Views from the Tower

Views from the Tower
Jessica Grey
Tall House Books, 2012

Remember my friend Jessica, and her totally awesome debut Awake which sets 'Sleeping Beauty' in modern Los Angeles with a huge twist? Well, in addition to working on the "sequel" to Awake, and a really awesome Austenesque novel, she has written a collection of fairy tale shorts. Thus Views from the Tower (and that amazing cover!): a selection of fairy tales re-imagined. Some are flash fiction - which is new to me, but totally fun - and others are longer, more along the lines of a traditional short story. All are delightful, impressive, and quite honestly far too short. (Maybe I'm a fairy tale junkie -- I just can't get enough!)

A few of my favorites, to whet your appetite for a bit of fun fairy tale reading, to offer a bit of post-holiday sparkle, as winter settles in for a long stay ...

In Her Service: Okay, so maybe I'm a sucker for frog prince-type stories. And I'm definitely a sucker for snark. And we all know about the Regency/Austenesque fascination. Combine all three, and you get an amazing story that had me chuckling and wishing for more-much-more!

Red: Fractured fairy tale on a new level, and with just enough creepy to make you shiver. Jessica has taken "Red Riding Hood" to a new place (without making it freaky-creepy)!

Mountain Rose: You've heard of "Snow White and Rose Red"? This is that story. And it ranks among my favorites because it features an enchanted hero -- in the form of a bear. I have a thing for bear princes. And this one is beautifully written.

Chasing Storms: Not a fairy tale I recognize, but it's a beautiful story. The dragon, the flight, the storm. This one just snuck into my psyche and stole my imagination.

Trust me, this whole collection of stories is amazing - and as short stories, they're easy reads. I can't wait to see what other fairy tale goodness Jessica has up her sleeve.

eARC provided by author for review.