietrich's castle lake, Ava's repeated attempts to escape, to return to her prince and life, keep failing. But in the last time Dietrich recaptures her, she gets close enough to glimpse the terrible truth of what she left behind - starting with that of her prince.
Yet, it's Dietrich's true motivations and the unique bond that forms between them that shock her the most.
Will she reject their burgeoning feelings and trust to undo his efforts and reclaim her kingdom? Will he risk the consequences of freeing her from his curse? Will their love survive the demands of duty, and the toll of resentment and threats? Or will it fade away with the moonlight at sunrise?
It releases on October 8th
Book 10: The Baker and the Wolf
A mysterious stranger, an enchantress grandmother, and an overprotective mother. Can Cerise trust any of them?
Cerise DuBois might as well be invisible. Not even her scarlet cloak attracts male interest, and her mother begins to despair of snaring a husband for a boring middle daughter with no magic ability. If not for her baking talents, Cerise would be a hopeless burden on the family.
Or so she believes until a dark man with eyes like gold appears in the family bakery to deliver an invitation from a grandmother she has never met . . . and real trouble begins. What if everything Cerise believes about herself and her family is false?
Unlike other men, the stranger gives Cerise his undivided attention, yet he has a habit of vanishing when she meets him most - for example, when a huge black dog (surely it can't be a wolf) follows her through the city park.
Worst of all, he claims that if she follows the magical path to her enchantress grandmother's cottage, her entire world will change. Should Cerise trust this fascinating foreign mage, or will he eat her alive?
It releases on October 15th
Book 11: The Prince and the Sea Witch
All mermaids long for the magic of a human soul. Only Briony isn't willing to drown sailors to get it.
She makes potions instead, earning a reputation as a witch and becoming a social outcast. When a little mermaid asks for a potion that can reunite her with the human she loves, Briony reluctantly agrees.
But there is more to the mermaid's plan than a quest for love. The more Briony interacts with the human prince the mermaid wants to claims, the more she suspects that he never loved the little mermaid at all.
Discover a retelling that turns the classic fairytale inside out and upside down. Where mermaids lure men to their deaths with siren songs and the sea witch will be the hero if she survives the final battle.
It releases on October 22nd
Book 12: Carabosse and the Spindle Spell
Shy but magically talented, Princess Carabosse only wants to help her people as they face the looming threat of the Warlock King and his daughter, Aurora. Aurora was gifted from infancy with fairy blessings that make her the most lethal magic-user the world has seen in centuries . . . and she wants Cara's kingdom.
The only hope for fighting off this deadly threat is the loyalty of the twelve Dragon Lords. They have sworn allegiance to the Briar Crown. But when the crown falls into Aurora's clutches, who will the dragons serve?
Armed only with a humble spindle and a gift for spinning magic, Cara alone stands against the Warlock and his daughter. Will she find unexpected help from the twelfth Dragon Lord, handsome shape-shifter Torald? Or will the vows he swore to the Briar Crown force him to turn against Cara and serve the beautiful Aurora?
It releases on October 29th
Don't they sound and look amazing??!! 😱😍 I just can't wait to read them some day!!!
Bonus content:
While all of the covers are gorgeous I do have my top 5 favourite covers. They are:
- The Beast and the Enchantress
- Carabosse and the Spindle Spell
- The Stepsister and the Slipper
- The Dark King and the Eternal Dance
- Hansel and the Gingerbread Queen
So even if a villain story isn't your thing, you might want to at least try these stories out. 😉
Which is your favourite cover? Which story are you most excited to read? What are your opinion on villain stories (I do plan to talk about them more in the future so a discussion before the post could be useful)?
Those covers look so cool! The Beast and the Enchantress sounds more interesting than Beauty and the Beast actually! I haven't read very much villain stories, but I would love to read more. I like how they make you see the story in a different way.
ReplyDeleteYES! Ohhh, I think you might be right there. It is really interesting compared to the original. Though it be might because Beauty and the Beast is an overused story. Same, I've read/watch so few of them that I almost feel like I shouldn't be talk about them yet. Definitely! The different perspectives found particularly in villain stories is so fascinating. It really can give you a whole new understanding or viewpoint for both villain/antagonist characters and reality.
DeleteThis is a really cool post! Thanks for doing the cover-reveal! Super fun to see. :)
ReplyDeleteI think my favourite cover is Bluebeard And The Outlaw, though I really like The Stepsister And The Slipper as well.
Thanks! You're so welcome! I'm glad you had fun!! :)
DeleteOhhh, good choices! I love The Stepsister and the Slipper cover as you know, but Bluebeard and the Outlaw would be one of my honourable mentions. It's gorgeous!
Eye candy! I love fairytale retellings and these look FANTASTIC!
ReplyDeleteYESS! I know right! I'm so excited for them!
DeleteThis is such an amazing idea! Love the covers too!!
ReplyDeleteYES! I am so in love with the covers myself!! I could stare at them all day.
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