My Favorite Authors for Fairytale Retellings

Look. This genre of books is not for everyone, and I am fully aware (?).

BUT I am a, somewhat reluctant, fan of fairytale retellings…

And apparently some of you are as well.

SO. I thought we could have a little chat about this cheesy, unrealistically romantic genre that scratches my hopeless romantic itch.

When it comes to books, I like to read a heavy read and a lighter read simultaneously. The heavier read I like to enjoy whenever I get a moment to really dig in and digest what I’m reading. My lighter reads are typically my bedtime reading… nothing too thought provoking before I try to fall asleep.

And fairytale retellings are one of my most reached for genres when it comes to bedtime reading.

I’ve read quite a few in my day, so I thought I would compile my favorite authors (the list is short because I wanted to give you an easy place to start), and share my favorite series:

1. Melanie Cellier: I’m starting with Melanie Cellier simply because she has written a LOT of books in this genre so you could spend quite some time lost in her world of characters. Her two interlinked series: the Four Kingdoms, and the Beyond the Four Kingdoms series are where you’ll find most of her fairytale retelling content. Her books are quick reads, but enjoyable nonetheless.

2. Melanie Dickerson: Melanie is another author who has contributed quite a lot to the genre, and she’s actually the first author I started reading in this genre. The writing quality seems to have declined in the past few books I’ve read, but there’s still a lot of good, light reading to be found. The two series I’ve enjoyed have been the Medieval Fairy Tale series, and the Fairy Tale Romance Series.

3. Brittany Fichter: Brittany’s Classical Kingdoms books are good, solid retellings. She’s a good author, and takes the time to really develop her characters (which I like). I especially enjoyed her four trilogy start to the series that retells Beauty and the Beast.

4. Kaylin Lee: Kaylin is probably one of the best authors in this bunch, and she takes a slightly different spin by doing a dystopian fairy tale retelling (another one of my favorite genres not so coincidentally). Her Destined series is still in progress, and I’m eagerly awaiting the release of her next book.

5. Lucy Tempest: Lucy’s series is also not set in history (or at least that we’re aware), so she also creates an alternate reality though it wouldn’t be considered dystopian. She starts here series with Aladdin, but the roles are reversed, which I thought was a fresh take. She’s a really good author, and I found myself easily sucked into her Fairytales of Folkshore series.

6. Jody Hedlund: Jody has written quite a lot in the Christian Historical Romance genre (I haven’t read any of those), but has dipped her toes in recent years into the fairy tale genre with the Lost Princesses series. She has a solid story line, but her romance is probably the most unrealistic of the bunch (still entertaining though).

7. Shari L. Tapscott: While these aren’t fairy tale retellings per se, I really enjoyed Shari’s Eldentimber Series. They were really quick reads due to how well they were written, and I enjoyed the character development in each book. She does have a fairy tale retelling series called the Fairy Tale Kingdoms, but weirdly enough I didn’t really enjoy those as much.

And that’s it friends! If you’re looking for a quick, lighthearted read these are a great place to start. Please don’t use these as the romance measure of your life (ha!), but they are great reads when you just want to feel good.

Are you a fan of this genre? Any favorite authors? Let me know in the comments because I’m always on the hunt!

Until next time,

Karin

To read my fiction picks go here.