Red Hood's Revenge and The Snow Queen's shadow - Jim C.Hines

Roudette's story was a simple one. A red cape. A wolf. A hunter. Her mother told her she would be safe, so long as she kept to the path. But sometimes the path leads to dark places. Roudette is the hunter now, an assassin known throughout the world as the Lady of the Red Hood. Her mission will take her to the country of Arathea and an ancient fairy threat. At the heart of the conflict between humans and fairies stands the woman Roudette has been hired to kill, the only human ever to have fought the Lady of the Red Hood and survived-the princess known as Sleeping Beauty.

My thoughts:

In this one Roudette aka Red Riding comes after Talia. See Red is an assassin, and Talia did have her share of...troubles in the homeland.

So it's up to Talia aka Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and Snow White to stop her.

There are dangers, murder and fairies gone bad (but then some would say they are always bad, many would so in fact).

I really meant to make it short, and could have ended it there, but it feels so short...so a few more words?

Conclusion:

A very light fantasy. Feisty heroines that take matters in their own hands, and does not let any princes save them. A fun read

Cover

cute I guess

Paperback, 337 pages
Published July 6th 2010 by DAW
Princess, Book 3
Fantasy

A broken mirror. A stolen child. A final mission to try to stop an enemy they never dreamed they would face.

When a spell gone wrong shatters Snow White's enchanted mirror, a demon escapes into the world. The demon's magic distorts the vision of all it touches, showing them only ugliness and hate. It is a power that turns even friends and lovers into mortal foes, one that will threaten humans and fairies alike.

And the first to fall under the demon's power is the princess, Snow White... 

My thoughts:

I am so sad, because this was the last one! And also, it was sort of sad too, ok it was sad, just not I am gonna cry sad. Just...sad.

Snow gets intro trouble with her mother's magic mirror and all hell breaks loose. A demon is causing mayhem and things turn ugly. And even Snow is changed. It's not pretty.

This story takes us to yet another new kingdom, that we have heard about but never visited, spoilers.

There will be blood, fairies, monsters and heartbreak.

Conclusion:
And then it was over, and everyone was happy. But, I could have read more, alas this was the end

Cover
ok the blue lady is just weird

Paperback, 333 pages
Published July 5th 2011 by DAW
Princess #4
Fantasy

The Mermaid's madness - Jim C Hines

There is an old story — you might have heard it — about a young mermaid, the daughter of a king, who saved the life of a human prince and fell in love.

So innocent was her love, so pure her devotion, that she would pay any price for the chance to be with her prince. She gave up her voice, her family, and the sea, and became human. But the prince had fallen in love with another woman.

The tales say the little mermaid sacrificed her own life so that her beloved prince could find happiness with his bride.

The tales lie. 

My thoughts:

This series is fun, first we have fairytales, second kick-ass heroines. What's not to like.

Cinderella, Snow and Sleeping Beauty (they do have other names but whatever) have to solve one big problem here. A mad mermaid. And since this follows the real fairytales, and not those nice silly Disney ones, then yeah the mermaid's prince was a d#ck. Just like Talia's prince was a d#ck. But Cinderella/Danielle's prince is a keeper.

So we have a mad mermaid and her followers attacking and sinking ships. There will be adventures on the sea, princesses to save and mysteries to solve.

Conclusion:
There is humor, friendship and adventures. A nice light fantasy series

Cover

cute

Paperback, 339 pages
Published October 6th 2009 by DAW
Princess #2
Fantasy
Own

The Stepsister Scheme - Jim C.Hines

You know how all those old fairy tales take you through lots of scary adventures till you finally reach that inevitable line: "And they lived happily ever after..." Guess what? It's not true. Life in never-never land isn't all sweetness and light. Cinderella - whose real name is Danielle Whiteshore (nee Danielle de Glas) - does marry Prince Armand. And (if you can ignore the pigeon incident) their wedding is a dream-come-true.

But not long after the "happily ever after," Danielle is attacked by her stepsister Charlotte, who suddenly has all sorts of magic to call upon. And though Talia - otherwise known as Sleeping Beauty - comes to the rescue (she's a martial arts master, and all those fairy blessings make her almost unbeatable), Charlotte gets away.

That's when Danielle discovers a number of disturbing facts: Armand has been kidnapped and taken to the realm of the Fairies; Danielle is pregnant with his child; and the Queen has her very own Secret Service that consists of Talia and Snow (White, of course). Snow is an expert at mirror magic and heavy-duty flirting.

Can three princesses track down Armand and extract both the prince and themselves from the clutches of some of fantasyland's most nefarious villains? 

My thoughts:

I am glad I finally read this Hines series cos this was funny. And it was fantasy! And it was fairytales.

Danielle aka Cinderwench aka Cinderella finally got her prince. And all is well. Well for a time.

Danielle was sweet, she was nice, she was nicer than I would have been, but hey she could throw a punch (not always literally) too.

Armand her prince, well he was not in it a lot since the poor bastard got himself kidnapped. Silly men always getting kidnapped so the women has to do the dirty work.

Talia aka sleeping beauty has a chip on her shoulder, but sure is good at her job.

Snow White, is a flirt, but great with magic.

Together these three must find Armand. Kick some butts. Meet some fairies. Meet some baddies and see if they can fix that Happily Ever after.

Conclusion:
Totally reading more of these. 

Cover

nice

Mass Market Paperback, 344 pages
Published January 6th 2009 by DAW
Princess #1
Fantasy
own