"The beautiful spring came, and when nature resumes her loveliness, the human soul is apt to revive also."
Spring is a season of growth and renewal, and there’s something about the fresh air and sunshine that makes everything seem a little more hopeful. For book lovers, spring also means a fresh crop of new releases to dive into, and this year’s lineup of fairy tale retellings is particularly exciting. As the gloom of winter gives way to the hope of spring, these stories offer a chance to escape into magical worlds and explore timeless themes through a modern lens. So grab a blanket, find a sunny spot, and let’s take a look at some of the most anticipated fairy tale retellings hitting shelves this spring.
Welcome to the ancient land of Terra, where curses run rampant throughout all the kingdoms and where the royalty desperately attempt to break their curses and claim their own happily ever afters.
Princess Gabriella wasn’t cursed at birth like the other royals.
Although not cursed, she feels as if she might as well have been for the threat of the neighboring kingdom of Lune is ever present. This threat of war has forced her into growing up with a unique set of skills. Not only can she amaze with her beauty and grace on the dance floor, but her skill with a blade is unparalleled by any of the knights in her kingdom.
Prince Wesley isn’t sure that he’ll live to see himself crowned king, as his curse prevents him from being king unless someone loves him for himself and not his crown. His uncle, the regent believes if he wears a mask and keeps his identity a secret he can find a maiden to love him for who he truly is. Hidden all his life from everyone his mask hides more than just his face—he fears that no matter who he meets, or gets close to all they will ever see is the mysterious masked prince—not who he truly is underneath it.
Glass Midnight is the second book in The Cursed Kingdom Chronicles, a series of clean stand-alone but connected, fairytale retellings. If you enjoy clean romance, adventure, and witty banter, The Cursed Kingdom Chronicles is for you!
Release date: April 11
An invincible princess and a dance with death…
A Retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses
Princess Ruby is the only biological daughter of the emperor out of her eleven sisters. Despite being classified as her father’s favorite, she’s barely even permitted to step outside the palace due to the emperor’s overprotectiveness. Some citizens believe she’s kept confined because she’s too treasured, while others believe it’s because she’s secretly ugly, but only her father and sisters know the true reason she’s locked away…
Aiden is a common builder whose mother is slowly slipping away due to illness. He’d do anything to save her, even join the criminal group, the basilisks, in exchange for a magical extension of her life. With the emperor hosting a competition in search of a male heir, Aiden must now infiltrate the event and feed the basilisks whatever information they request. Should be easy enough. Or at least, it would have, until things take a turn for the worst when his fellow competitors begin to drop dead.
Aiden’s job description never included murder, yet he still feels the basilisks are responsible, or worse… his intel helped them do it. Ruby may be a cherished princess, but she’s powerless to protect others. If she wants to stop the killer, she’ll need inside help from a competitor she feels she can trust… and she did like that Aiden fellow. Will Aiden help her save the other competitors, or will she be dancing with danger on her own?
The Ruby Realm is a collection of clean, intercepting stories, best enjoyed when read as a series.
Release date: April 11
She’ll die if she touches a rose. He turns everything he touches into gold. Together, they just might be able to save both of their countries.
Lady Ro was supposed to be the luckiest girl in the empire, betrothed to the crown prince despite her curse. That was until the man who tried to kidnap her reveals her entire life is a lie, but even the truth doesn’t make sense. If she’s the heir to a throne, why had she been cursed by an ally?
Ro doesn’t know who she is anymore, but she’ll take the only man who has been honest with her and go looking for answers. After discovering years of lies and manipulation, she’s determined not to let anyone use her again. But with a rebellion on one end of the empire and an invasion on the other, does Ro have any choice but to be their puppet?
Midas was sent to capture the crown prince’s betrothed and hold her hostage to give his country a chance against the empire’s invasion. He didn’t expect she’d be a princess that was supposed to be dead with a rebellion brewing in her name.
He knows better than anyone what it’s like to be cursed. While he has no hope of finding answers, Ro does. He just can’t let himself fall in love with her. With a golden touch, closeness is a tragedy. Can he be Ro’s right-hand man without condemning them both?
Release date: April 18
A missing princess. A magic flute. An adventure retold.
Prince Tamric Madeus was expecting nothing more than a routine tour of the Spring Court. When an encounter with a dragon disrupts all of his carefully laid plans, his mysterious rescuers tell him the tale of a captive princess held by a powerful enchanter. As a second-born prince with a penchant for scholarship rather than physical prowess, Tamric leaps at the chance to become the hero that he’s always wanted to be.
After running away from home, Princess Mina finds herself in a bit of a bind. Her search for the mysterious Shield of the Sun has led her to nothing but a dead end, her steps are dogged by a dark and looming figure, and the help she was hoping to enlist is nowhere to be found.
With the aid of his flute, a bird-brained companion, and a little bit of magic, will Tamric be able to rescue the princess? Or is there more to the story than first meets the eye?
Seasons of Music and Magic is a series of four retellings of fairy tales found in classic operas and ballets, each featuring a unique cast of endearing characters, sweet romance, humor, and a happily-ever-after. The stories stand alone and can be read in any order, so experience the music and magic of Faerie at any time.
Release date: April 18
Can a marriage without trust produce love strong enough to save not only two hearts, but an entire kingdom?
Adrienne’s family has little of value other than her ability to harness magic. They’ve finally saved enough to send her away to study, and all she wants is to use her songcraft to lift their fortunes. What she didn’t count on was her selfish, profligate father reappearing just in time to ruin everything.
Prince Herleif is the rightful king of Frossenland, but his throne is out of reach given everyone believes him dead. That, and he spends his days as a giant bear. He hasn’t lost hope—all he has to do is wait out his curse without slipping up and bringing disaster on his kingdom. Marriage would be too dangerous to contemplate, for more reasons than one. Until he witnesses a scene in a tavern that’s too barbaric to ignore. How could he fail to intervene on behalf of the girl whose father is all but selling her?
Neither Adrienne nor Herleif predicted their marriage. And only Herleif knows the true extent of the danger they’re risking. Even as unexpected feelings begin to grow, how can Adrienne trust a husband who offers her nothing but secrets? When she gives in to fear, she unleashes devastation not only on Herleif, but on Frossenland. Now she must harness her shaky songcraft before it’s too late. Because she’s the only one with the power to save her husband and her kingdom.
Song of Winds is the third installment in The Singer Tales, a series of interconnected standalone novels set on the continent of Providore, where magic is harnessed by singers. Each story follows a different heroine navigating everything from miniature elves to brutish giants as she chases her own happily ever after. If you enjoy strong heroines, clean romance, and fantasy worlds with a dash of intrigue, discover the world of The Singer Tales today.
Release date: May 5
A Magical Retelling of Snow White and Rose Red, Hansel and Gretel, and Little Wildrose
The forests of the Rosenwood kingdom are a delight for many who call it their home, even if most have never explored it in its entirety. The trees provide them with shelter, materials, and, in more recent cases, mystery. As the secrets and magic entangle the kingdom’s inhabitants, they must fight both with and against the woods they call home.
A pair of sisters find an unlikely friend in the depths of a storm, only to question if he was ever a friend at all. An herbalist hunts for a forbidden flower to heal her dying family, even if it means robbing a powerful mage. And a girl who’s spent her entire life up in the trees discovers her home is doomed to fall. As magic stirs and secrets unfold, they must determine who can be trusted and who they must stand against.
Can they reclaim their home without losing each other? Or does danger root deeper than they thought? With two-faced strangers, carnivorous plants, and vengeful mages standing in their path, the task may not be so rosy.
Release date: May 8
A villainous Peter Pan retelling
A pirate, a pixie, and a plot to foil Peter Pan…
James Hook never meant to become a pirate, and never dreamed that he would turn against best friend, Peter Pan. Every adventure and eternal youth awaited them… until a pixie exposes a shocking revelation. Tinkerbell’s information forces James into acknowledging that, far from being the benevolent hero he painted himself to be, Peter Pan was kidnapping innocent children.
After accepting the traumatic loss of his hand and of the family he can barely remember, James deserts Pan. In the fight to rescue the Lost Boys, Hook will risk everything, even if that means becoming the most notorious villain in Neverland… or losing the fiery pixie who is stealing his heart.
Can the original Lost Boy vanquish Neverland’s greatest threat?
Release date: May 9
She went to sleep knowing she would never wake up. He will do anything to save her.
Rosalia knew she had condemned herself to death. She accepted that, but what she hadn’t anticipated was to be stuck in this in between, able to see the room around her and unable to leave it. But then the sister she had written off as a lost cause shows up… How can Rosalia keep her scheduled death on track when she’s a ghost?
Midas’ worst nightmares came true when Rosalia sacrificed herself. Her final request was that he break the curse to end the war and ensure her people’s freedom. While she’s asleep, there’s still work he has to do as her right-hand man. While he’s focused on trying to save a people who only ever saw him as a sacrifice, he doesn’t dare hope he’ll find answers on how to break his curse and give him a way to save Rosalia… does he?
But if Midas can’t save Rosalia without killing her… maybe Aerona can. Only someone who truly loves Rosalia can break the curse… But after everything Aerona has been through, everything she’s done to the people she was supposed to love, is she even capable of it anymore?
There’s only one thing more dangerous than Rosalia’s curse holding the empire hostage: The hope it can be broken in any way that doesn’t end with a gold statue left in its wake.
Release date: May 24
Princess Evelyn has spent her entire life striving to be the proper princess expected of her…only to suddenly discover that she’s not a princess at all, merely a decoy unknowingly masquerading as the heir to the enchanted throne.
With her identity stripped away and her future uncertain, Evelyn struggles to find her purpose only to discover it in a most unexpected source when she stumbles upon whispers that the true princess’s betrothed is plotting to use his upcoming marriage to steal her kingdom’s rare and precious magic. Desperate to prove that her life has meaning other than being an unwitting decoy, Evelyn comes up with a plan to marry the prince in the true princess’s place before he learns that she’s a fake in order to protect the kingdom she still cares for.
Prince Ryland has his own reasons for agreeing to the hasty union, for the magic in the princess’s royal bloodline is his last chance to save his kingdom from ruin. However, his careful schemes don’t exactly go according to plan when his unconventional wife proves thoroughly uncooperative and seems to be hiding secrets of her own.
As the two navigate the façades, deceit, and dangers threatening them, the lines between enemies and lovers soon begin to blur…yet their growing love comes at a price. In her effort to protect her kingdom, Evelyn might have just put herself and all her people in grave danger.
Release date: May 27
As the snow gives way to spring, I can’t help feeling excited for all the new releases. And I’m definitely going to be adding them to my wishlist!
What about you – what book are you most excited for?