The Frozen Sea

I've loved fairytales since infancy, like pretty much every other child ever born. This love hasn't lessened with adulthood, though, so I tend to read a lot of retold fairytales. These two books were a recommendation from another author who does the genre brilliantly - Kate Forsyth.

Scarlet in the Snow

A beautiful and enchanting re-telling of the Beauty and the Beast fairytale, interwoven with re-worked Russian mythology and some lovely fantasy and storytelling. The romance was sweet and subtle but well developed, I thought, particularly for the genre. This is definitely worth a read, particularly if you love fairytales and Russia in general.  I want to go and find everything else this author has written now.

Moonlight and Ashes

Beautiful retelling of the Cinderella fairytale, and utterly original. I was obviously entranced. I think the story was let down a little by the lack of a relationship development between Serena and Max - it did seem a little like insta-love to me, so in that respect, the writing and character development was not as well done as in the previous book - but other than that, it was wonderful.