Once Upon a Time

Hmmm. Well, I don't quite agree with the other reviewers, but perhaps I'm not the best one to ask because I tend to adore anything of the fairy tale persuasion. First off, you need to understand exactly what this book is. It's not your average regency romance where everything is logical and proper with a cup of tea to go with it. This is a book of fairy tales that happen to be set during the regency time period in England. There is magic and stuff that just isn't reasonable...like a fairy tale, which is ok because that is what it is. Some people who love regency romance will not like this book and that's totally fine with me. But there are some people who perhaps like fantasy, fairy tales, and magical happily ever afters out there...and this is the book for you.P.S. If I had it to do over, I would buy this book for the Rumplestiltskin retelling alone.

I loved Carola Dunn's version of Rumplestiltskin. The hero is literally a child of a fairy with uncertain magic, the heroine is a country girl with her nose to the figurative spinning wheel who seems to almost realize she is reliving a story she once read somewhere. It's a neat little retelling of a familiar story. Lansdowne's retelling of Repunzel isn't quite as successful. It's cute but a bit silly. And Hocker's Little Match Seller made the least impression of the three novellas.