The Princess Blog

Falling for the Huntsman  is the final book in To Win a Dark Heart and the last ARC I have left to review in the series. After being introduced to Leialoha Humpherys 's heartfelt writing in Transformed Tail , I had a feeling they were saving the best for last. This book has everything you could possibly want in a fairy tale retelling, from surprising twists on familiar characters to swoony romance with just a touch of magic. This book combines "Snow White" with "Hansel and Gretel"  in a new and creative way, bringing back the characters from both for an unexpected epilogue to their tales. Alaric is not the typical forest-dwelling huntsman. Instead, he is a whaler who spends most of his time at sea. When he is rescued from a near-death experience by a healer named Malia, he begins to question his life choices as her kindness guides him onto a new path. Malia is not without secrets of her own. The townsfolk view her as a witch who tried to eat two innocent child...

We all know that theme parks  are the best place to find real-life interpretations of classic animated princesses in glamorous gowns. In the modern age , however, it's become more common for princesses to hang up their ballgowns in favor of more comfortable looks . Disneyland Paris  has taken note of this for their Regal View Restaurant , premiering princesses in their more casual looks from their respective films, many of which have never been seen before at the Disney Parks. With Disneybounding and cosplay  becoming more popular and accurate than ever, is it a good idea to feature costumes that are so easy to replicate? Let's explore. The four princesses that have been previewed for the parks are Aurora in her Briar Rose forest dress, Ariel in her Tour of the Kingdom dress, Belle in her village dress, which she frequently wears for meet'n'greets at Epcot, and Mulan in the dress she wore at the end of the film. Aside from Belle, all of these costumes are new to Disney ...

Falling for the Pied Piper  by Ashley Evercott is my second-to-last ARC from To Win a Dark Heart , a multi-author series of dual villainous fairy tale retellings. This one has sweet and cozy vibes with a dash of adventure and intrigue. The book combines the stories of "The Pied Piper of Hameln" with "Beauty and the Beast,"  but like many books in this series , those stories are used more as background dressing to the main plot. Both characters are likable and have a strong redemption arc by the end of the book. Their chemistry leaps off the page, making us root for them to see past each other's differences. Selene must face punishment for cursing a prince to transform into a beast. Since she doesn't want to rot in prison, her best option for freedom is capturing a criminal known as the Pied Piper, who allegedly hypnotized a group of children with his magic pipe. She chases down the scoundrel and learns that there is more to him than meets the eye. After ge...

The spring and summer of 2026 are looking to be an exciting time for princess fans after a dearth of content for the last few years. Many familiar stories are returning to the small screen, from fairy tales to fairies to mermaids . This year will see the return of two famous Rainbow sPa properties, a beloved Disney Jr. princess with a magic amulet, and a modern anime retelling of a classic Hans Christian Andersen story. After a slow winter, our favorite princesses are making a comeback in full force over the next few months. Goodbye, Lara  is by far the most unique of the upcoming princess shows this year. Though it shares many of the same properties as other modern anime series , it is based on the timeless story of "The Little Mermaid."  Japan loves this Hans Christian Andersen classic and rivals Western media in terms of adaptations inspired by it, including a more faithful animated movie that predates Disney's. The premise of Goodbye, Lara combines the classic tal...

Pocahontas's River of Memories  is the fifth consecutive Princess Tea  I attended for the Cedar Park High School Choir . This school really knows how to put on a show! Every year, the auditorium is transformed into a magical fairytale castle, where talented students come out to perform an original musical packed with familiar songs from various animated movies. The girls' choir, The Seasons, and the boys' choir, Pitch Black, dress up as iconic characters and create a unique script each year for those characters to perform along with interactive games for the children in the audience, who attend dressed as their favorite prince or princess. Every show is different and features a unique princess host. This year's Princess Tea was hosted by Pocahontas, but the Mad Hatter quietly stole the show minutes into its opening. When Pocahontas presented the princes and princesses with a magic river containing memories dating back to their ancestors, he began panicking that Alice mi...

A few weeks ago, I received a surprise ARC of Golden Tangle  by Suzanna Fowers . This book is a sequel to Siren's Treasure  from the All That Glitters series , but it also works as a standalone. If I recall correctly, Siren's Treasure  was quite a bit darker than the other books in the multi-author series, and this book follows suit with action and betrayal on every page. I personally prefer a bit more levity in my books, but if you are looking for a no-spice romantasy that's on the darker side of the spectrum, it just might be perfect for you. Rapunzel was separated from her family at a young age and transformed into a sucti, a vampire-like creature that absorbs magic from anyone around her. To keep other magic users safe from her parasitic hair, she is kept in a tower, where Circe, the witch who cursed her, claims to be he protector. Circe is absent for most of the book, leaving Rapunzel to stay in the tower of her own free will due to her lack of desire to harm others....

Today is National Tell a Fairy Tale Day , which is the biggest day of the year for those of us whose lives revolve around fairy tales and princesses. This year's festivities are bigger than ever and took up my entire morning with two parties filled with games and goodies, as well as the cover reveal of my upcoming book, Hope and Love's Legacy . For me, every day is filled with fairy tales, especially these past few weeks that I've been diligently writing original princess songs  to completely my Locked Tower album . However, Hope and Love's Legacy  is particularly special to me because it is the first fully fleshed-out story idea I had that inspired me to become a writer. It has been a huge struggle for me to avoid sharing anything about this book on my blog or social media when it was the biggest part of my life for the last six months. Now that National Tell a Fairy Tale Day is here, I can finally share my personal fairy tale with you. I came up with the idea for this...

New visual novels in Time Princess  have been less frequent over the past few years and are usually posted in two parts. Such was the case for Coming Calamities, the latest visual novel in the popular dress-up app. This story is inspired by Norse mythology, which is a first for this game, with its impressive ability to come up with new content after having released so many other stories . The new fashions match well with the theme, providing a nice mix of Viking warrior ensembles and glamorous fantasy gowns. While the story was a bit lacking on the emotional side, it introduces a rich and whimsical world rooted heavily in Norse mythology. Travelers exploring Coming Calamities take on the role of Kaiya, a warrior chosen by Odin and prophesied to bring about Ragnarok, the fabled end of the age of gods. Since visual novel characters in Time Princess come are not always royalty, as the game's title would imply, Kaiya is portrayed as a member of a Viking family from humble roots in a fr...

Falling for the Enchantress  by Lyndsey Hall is the latest ARC I completed from the To Win a Dark Heart multi-author series of villainous retellings. This book combines the legends of King Arthur and Robin Hood , a combination that I have seen in another book I reviewed recently . These stories complement each other well because both take place in medieval England, and both were famously adapted by Howard Pyle in the late 19th century. This book stands apart from The Arrow and the Sword  in many ways, primarily that it focuses on different villains instead of heroes. Morgan Le Fay is known here as Morgraine, who must win over Stefano, the sheriff/witch hunter for Prince John. The dark romance in this book begins with an accidental magical binding spell that would have fit in well with last year's Tethered Hearts series . Stefano is a witch hunter, which fits well with this time period and setting, and Morgraine is in hiding to protect herself and her coven. When an accident...

Adriana and the Apothecary's Apprentice  is the latest fairy tale retelling by my friend Kae-Leah Williamson , set in a mermaid universe. Like her other stories , this book is available for free on Wattpad , but don't be deceived. It has the length and depth of a full-length novel, combining two classic fairy tales in a rich fantasy setting. This book is a retelling of "The Little Mermaid"  and "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs"  with themes of prejudice, superficiality, and grief. It brings together an unlikely couple who have trouble fitting into their societies and find solace in each other. As customary of Kae-Leah's stories, this one begins with a prologue of how the main character's parents met, foreshadowing her future romance. Adriana is the princess of Bellasea, a superficial mermaid kingdom that places the most value on physical appearances . Unfortunately, her father is not conventionally attractive, which creates some discord in the kingdo...

There has been a great deal of anticipation  for the upcoming sequel series to Sofia the First , Royal Magic. After many subtle hints on social media, an official trailer has finally dropped, giving us our first official look at the show. Set to premiere this May, Sofia the First: Royal Magic has an updated aesthetic that more closely matches other shows currently on the Disney Jr. roster. The color scheme has gotten a bit brighter, focusing more on rich jewel tones than the original series' soft pastels, but the character designs are faithful overall. Sofia's appearance has not changed too much despite having graduated Royal Prep , and she now has some new friends from the Charmswell School for Magic. The first thing that stood out to me about this teaser is how respectful it is to fans of the original show, unlike many  modern reboots or remakes  that tend to overlook what made the original so great, often alienating its core audience. The creators of this show clea...

Falling for the Wolf  by Megan Charlie is the next ARC I read from To Win a Dark Heart , which brings together villains from different fairy tales. This book combines "Cinderella" and "Little Red Riding Hood" with slightly more focus on the latter. The story involves a werewolf, but his transformations have little to no effect on the plot. The espionage and criminal activity make the book feel more like an urban fantasy than a fairy tale. Overall, I thought this book was okay in comparison to the other ones I've read so far in this series. Tasia is exiled to a foreign land after revealing a secret to a prince and is forced to deliver goods for her extended family. Her poor sense of direction makes this a difficult task for her to follow without a guide, so she seeks the aid of Mitch, who she later learns is a werewolf. Mitch takes an instant dislike to Tasia's family, who are manipulative and abusive. He continues to aid Tasia until an even more dangerous...

At long last, I've returned to the other half of the books in To Win a Dark Heart . Each book in this series combines two villains from different fairy tales to create a unique story, similar to Displaced Fairytales . My next ARC is Falling for the Dark Mage  by Lucy Winton . This book is the shortest in the series and can be completed within one or two sittings. It combines "The Frog Prince" with "East of the Sun and West of the Moon," with more of a focus on the latter. Set in a fantastical world, the book contains some beautiful descriptions of magic alongside lush settings and worldbuilding. Falling for the Dark Mage  tells the story of Seraphina, the daughter of a powerful sorceress who is trapped on an island full of mages with wicked intent. There, she meets Damario, a sorcerer who cursed a certain prince to become a frog. Seraphina is no stranger to animal transformations , as her mother botched an attempt to turn a prince into a type of enchanted bear...

Tangled Sails  by Annette K. Larsen is the third and final ARC I signed up for in the upcoming Displaced Fairytales series. This book brings together the protagonists from "Rapunzel" and "The Little Mermaid" with a heavier focus on "Rapunzel." It is a heartwarming tale of healing, generosity, and personal growth. As the title implies, the book borrows some elements that are unique to the Disney version of the tale, but the worldbuilding and characters set it apart as an original take. Lyrielle has been locked in a tower ever since her magic powers manifested when she was a child. Her aunt invited the local villagers to stand at the base of the tower any time they needed healing from her long, magical hair. One day, in an attempt to escape her captivity, she fell through a portal into the ocean of another realm, where she was rescued by a prince named Tavric, who was searching for a mermaid who once rescued him from drowning. In order to pull Lyrielle f...

There are many modern feminist adaptations of classic Shakespeare plays . One such movie is Rosaline , a comedic retelling of Romeo and Juliet  from the perspective of Juliet's jilted cousin from 2022. In 2018, Ophelia , a more serious take on Hamlet,  unveiled the perspective of Hamlet's ill-fated lover. Now, the concept of rewriting Shakespeare is taking over the Eastern world with the anime movie, Scarlet . This film is a creative and original feminist take on Hamlet , in which the titular character is gender-bent into a vengeful princess who traipses through the underworld in search of her wicked uncle. After witnessing her father's execution, Princess Scarlet is poisoned before she has the opportunity to enact her revenge. She wakes up in the underworld, where she undergoes a transformation into a warrior princess  and searches tirelessly for the undead spirits of her father and uncle. She encounters Hijiri, a paramedic from the modern world, who helps her see beyond...