If you’re like me, few things will ever come close to the comfort and familiarity of reading a fairy tale. The classic stories are like old friends that I return to time and again. However, one thing will always succeed in dragging me from my tried-and-true favorites: retellings.
Modernize them, twist them, make them dark. I don’t care! Retellings are the best of the bones we know and love in the garb of something new and exciting. I’ve compiled twelve that are releasing this year for you to check out.
Protected by the Wolf Prince by Jessica Grayson and Aria Winter
Series: Once Upon a FairyTale Romance
Release Date: February 8, 2023
Genre: Fantasy/Paranormal Romance
Fairy Tale Inspiration: Red Riding Hood
Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️*
Inspired by Red Riding Hood, a romantic fairy tale retelling…
I’m the daughter of the human ambassador; I was never supposed to fall in love with the Wolf-Shifter Prince.
Prince Malak of Winterhold was my childhood friend and my first and only love. But he is a Wolf-Shifter, and his father—the King—does not condone marriage between their kind and mine.
When war breaks out between the human and Wolf-Shifter kingdoms, my family and I are forced to flee. Malak promised he would come for me when it was safe, but he never did.
It has been three years since my heart was shattered, and on the eve of my arranged betrothal to another, Malak appears.
He claims that I am his Fated One, and that the vows we made when we were younger mean that I am his.
My betrothed is a powerful man, and when Malak abducts me from my engagement ball, a warrant is issued for his death.
Forced to run, we have to make our way back to his kingdom. But there are many dangers along the way. And despite trying to keep my distance, the more time we spend together, I find myself drawn to him.
Now, I find myself wondering: I know I can trust Malak with my life, but can I trust him with my heart?
Bend Her by Cassie Alexander
Series: A Dark Beauty and the Beast Fantasy Romance
Release Date: February 14, 2023
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Fairy Tale Inspiration: Beauty and the Beast
Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️*
Bend Her: A Dark Beauty and the Beast Fantasy Romance is the story of Rhaim the All-Beast, a cruel beast mage doomed to die at the hands of the woman he must protect at all costs, and Lisane, the sheltered Princess of Tears, who has been given into his care and who needs him to teach her magic so she can be free—no matter how much it might hurt her.
Tale of Blood and Snow by Lizzy Prince
Release Date: February 15, 2023
Genre: Paranormal Romance/ Fairytale Retelling
Fairy Tale Inspiration: Snow White
Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️*
My name is Rebel, but I’ve never done a rebellious thing in my life. I’ve lived under my stepmother’s thumb for years, until the night of my nineteenth birthday. The night she sends a hunter to chase me down in the woods.
What happens next is the stuff of fairy tales. Magic, wolves, fated mates, and an evil witch who wants to capture me. Tale of Blood and Snow is a twisted fairy tale version of Snow White. Expect shifters, steam, and evil villains. This is a 37k word novella with a happily ever after.
Of Curses and Beauty by Elle Backenstoe
Release Date: March 23, 2023
Genre: Fantasy Paranormal Romance/ Fairytale Retelling
Fairy Tale Inspiration: Beauty and the Beast
Spice Level: 🌶️*
All her life, Alaine has suffered the weight of her beauty and she is tired of it. When an unexpected debt threatens her family, Alaine is urged to accept a lucrative marriage to her worst nightmare. She flees to the nearby forest and encounters a witch that offers to help her. The last thing Alaine expects is to be taken away, stripped of her beauty, and abandoned at a curious cottage with no way out.
Daric has been cursed for centuries when a strange young woman wanders into his secluded corner of the woods, claiming to be a lost beauty. For years, his only goal had been to escape the enchanted cottage and exact revenge against the witch that ensnared him. But sharing his curse with Alaine might not be so bad, especially if she’s the one that can break it.
Daric yearns to see them both free. Alaine knows her family is counting on her, but as her reluctant friendship with Daric blossoms into something more, she must decide if saving her parents is worth losing him and returning to the marriage she escaped.
Body of Chaos by Nicolette Beebe
Series: Elizy Kingdom
Release Date: March 30, 2023
Genre: Dark Fantasy Romance
Fairy Tale Inspiration: Rapunzel
Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️*
Ripley has been locked away for twenty-one years within her mother’s windowless tower, afraid of what the world would do with her unpredictable magic. That is, until Fletcher breaches its walls and offers her a choice.
Stay where her magic can be tamed or… venture to a kingdom in hopes to fix it for good.
But, she soon realizes that Fletcher’s help comes with a steeper price than she may be able to pay. She must trust her untried intuition or die in the process.
Princess of Peas by Laura Greenwood
Series: Grimm Academy
Release Date: April 13, 2023
Genre: Fantasy Romance (Academy)
Fairy Tale Inspiration: The Princess and the Pea
Spice Level: 🌶️*
Banished from the sea and without a kingdom to call her own, Cordelia’s only chance of inheriting is to win the Bellpoint Castle competition and become their heir. And, with the help of her friends, she might stand a chance.
The Alice Curse by Megan Van Dyke
Series: Reimagined Fairy Tales
Release Date: April 25, 2023
Genre: Adult Fantasy Romance
Fairy Tale Inspiration: Alice in Wonderland
Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️*
Wonderland must always have an Alice, and Eliza Carroll is the next.
Eliza flees her parent’s political machinations only to stumble into another world and the arms of a man named Finn, who declares her the next Alice. Finn, nicknamed the White Rabbit for the form he can shift into, was sent to find the new Alice and bring her to court, for only she can declare whether Red or White reigns. Not to mention he’ll lose his head if he fails.
For Eliza to get home and Finn to survive, they’ll have to navigate two treacherous courts and their growing feelings for one another, while trying to unravel the curse that forces the Carroll women to journey to Wonderland. But a path to freedom for them both may be more than the magic of Wonderland can conjure…even for its new Alice.
The Winter Ball by Laura Greenwood
Series: Grimm Academy
Release Date: December 7, 2023
Genre: Fantasy Romance (Academy)
Fairy Tale Inspiration: Twelve Dancing Princesses
Spice Level: 🌶️*
As the eldest of her sisters, Audrey knows that she has to do everything she can in order to protect them, even if it means going to the very ball that could start her prophecy and destroy the life she loves.
Spin to Sleep by Maria Vermisoglou
Release Date: TBA
Genre: YA Paranormal Fantasy
Fairy Tale Inspiration: Ice Queen / Sleeping Beauty
Spice Level: 🌶️*
After years, Dahlia’s spinning wheel is finally free. In the hands of a demoness, it brings a sleeping curse, encasing the entire town in ice.
Ivy holds the key to break the curse. Will she listen to the voices in her head?
Ella’s Rise by Leslie Crowne
Series: Fairy Tale Realm Series
Release Date: TBA
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Fairy Tale Inspiration: Cinderella
Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️*
A forgotten princess, bent on vengeance. A reluctant prince, thrust into a role he never wanted. When fate brings them together, there is more at stake than either of them could imagine.
Finding Your Choux (and other Charming Pursuits) by Erin Vere
Series: Lady Primlore Presents
Release Date: TBA
Genre: Gaslamp Romance
Fairy Tale Inspiration: Cinderella
Spice Level: 🌶️*
*Spice Meter:
- 🌶️- kissing at most
- 🌶️🌶️- heavy kissing or closed-door/implied sex
- 🌶️🌶️🌶️- one or two on page sex scenes
- 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️- multiple instances of on-page sexual activities
- 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️- erotica